 This is the beautiful town of St Peter's Port in Guernsey, and it's the beginning and end point for the GU 36 Guernsey Ultra, a 36 mile race which circumnavigates the island. The race starts here at the Liberation Monument and heads out of town onto 16 miles of hilly trail running over the cliffs to the west of St Peter's Port. It was an early start but the sunrise was perfect as we headed past the harbour to race registration for what would be my third GU 36. Given the weather forecast over the past two days, it is unbelievable that the sun is out this morning. We're here at Guernsey St Peter's Port in front of the beautiful, what's it called? Thank you in front of the beautiful Liberation Monument. How could I forget that in front of the beautiful Liberation Monument to start the Guernsey Ultra, the Guernsey 36 miler which we've done twice before. I did want to try and go for a time today but Victoria's convinced me to have another jolly with ice cream and swimming. I don't think there's going to be much swimming today but we're going to enjoy ourselves whatever happens so come with us while we run round the island of Guernsey. A little ultra tip for you while I remember, when you put your race number on just screw it into a ball unless there's a chip on the back of course, don't do it if there's a chip on the back. Screw it into a ball and then it'll stop it flapping around in the wind when you're running. After registration and the race briefing around 120 runners including Victoria and our Zwift friend Clive headed off for another adventure on the second largest of the Channel Islands. The first mile takes runners through the town alongside the harbour and past the impressive castle which I'd filmed in the sunshine the day before. Then leaving St Peter's Port we began climbing up through the trees. We're a couple of kilometres in, what we feared has started, the rain has started but we are under tree cover at the moment which is quite nice. Before we get out in the rain, what was your name again? Luke Stalard. Hello. Hello Luke. First Ultra today? First ever run with a number on. Where? Official run. The Alzheimer's Society. So if you're ready for the Alzheimer's Society, wish Luke a bit of luck to get around today in his first ever race. For the first 16 miles you're running on what's known as the cliff section, dipping down into valleys and small coves with pristine beaches before climbing multiple steps to get up and out again. Right, this is Firmaine Bay. This is Firmaine Tower, three and a half kilometres in in 27 minutes. It is without doubt one of the most visually pleasing races you will ever do. The trails are narrow and winding without ever being too technically demanding. The views are reminiscent of the Cornish coast, the cliffs are no less impressive and the flora is lush and colourful. The route is waymarked and mostly easy to navigate. The red flags seen here actually denote nests of rare black-backed meadow ants, which is a near threatened species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. First checkpoint and thank you. So that's one hour 55 minutes. So I was hoping to get to the first checkpoint in about two hours so that's what we've done. There is no let up in the steps through the first section of the race and it's important to manage your effort here so you're not completely done by the time you reach the flat section. You will climb almost the entire 1,300 metres of race elevation in the first 26 kilometres. Two hours 12 minutes and we are 15 kilometres in. How are you feeling? Okay it's probably a bit of a harder effort then I would like it to be but to be fair I've not done much training in the last four weeks. We're 17 kilometres in so only 40km to go, less than a marathon left. Another similarity between the Guernsey and Cornish coastlines is the palpable sense of history. In Cornwall it's the ruined tin mines which tell a story, here it's the incredibly well preserved German gun emplacements. There are some imposing structures positioned along the southern coastline. Don you're local yeah? Yes, yeah. So this is your, did you say this is your first ultra? This is my first ultra, yes. How are you finding it? So far good, I mean I'm pretty confident you've included it, it's nice having the people to chat to and yeah so far feeling alright. Good stuff. Yeah, so we're not far away now from the end of the cliff section, about 4km to go, 3.5km to go to the end of the cliffs and then it's 20 miles of flatness. Which as we all know isn't necessarily a good thing. As you can hear from the people I've talked to so far many runners use the GU36 as a superb step up from marathon distance for their introduction to ultra running, or even as a first trail race. Every year I film this cannon and this year it's been painted. In the final couple of miles of the cliff section the trail becomes somewhat flatter and the end is marked first by a lighthouse off the coast and then by the aid station where you can pick up your drop bag and get ready for 20 miles of flat running. So this is what an aid station should be, you've got pretty much everything you should want. The aid station itself is really well stocked with sweet and savoury foods and the volunteers are always lovely. For the next 15 miles you will run on road, coast path, soft grass and dry sand through small towns and next to picture perfect bays. You can stop for ice cream or even go for a swim if the tide is in. How many ultra races have you done? This is my very first one. Wow, fantastic. A nice one to start off with. Beautiful, yes. As with the cliff section it's important to manage your pace again here. You still have 20 miles to go so try to relax into an energy efficient rhythm. Right, this is Jim, Jim's another one of the people who blames me for him entering this race. Absolutely. All his faults. Right, we've got 9K to go. We're all suffering a little bit. My back's aching quite a lot today. But we'll get this done. Really having to stick to it. Do you just want it to be over? Yep. 51km in in 7 hours and you can see we now have rounded the whole island of Guernsey. We've just got ahead into St Peter's Port. Over there is the island of Herm and Sark and just behind Sark in the distance is Jersey. By this point Victoria was starting to suffer and I could see her digging deep into her mental reserves to get the job done. We've all been to dark places on our long runs. Just really struggling. But with experience we learn that we can come out the other side and that by doing so reaching the finish is made all the more special. Less than 3km to go now. Victoria is trying her best to try and get under her previous time on this course. She's pushing as hard as she can. She's so tired and the sun has now come out. So it's a glorious day but it's warm. Sapping everybody's energy. We need to start going. Yeah. Helping to keep it together mentally. Okay. Kilometers to go mate. Just walk it in. Well done. Really you'll get there. You'll get there in the next 10 minutes mate. 1km to go. Struggling with heat stroke now. It's been cloudy but really muggy all day. It had been a tough last 5 miles for everyone. So here we come into the finish. Touching the Liberation Monument to finish. Says Vally. Lovely to meet you again. Good job and you. Oh thank you very much. Second time. Third time. So the winner was Tia and Erwe who finished in 4 hours and 412 minutes. Beat his own course record. Type here finished in 6.10 which is awesome. And we have come in. Victoria has beaten her previous time. So last time she got 4. Last time she got 7.57 so beat it by 11 minutes today. Well done Vic. Thank you for that. I'm glad that's over. I bet you suffered the last 10 miles didn't you? Well done buddy. And he's finished. That's it from Guernsey and the GU 36. Victoria finished beating last year's time by 11 minutes. Not last year's time. 2019's time by 11 minutes. We've had a lovely day out. Everyone's enjoyed themselves. Everyone's getting their medals. And all the extra aid station food is being given away free of charge. So we've scurned loads of it. Yeah we've had a great time. So we'll see you again for another film by Run. For the crazy adventure next time. Take care. Bye bye.