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100 Marathons in 100 Days Across India | Hannah Cox and Project Salt Run
62 Plays2 hours ago
What happens when someone who only started running a year ago decides to run 100 marathons in 100 days?
In this episode of the UKRunChat Podcast, Michelle speaks with Hannah Cox, the founder of the Better Business Network and the woman behind Project Salt Run — a world-first endurance challenge running the length of India’s historic Inland Customs Line.
Over 100 days Hannah covered 4,224 kilometres, completing 75 marathons and 23 ultramarathons across 11 Indian states.
But this story isn’t about elite performance.
It’s about perseverance, purpose, and people power.
Running through extreme heat, pollution, illness and injury, Hannah and her small support team followed a forgotten colonial boundary once used to enforce the salt tax — transforming it into a route of connection, community and climate action.
Along the way they were welcomed into homes, fed by strangers, and supported by a growing global community of people who believed in the mission.
Project Salt Run has already raised £90,000 for charities working for people and the planet, with a long-term goal of raising £1 million.
In this episode we talk about:
- How Hannah went from beginner runner to 100 marathons
- The story behind the historic Inland Customs Line
- The toughest physical and mental moments on the road
- The power of community and kindness
- Why ordinary people still have the power to create change
Donate to the campaign
https://givestar.io/gs/project-salt-run
Website
www.projectsaltrun.com
Follow the journey
Instagram / TikTok / Facebook: @projectsaltrun
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Overview of Project Salt Run
00:00:00
UKRunChat
Hi everyone, welcome to the UK Run Chat Podcast. I'm Michelle and if you're new here, this is the podcast where we explore all the stories behind the miles. Today's episode is one of those stories that really makes you rethink what's possible. My guest today is Hannah Cox and she's just completed something extraordinary. 100 marathon distances in 100 days across India. Now the the expedition called Project Salt Run, which we'll chat about, covered more than 4,200 kilometres.
00:00:32
UKRunChat
and But this story isn't about elite performance. and Hannah is relatively new to running and she's never really done anything like this before. So we're going to be chatting today about how you can say yes before potentially you feel ready for something and also about the very important cause behind Project Salt Run, which is all about raising money for important climate and change charities.
Inspiration and Historical Significance
00:00:58
UKRunChat
So Hannah, welcome to the UK Run Chat Podcast. Thanks so much for coming on.
00:01:02
Hannah
Thanks for having me, Richelle. I'm excited to chat.
00:01:06
UKRunChat
Yeah, so we were just chatting briefly before we hit record and i was saying like, we we this is a huge, huge kind of challenge really. And the first we heard of it was in was in January when we were contacted to say that you you were very nearly finished, weren't you? Because you you kind of crossed the line um in, um the was it the 1st of February when you finished it? So it wasn't that long ago, was it?
00:01:28
Hannah
Yeah, it was the 2nd of February that we crossed the finish line. We started on the 26th of October. um so yeah, while you were enjoying Halloween, Christmas, New Year's, I was running. Yeah.
00:01:42
UKRunChat
across India, it's remarkable. So tell us about the idea behind Project Salt Run then for listeners who might not have heard of it before. Just kind of tell us what you set out to do and what it's all about.
00:01:54
Hannah
Yeah. ah So basically Project Salt Run was a route along an old Inland Customs Line that existed in the 19th century. ah It was created by the East India Company to enforce assault attacks in India.
00:02:06
Hannah
And this customs line led to really to the deaths of millions of Indians. So it's a really terrible, tragic story about how businesses take taking more than they need and not thinking about... people and the planet when they're doing so.
00:02:18
Hannah
um so I've always been fascinated in the story of the Inland Customs line specifically because it was such a long line and most of it was a giant hedge and it was actually called the Great Hedge of India. So it was this crazy, you imagine like an 18 foot high, 12 foot deep hedge manned by 14,000 British army officers. It was really sort of a Disney villain sort of like crazy story.
00:02:45
Hannah
And I always knew I wanted to travel the length of the hedge. I thought I'd probably do it by ah easier means, like a motorbike or a tuk-tuk. And then through a series of crazy events over about 72 hours, really, in Bristol, about two years ago, in which I met one of the co-founders of the Green Runners. My friend Dan had started Ultra Running, and it was Bristol Running Show.
00:03:07
Hannah
By the end of that weekend, I decided I was going to try and run the hedge, which worked out 100 marathons in 100 days.
00:03:16
UKRunChat
Wow. So were you a runner at that point then? Because you you only started running in 2024, didn't you?
