Trailsquelcher 2012. Brutal.

It was so much harder than any of us ever imagined.

Lying in our tents the night before being kept awake by torrential rain was an inauspicious preparation. But the rain was as intermittent as the previous few weeks and it wasn't even pouring down when we got off to a cracking start, only 16 mins late for our 8am start time.

We were soon passing mud coated and exhausted mountain bikers coming the other way. It seemed a little early for them to already be on the trail. That and their lights set up led a thought to occur to us, so we asked the next couple to come along, 'Have you guys been cycling all night?'. The 1st was too exhausted to respond at all; the 2nd managed a slight incline of his splattered helmet clad head. We took this as a yes, and feared it was a sign of things to come.

Conditions were pretty atrocious, with intermittent heavy rain on already saturated ground. Several checkpoints had to be completely closed to support crews as fields were reduced to mud on a scale I've not seen since Glastonbury festival.

Getting to Checkpoint 5, the 50km halfway point, is quite a challenge- and I would say a sensible place to stop. Things are starting to hurt by this point. On the trail we were skirting boot deep puddles that filled the track, or squelching sticky mud that grabs your boots and weighs them down. Slipping up incline and sliding down hill became, in the dark with achingly weak legs, the occasional fall. Chatting groups became single file silent trudging. A glance around checkpoints showed the struggling to be pretty universal. Heads were in hands; we even witnessed one guy pass out.

Checkpoint 7 seems far enough in that completion surely becomes feasible? The pain is making us queasy, but we know we must keep eating to have enough energy to continue. We're all suffering, but Dan's hobble belies a severe level of pain. I work out that we still have at least 7 hours of walking to go. Both the idea of quitting and the possibility of completion seem equally unfeasible.

The rain stopped, the sunrise was beautiful, my team mates were awesome and 5 hours later with incredible endurance we passed the finish line arm in arm in a minute under 27 hours.

I'm not surprised that only 3/4 managed to finish; I am amazed that in the conditions a new course record was set. To all those who supported us, including donating, cheering at the finish, smiling Ghurkas, and of course the support crew themselves- thank you so, so much. To those I know who've done it before, you have my utmost respect!