Ten days and 886.747km of running would leave most runners looking bedraggled and in need of a long holiday.
Not so Tim Stones who recently returned from Pretoria's Winter Running Festival where he conquered the often harsh elements; the incredible repetition of the same 804m circuit on a hard concrete surface, nestled on the estate of the Hillside Golf Course; sleep deprivation and numerous physical challenges experienced over that period.
As Stones recounts aspects of his journey he in fact looks relaxed, largely satisfied and considering of future adventures of perhaps a similar nature.
Going into the challenge Stones admits “goals were difficult to assess and as a novice I soon realised they would need to be constantly reassessed, as there is no substitute for experience”.
The longest race Stones had ever run previously was a 48-hour event and this was set to be five times longer in duration.
The first two days were run according to plan and 211km later he was feeling good.
Thereafter unchartered territory awaited and the plan was to tread cautiously. “Maybe too much so” he reflects. “Looking back I perhaps could have done better on little things like four rather than five hours sleep or dinner breaks of 30min rather than an hour.”
The entire run was broken up into sessions and Stones along with his second, Dean Almeida, a long-time mentor and friend, planned as meticulously as they could.
The hardest adaptation throughout, both the 900km of training in six weeks prior to, plus the event itself was learning to run slow. It is something that does not come naturally to a man with a 36min 10km to his name. Indeed, at school his nickname was “Overdrive” because he would do everything at pace.
The laps were anything but flat, with a number of short climbs. Sessions averaged around nine laps, with a good ceiling of 13 and a less favourable one at seven.
Counting the laps was not undertaken by Stones himself as he motivated himself in the cause and the children he was championing – raising funds for deaf and seriously disabled children, whom he met and spent time playing with the day before setting off on the sojourn.
On the third day the heat got to him and he suffered some heatstroke. It would be the weakest of his 10 days, amounting to 79km nonetheless.
He further encountered a few niggles and sought the help of a physio, while two monster blisters on the heels of his feet had to be lanced and drained.
When on days seven through to nine much of the self-motivating factors may have run thin, it was always to the children of the cause and his own two boys at home that he could turn for inspiration. When even that energy waned, it would be to singing and a constant inner chatter that he would turn to keep going.
The other runners their supporters and even the arrival of hundreds of runners for the launch of a new parkrun at the venue, early on in the race, all kept the adventure stimulating and real. Good and often hefty meals, meaningful hydration, along with special nutrition kept the engine running smoothly.
Stones had broken his own 48-hour record and been really satisfied with his 534.153km recorded for the six days, an event of its own, that he hopes to pursue internationally.
He was challenged by others and his own goals along the way to shoot for 800km and when he reached that target 850 and then 875km.
Day 10 was remarkably his best as he decided to adopt an all-or-nothing approach. With father Christopher there to spur him on, as he had been over the days, Stones accumulated a massive 116km with the last two-and-a- half hours calling for one last period of digging deep.
There was much to be delighted about as he completed a very emotional last hour and then his final lap with the South African flag draped around his shoulders. There were age group records, monies raised for his cause, videos recorded, many messages of support and congratulations from his Born 2 Run club members back in East London and, of course, his own family standing by him.
The event was a life-enhancing 10 days for a man who has found an even greater passion for running than he had previously.
He has already entered the Legends Marathon due to be run on September 24 in the view to qualifying for Two Oceans and Comrades in 2018 and perhaps, just maybe, a Six-Day event in Hungary which is sponsorship dependent.