Island fell running champion Ben Corkill has added another monstrous achievement to his sporting resume after cycling the breadth of the United States.

To put that in perspective, that is 4,191 miles, over 22 days, eight hours and five minutes averaging 187.2 miles a day, writes Sam Turton.

The Trans Am Bike Race 2019 saw 76 riders cycle from Astroria in Oregon all the way to Yorktown, Virginia, carrying their supplies with them.

Ben, 32, has previously cycled across Australia. It had meant to be a race, and when it got cancelled, some of the competitors decided to do it anyway.

The Trans Am race didn’t get off to the best start for Ben.

’I lost my bank card on day four, which made it a lot harder. I had to half my budget and borrow money off another racer, which considering I didn’t know anyone, wasn’t ideal’, he said.

The race saw competitors face searing heat and minus temperatures as the spectrum of the American climate made its appearance.

Ben explained what it is like to face such varying weather patterns.

He said: ’The whole event is incredibly hard and many points were hard in different ways, physically and psychologically.

’One day it was over 42-43C and I suffered severe heat stroke.

’Another day I was riding up a pass at altitude and four to six inches of snow dropped and it was sub zero temperatures.

’I was very concerned being 30 miles from a town that if I got a puncture I would die of hypothermia. Fortunately I didn’t get any punctures the entire race.’

Quitting was never an option for Ben, who had trained mentally and physically for the race.

He said: ’I dedicated an incredible amount of time training, setting up my bike and mentally preparing for it.

’I had to finish no matter what, whatever the result. Returning early I couldn’t live with the regret.’

Ben said his favourite part of the race was Wyoming because of Yellowstone Park and the Grand Teton National Park.

He finished 15th but thinks he could have finished in the top five if he hadn’t had to spend time sorting out his lost bank card.’

Describing reaching the end, at Yorktown, he said: ’I was exhausted at the finish.

’I finished six days before my flight home, where I was constantly eating and sleeping. I’m still sleeping a lot over two weeks after completing the event and I reckon it will take three to six months to recover completely.’

Ben already has his sights set on his next challenge.

’I would like to do Transcontinental which is across Europe, roughly 3,000 miles, or the Tour Divide mountain bike race from Canada to the Mexican border, the length of the Rocky mountains at 2,700 miles,’ he said.

’But both are massive financial commitments and I will have to decide early 2020.’