Carly Evans has become the first known female to complete the North Downs Way southern route - running 126 miles in 30hr 53min.

It’s the second-fastest time known - with the record - 27:28.44 - belonging to husband Matt Evans after his successful attempt at the route in May 2021.

Carly had her husband along as a support crew for the endurance challenge which started in Farnham, Surrey and ended in Dover.

For the mum-of-four from Gillingham, it was the longest distance she’d covered by some way. Her previous biggest was 64 miles.

“For me, it was just like a long run,” she said. “It was no different to a training run, I just moved from checkpoint to checkpoint and kept my focus.

“My only focus was to see those pillars in Dover. I just had to keep the body moving, keep the mind focused and strong, and it all came together.

“When I did 64 miles you can train for that and get the long runs in. You can have as much endurance in your legs as you like, but after about 50 miles it does come down to a mental challenge and keeping your head focused.

“If your head will play the game then your body has to follow.”

Evans admitted there was a “dark moment” at around the 100-mile mark, but a tin of spaghetti hoops and some words of encouragement helped get her back on track.

She said: “I knew I was going to do it, from the moment I stood at Farnham, even if I had to crawl!

“I never wanted to quit but around 95-100 miles I was just coming into Boughton Lees and the sun was just coming up and it was more about tiredness. Fatigue had hit in.

“I was just so, so tired. I had been on my feet for about 22 hours by then, it had been dark.

“Matt came to meet me and I was using poles at that point, but he took the poles off me, had a word in my ear, fed me some spaghetti hoops and a good coffee, a quick brush of the teeth and sent me on my way.

“It was like there was a switch of the mind again. Click, come on then, we have a marathon to go, let’s go and get it done.

“Those spaghetti hoops saved my life! That’s all I needed.”

On finally reaching Dover, she said: “For the whole run I didn’t have any emotion, it was strange. A lot of ultra runners, my coach, Matt, they would say ‘you will feel a number of emotions, you might want to cry’.

“I was prepared for it but didn’t feel a thing, it was bizarre. I was like: ‘Am I emotionless? Is there something wrong with me?!’.

“I hit Dover and I had done it but a bit of me was sad, I had no more to run, I had finished my adventure, I had done it. My three girls had been hiding around the corner - my boy was off with his mates - they came out and that is when the emotions hit and I cried!”

Thoughts have already turned to a new challenge with the Arc of Attrition, a 100-mile race on the Cornish Coast.

Evans, who only got into ultra running in the last year, had prepared for the challenge with the help of coach Jack Scott - an ultra runner in his own right.

She had competed for Team UK in Madeira after finishing third in the Golden Trail Series, a national series in the UK.

Of all the people to have assisted completion of the 126-mile challenge, husband Matt was a massive help.

“He gave up so much time for me to train and taking me for recce sections of the Downs,” Carly said. “He would be up at 4am so I could be in Farnham for 6am to make the most of the day and run.

“It wasn’t just what he did on the day and it is so time-consuming. A big thanks also to my support runners who helped me through the night but the logistics, his knowledge, he had a spreadsheet which had time goals, everything was there.

“Getting to the end would have been a lot more difficult without him!”