Firsts & Fastests: Going Where Nobody Has Gone Before

In the world of adventure and extreme sport, our world is growing ever smaller. It’s becoming harder to find true firsts or frontiers where nobody has ventured before, and very few stones are left unturned. I’m sure the same is true in business as we seek out novelty and the next big idea.

Instead, we tend to look for the adventure within and get creative. We go further, faster or find new quirks. It forces us to think differently. It won’t be long before someone attempts K2 on a pogo stick…

From a charity fundraising perspective, the challenge for novelty is even greater. We tend to fall in one of two camps:

1)      You’re an influencer or celebrity with a mass following

2)      You’re not, so have to suffer significantly more and/or work much harder for donations

I reside in the latter camp. Last year I set out to climb all 446 UK mountains (Nuttalls) in the fastest time ever, and the first entirely by human power – running and cycling between the peaks, about 3,000km distance and over 100,000m of height gain.

And in 2019, I ran the London Marathon – attempting to be the fastest in a logo costume. Despite running 3:14 in a ginormous YHA green triangle, the Guinness World Record was rejected as apparently the costume wasn’t big enough. I had great fun and raised a good amount of money, though…

However, going somewhere new brings one major challenge: we have no blueprint. There’s no instruction manual. No wise mentor to glean knowledge from. So… where do we start?

Success always leaves clues. When I committed to the 446 Challenge, it wasn’t an entirely blank slate. The previous record holder was a friend, James Forrest, who had climbed the 446 Nuttalls within just six months, impressively around his part-time job.

He shared this wisdom in a book and was kind enough to chat and advise, as was the Welsh mountains record holder, Will Renwick. Their generosity and encouragement allowed me to think differently and be more efficient: this is where time is lost.

I also took inspiration from the training and blogs of Donnie Campbell, the previous Munro record holder. Although an entirely different undertaking (Donnie was a Royal Marine – I was not), it gave me a benchmark and proved that it was possible. I’d recently lost my driving licence following a seizure, so like Donnie, I was entirely human-powered.

Visualise. When training for a marathon, running 26 miles in a single training run isn’t necessary or likely even beneficial. But as a running coach, I advise athletes to simulate race day as much as possible. Confidence comes from preparation. When training for the Three Peaks Run in 2020, I wanted to complete at least one 50-mile day beforehand for confidence, to trust that I could run 50 miles for nine consecutive days. Things don’t always get harder: the body adapts and conditions itself if you find the right balance of stress and recovery.

Get the right people on the bus (motorhome). Pinching the concept from Jim Collins ‘Good to Great’, there was absolutely no way I could have done this on my own. I needed other people invested in the journey who could offer different perspectives, contacts, skills and capacity. Luckily I found this through my girlfriend, friends, sponsors and team, particularly my expedition manager, Dan.

Trust your gut. I committed to the challenge without even knowing the distance. It felt like an overwhelming prospect until Dan turned the list of summits into a route with a provisional schedule at 70 days. I said that was too easy and I couldn’t take that much time off work. I identified a 45-day window, and Dan did the maths for the average daily mileage, with two contingency days. I said “I think I can do that!”. Mostly because it felt right. Nobody knows us better than we know ourselves, but we need people around us to see things differently.

We finished bang on schedule in 45 days. But in the penultimate week I was playing catchup with thunderstorms, finding a guide for the climb of Pillar Rock, and missing a mountain, so Dan’s judgement and contingencies were spot on.

Unwavering belief. You have to believe 100% that the idea is possible. This level of belief is contagious and it rubs off on the team around you – as does doubt and fear. That doesn’t mean being wholeheartedly positive and confident all the time. It’s normal to feel fear: the brain hates uncertainty. But by focusing on the process you find a way or make one in the end.

Embrace the Sceptics: we naturally feel uncomfortable or threatened by things we don’t understand. That’s why people are often quick to dismiss, doubt or challenge us, even with good intentions in mind. I received this both on social media and personally beforehand. But I saw this as a good sign: it confirms you’re doing something worthwhile and unprecedented that people haven’t encountered before.

The ‘Why’. I was walking with a coaching client last week and we spoke about a goal that kept coming up for them. I’ve always believed that if we can’t go a week or so without thinking about something, then it’s seriously worth exploring. Interestingly, the 446 Challenge concept had been in my goal plan back in 2019. But life kept getting in the way and Long Covid put a stop to it again in 2022. I knew I wanted enough and last year it all came together.

Could 2026 be a record-breaking year for you, or your team? What tips would you share?

Let me know which records have inspired you, and please get in touch if I can help you take the first step.