The route was orginally created in 1998 by a group of Thomas Hardy enthusiasts, with a pilgrimage intent to the authors favourite spots, places he wrote about in his fictional land of Wessex, starting at his birthplace and finishing close by where his heart is buried. The rest of his body is in Westminster Abbey.
They have created a magnificent traipse, that snakes all around Dorset, brilliantly waymarked and connecting trailheads that locals would rather keep a secret due to their tranquility. Popular with hikers, there is a sensible way to do the way. Connect up 30-50km sections and compete over a period of years, or have a 10-20 day adventure, backpacking from one village inn to the next.
No one has completed it in one push within the genre of trail running, supported or unsupported. I first plotted the route in 2020, giving it the title, 'can of whoop ass madmule style'. Like many others at that time, we were all paying closer interest to what was on our doorstep, not knowing how long lockdown was going to last or affect the ability to travel further afield.
Jon Regler, ultra runner local to Dorset, registered the route in 2021 with the website 'Fastest Known Time : 'FKT' - presumably with the intention of having a try, though I had noted never came to fruition. Having spoken to Jon a week before my supported attempt, he was delayed in his plans and is aiming to try 'unsupported' in 2025. Will keep fingers crossed for Jon on that when he starts.
Supported - even if someone hands a bottle of water it is now supported. Have as much help as you like, so long as no one holds you up to progress.
Unsupported - absolutely no assistance, no shop visits, pre-drop all your stores in hideaways along the route and crack on.
In October this year I decided to get on with a supported effort. Having just completed UTMB, it was a bold move, however the pros outweighed the cons.
The main 'pro' was this session just had to be started.
Using my 'unless' theory, we won't know unless we go.
Well, we found out.
At that time in October I hadn't quite envisioned what a mammoth it was going to turn into. In terms of how many people actually came out to do their bit and in turn the logistics to support that. At the end of the day we thought, if it's going to be supported then the more the merrier. Leigh Genco helped to highlight this 2 weeks out, as he reminded me that I have come to know plenty a people, all I have to do is ask. Within 2 days, we had 23 support crew or support runners lined up. Frankly, complete or finish, a goal had aleady been achieved in the way this lot came together on the comms whilst I was in the session, each having their own insight to how these things work and how it can be improved in the future. Who knows, hopefully nudging them into action on something they have delayed for too long? Dinna Hurkle Durkle!
The glue to all these logistics and planning was Phil Bartle. The first planning session with Phil, he had taken my 'sketch' and turned it into a 'van Gough' that made actual sense. From here on in, the GPX routes had to be cleaned up, a lot. The routes from the Long Distance Walkers website, the fkt website and other sources all had 'options' and certainly there was no one definitive route that aligned with Ordnance Survey maps which have the Hardy Way marked throughout.
Phil sorted this out also. Phil is a legend.
Helen, during all of this build up, working full time as a Mother and Physio, 100% behind the project and excited. We decided that trying before 2024 expired was worth the investment of time and energy. No one can think about doing these sort of efforts without the full backing of those closest. Helen is why the start line is easy to cross.
One last minute panic 24 hours out with my tech. Come to the rescue the local legend that is Paulo. "Paulo, I can't download the GPX, do you have a spare watch?" - "no problem, see you in 5" - he didn't even ask for anything at Bigwigs bakery!!!! I got him a sticky donut.
Dave, Sanjay, greg, Si, Aaron, Pete, Paul, Mark, Philippa, Nick, Sam, Ron, Tatiana, Virginie - all set up to run and navigate the legs
Helen, Tom, Phil, Teresa, Tatiana, Shelley, Julian, Sarah, John, Leigh - all set up to crew the runners.
I won't go into the detail of all the kit and food. Had plenty feedback on how this will be streamlined when next we go. ;-)
Got in the car Friday morning with one expectation - put one foot in front of the other and soak up the sights of the journey and the company. Let's get to Hardy's Cottage.
Part 2 : The way
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