TWO friends conquered ‘the hardest event we have ever been involved in’ - though nearly two thirds of their fellow competitors failed to last the gruelling course.

The Arc of Attrition, a 100-mile ultra marathon along the coastal footpath from Coverack on the Lizard around to Porthtowan on the north coast, took place in challenging weather at the weekend.

Oli Jones and Dr Chris Gilbert, both from Liskeard, finished joint fifth out of 160 in a time of 26 hours and 25 minutes.

But 106 competitors did not finish – showing how tough the event was. it was.

The runners had to carry a survival bag, two head torches, full waterproofs and a GPS tracker so rescue emergency teams and helicopters could be scrambled in an emergency.

Oli, who teaches PE at schools around Liskeard, said: ‘Knowing that the weather was going to turn to wind and rain, our plan was to get as many miles in early on in the race and not stop too long at checkpoints.

‘Another test for us were the diversions as some of the coastpath had been washed away in the storms and it meant that we had an additional four miles to run.

‘The footpath was un-runnable in many sections and very muddy. I took a couple of falls early on and injured my right knee after mile six. Chris was suffering with bad blisters as our feet were sodden the whole event through.

‘We had a support crew from the East Cornwall Harriers who tracked us through the night and were on hand with food, water, vaseline, clothing and encouragement.

‘The stretch from Mousehole to Lands End was brutal with many steps into and out of coves, scrambling over rocks and extremely slippery. We had our worst moments where we were feeling sick, dizzy, feet were sore and I was suffering.

‘What made it worse was that we took a wrong turn inland and ended up doing an additional two miles which was frustrating.

‘The final stretch from St Ives to Porthtowan was slow going, crossing three miles of sand dunes through Hayle and Gwithian.

‘By now the pain in our legs meant we had to walk more than run and it was starting to get cold so we had to put a double layer of clothing  on.

‘After weeks and months of dreaming about finishing this event it became a reality. We were two of the 54 who finished the race.

‘Thanks go out to everyone, family and friends who supported us in this challenge. Without them this would not have been possible.’