James Bassett of Peel completed the non-stop 147-mile Viking Way Ultra cross country race in a time of 39 hours over the weekend.

He finished joint third in the event, which began from the Humber Bridge, near Hull and finished at Oakham, close to Rutland water. It started at 7am on Saturday and there were eight checkpoints along the way with water and some basic food. Competitors were permitted access to their own drop-bags at 50 and 100 miles.

Bassett reported that it rained for most of the first 20 hours, bar a brief spell of sunshine late on Saturday morning. ‘After months of rain the course was muddy and very slippery underfoot. It was mostly off-road with many miles of farm lanes and muddy fields to cross. There was no GPS, so navigation was by map and compass.

‘I lost one of my maps shortly after 100 miles and ended up completely lost in a village with no idea where I was or where I was going.

‘I had to phone the race director from a junction and read out place names to him from a road sign. He directed me to turn right, after which I followed roads for 3.5 miles until I was back on course where I met up with two of the other runners, Colin Crowhurst and Ian Leach, who I had been running with earlier.

‘We decided we would work together and just try and finish before the 40-hour cut-off.

‘The rain and sleet soon started again and kept it up until the finish. We ended up making a few more navigational errors and adding on some more miles, but finally finished, together, in 39 hours exactly.’

They were joint third and the last to reach the finish. Of the 29 who had entered, only 22 had made the start.

Back home on Tuesday, James added: ‘I have a swollen knee, some blistered toes and chafing but otherwise I survived unharmed. I just feel like I could sleep for a week!’

A pension administrator for Boal & Co, Bassett was the joint winner of the 253-mile Lon Las Ultra, UK’s longest non-stop road race, running the length of Wales from Holyhead to Cardiff in mid-October 2021.

The 46-year-old’s next race is the classic Thames Ring 250-miler in late April from Oxford to London.

James has never tackled the Montane Spine Race that fellow Peel man Orran Smith is attempting next month, but says he will be cheering him on via the tracker.