At the end of a quieter than normal season, having undergone a knee operation in April, Ben Scott tackled the GUN31 ultra-marathon in Guernsey.

It was the Peel man’s first race since the Manx Mountain Marathon in 2018.

Billed as a 31-mile run over the island’s cliff paths, it started at midnight with 28 runners.

The inaugural event last year was won in a time of 5hr 55min.

The out-and-back course started from Clarence Battery at the southern edge of St Peter Port, with the halfway turning point at Fort Pezeries on the south-west tip of the island.

Head torches were at a premium and Scott cannily tucked in behind a local runner as he figured he’d know where he was going.

The Peel man had totally underestimated the number of steps involved - a mix of gnarly, irregular, stoney, muddy, wooden and often steep.

Scott followed his ’guide’ for the first 13 miles, in fifth position. About half-a-mile before the turnaround point they went past the third-place runner and Scott then went past his running partner on a downhill section and put a few seconds on him as they reached the checkpoint at Fort Pezeries.

He stuck with his plan to take it easy on the ups and push harder on the downs, with the only issue being the steps.

Cramp set in with about six miles remaining - everything from hamstrings to quads and calves. At one stage he stood with his hands on his knees at the top of yet another set of steps, to take a breather.

Despite the agony of cramp taking over, he decided that even taking a breather was hard work and the only thing for it was to push on and get the thing finished.

Finish he did, in a time of 5hr 37min in what he initially assumed was third place - only to be presented with a medal and a tankard for finishing second. It turned out that one of the other two competitors that had been ahead of him had dropped out on the return leg.

The route was slightly shorter, and with less ascent that advertised, so instead of being 2,300ft of ascent and 31 miles in length it turned out to be 28 miles in length with 9,900 feet of ascent. Nevertheless it was an arduous run, made even tougher by the high number of steps to be climbed.