Knightley Way FKT
Let's go back to 2020. The UK has come out of lockdown, but races aren't allowed to happen yet.
It was around this time that I heard of the term FKT. FKT stands for fastest known time. We typically refer to it as a record in the UK.
In 2020, these records and FKT's were getting broken on a regular basis. Top athletes who had no races in the immediate future were taking on some impressive feats.
One of the most prominent of these was the Peninne Way. This record was broken twice. First by John Kelly then by Damien Hall. A film was even made about it!
Reading about these records lead me down a rabbit hole on the FKT website and I realised that a long distance route near where I live (The Knightley Way) was listed.
The waymarked Knightley Way visits Foxley, Farthingstone and Fawsley Park to end at Greens Norton, the northern end of the Grafton Way. Much of the route passes through attractive countryside formerly owned by the Knightley family of Fawsley Hall. The Knightley Way was Northamptonshire's first County Path. It was opened in 1972 on established public rights of way and it stretches between Badby and Greens Norton. The route is over rolling countryside, passing by woods, Fawsley Park and a number of farms and small Northamptonshire villages.
As it didn't have an out and back set, I emailed into them and they set one up ready for whoever wanted to do it.
By the time I got round to having a attempt someone had gone out and set a marker. Looking at the time, it appeared it was a long distance walker. In my mind I was either setting a time of under 5 hours or not at all.
I set out the week after a Spartan Ultra race. Not my smartest decision but I wanted to have a go at the route before going into a base building phase for 2024.
The first half of the route was done in 2 hours and 7 minutes. I'd built up a good cushion, but I was well aware that the previous week I'd completed a 50km obstacle course race and my legs wouldn't be as happy on the way back.
The return journey was a lot harder. The fatigue from the previous week had caught up with me. The poles had come out and it was now a mental battle to keep going.
The return journey took me 2 hours and 32 minutes. Meaning the entire out and back (23.91 miles) had been completed in 4 hours and 39 minutes. Under my self emposed 5 hour limit.
My run has been verified and I'm the current record holder for the Knightley Way Out and Back. I have also made YouTube video of the run if you fancy giving it a watch.
What I like about the records and FKT's is that you can create your own. I've already got a few routes planned that I intend to run and submit them.
I sure someone will come along and lower whatever time I set and that is fine. At the end of the day these things are there to encourage others to have a go and share some great routes.