Cape Wrath Trail – Fastest Known Time April 2020

My name is Ben Turner, an adventure athlete currently training to break the Fastest Known Time of the Cape Wrath Trail (CWT) in Scotland.  Regarded as the UK’s toughest trail, the CWT is 230 miles through the remote North West Highlands of Scotland from Fort William to Cape Wrath.  A rugged and challenging trail that runs North from Fort William to Cape Wrath, the far North Western point of the UK Mainland the CWT is regarded as the toughest trail in the UK, unmarked, unforgiving and 20% of the route is devoid of a pathway altogether.

The current record stands at 4 days 9 hours 43 minutes, in April 2020 I intend to run the route in under 60 hrs.  The project will be produced into a feature length documentary and premiered through social media and screened in Fort William.  In addition, we will be entering Mountain and Adventure Film Festivals throughout the UK with a captive audience of over 10 million people.

Although I will be running the full route myself, I will have team meeting me at the majority of road crossings with food and water replenishment. Between each resupply there is up to 8 hours of remote mountain running, so I will be carrying all of my own kit for survival, endurance and safety. My support team will have food and hydration resupplies, be my safety over watch (through a live GPS tracker), first aid and emergency planning and (crucially) my lift home!

This project is aiming to not only break the record, but to inspire people to get out of their comfort zones, push themselves further not just through fitness and sport, but in life.  The training and execution of the CWT Fastest Known Time will educate people on the evidence based principles on how to train, nutrition strategies and the best brands in the business  in support.

As a student of sports nutrition and exercise science, I aim to impact the understanding of fitness and nutrition education to show people the evidence based principles behind training and nutrition, so that they may make their own methods and move forward empowered.  There is too much noise and nonsense in both industries and I aim to change through projects such as the CWT Fastest Know Time being the credibility, platform, methodology and evidence I will use to support my mission.

The Cape Wrath Trail FKT will also see a concurrent UK wide campaign launched under #BreakYourOwnRecord whereby I aim to get over 1 million people outside over and breaking their own sporting or fitness goals, where that is cycling to school or racing their fastest ultra marathon.  In conjunction with this I want to launch a UK seminar tour whereby I will be talking about all things endurance and nutrition, challenging the fads and myths of both industries, clearing peoples minds and aiding in the understanding of evidence based training and nutrition.

With your support I can dedicate my full time to train and ensure I bring my best self to this project, I believe this is the ONLY way to take on such a record project.  This will ensure I have the best chance to both break the record and share it with the world through a professionally produced documentary.  With your support, this project can go forward and inspire people to push themselves further in this decade than the last, with cutting edge and evidence based products and teachings. 

Above all, this project will breathe positivity and confidence in fitness and nutrition, and invigorate people to do MORE.

Please, lets work together to help inspire, educate, motivate and empower generations.