The 496 Challenge is brilliantly simple. You run 1 km on the first day, 2 km on the second, and keep adding 1 km each day until you run 31 km on the last, which adds up to 496 km (about 308 miles). It was created by the legend that is Sean Conway, whose challenges always inspire me, so in November 2024 it was time to give it a go. Work was quiet and I knew I’d be at home, which should have made the distances easy.

A week in work all changed, I had to complete a series of site inspections for an upcoming project, and I ended up running in Brighton, York, London, Sunderland, Manchester and Exeter. Pre-sunrise alarms became the norm. On the day I was due in Brighton, I ran at 04:00 to get the distance done before heading for a train. In Sunderland I slipped around freezing pavements and the first snow of winter in road shoes, and in Manchester I ran along dark canal towpaths, jumping at every noise and sure someone would push me into the water.

By the time you’re 10 or 15 days in, you realise you’ll soon have to run at least a half marathon every day for the last 10. Possibly predicatably by the time I was half way through the days, my feet had fallen to pieces. On the final day I got the plasters and strapping wrong, every step felt like a dagger, and I abandoned my run and went home in a spectacular sulk. With 10 km still to go and less than four hours left in the day, I re-strapped my feet and headed out again. It felt like a victory lap. I set two Strava segment PBs, and when I stopped my watch, my whoop of satisfaction startled the neighbours. 

Without doubt, the most brutal, brilliant and silliest month of my life.