00:03:21
Hannah
Yeah, so I wasn't actually a runner at that point. I helped out at the ah the running show on the Green Runner's Store, but I felt a bit of fraud because I didn't even ah own any running shoes. I started officially running around
Training and Preparation for the Challenge
00:03:35
Hannah
28th of May was my, 2024 was my first run, official training run for Project Salt Run.
00:03:35
UKRunChat
you
00:03:41
Hannah
So we're still we're still within two years of being a runner at this point. So very, very quickly from starting to run to doing my first ultra marathon in five months, did the coast to coast of the UK around 13 months into my running journey and then obviously Project Salt Run about 18 months into my running journey.
00:04:03
UKRunChat
Wow. ah Yeah, it's it's incredible. i'm I'm a bit speechless, to be honest, Hannah, because what what an achievement. So there's ah there's a personal connection there, though, as well, isn't there, with you through your father's history in India?
00:04:09
Hannah
Yeah.
00:04:13
UKRunChat
Is that right?
00:04:14
Hannah
Yeah, that's right. So my dad's from Kolkata. I can trace my dad's side of the family back to 1799 in India. um So I was just always always fascinated with the culture of the the country, what it would have been like when my family lived there. So it was through delving into learning more about Indian history that I learned about the Great Hedge of India. And it's it's a very little known story.
00:04:34
Hannah
um Many people in India we met had never heard of it, even though it was in their country 150 years ago. Many English people have never heard of it. um So the run was a mission in regards to the training and the physicality of running 100 marathons in 100 days, which I'm sure is the thing that you're excited about because this a running podcast.
00:04:55
Hannah
But there was lots there was ah lots of um layers to the run.
00:04:55
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:04:59
Hannah
The fact it was a historical route, it was telling the story of that Inland Customs line about how businesses nowadays should be making the world a better place, not a worse place. How can we raise money for charities that are making the world a better place?
00:05:12
Hannah
um And how can we highlight this story? And it had never been done before. So it was a world first as well. So there was lots of exciting parts of the project Sort One story that we were telling over the 100 days when we were out in India.
00:05:26
UKRunChat
So with with this being something that had never been done, did did it feel achievable to you, particularly coming at it from a non-runner as well, or or did it feel like this huge kind of impossible thing? What what were your thoughts at the time of saying yes?
00:05:41
Hannah
Well, I saw that the length of the hedge was just over 4,000 kilometres. Then I saw that it finished a few hundred kilometres from where my dad was born in Kolkata. And then from there, it was ah is about 80 kilometres to the border. So the idea of running 100 marathons in 100 days was really based along, oh, that's actually how long this route could take. Um,
00:06:04
Hannah
And I, at the time, if I'm honest, it was a bit of a sound bite, sounded good. I hadn't even, I even Googled to see if anyone had ever even done it before, because I was like, I don't even know if anyone's even done that.
00:06:12
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:06:15
Hannah
Um, and I think probably my naivety as a runner, um probably made it easier for me to think that I could do it because I had no idea how difficult it was to run one marathon, let alone a hundred.
00:06:30
UKRunChat
yeah
00:06:30
Hannah
um, um My training really from beginner runner to today has only ever been to be able to run 100 marathons in 100 days. So actually finishing Project Salt Run has been very much, and I'm sure we'll get it into it later, very much get back. And I'm like, well, that's what I've trained for. So what's the next thing? Like how...
00:06:53
Hannah
How do you compare any sort of training plan afterwards to that?
00:06:56
UKRunChat
Yes, good question.
00:06:56
Hannah
ah So, yeah, so, but it was, it was all about endurance, all about time on feet. um It wasn't about being speedy and it wasn't, um yeah, it was about being brave in the way that, you know, when to slow down, when to listen to your body, when to listen to those niggles is lots of runners here will know the most important thing is to be as injury free for as long as possible whenever you're running or training for something.
Logistics and Support for the Expedition
00:07:21
UKRunChat
Yeah, absolutely. What were people around you saying at the time when you set yourself this challenge?
00:07:27
Hannah
Well, everyone thought it was nuts, which is fair, especially people that knew me well and knew I wasn't sporty. So for context to anyone listening to the podcast, I was not and have never been a sporty person. um You know, I'd do anything to get out. I think I had my period for like four years constantly every week through secondary school. I never wanted, know, I was always trying to get out of PE at secondary school. Haven't participated in any sports since um in my twenty s or my thirty s Started hiking a little bit in my 30s. So I would, you know, ah I live in the Peak District, so I do a lot of hiking. But beyond that and kind of cycling my bike around town, you know, I was didn't have really have an exercise regime, wasn't fit, wasn't healthy. um However, I did have runner friends and my runner friends thought it was completely insane.
00:08:15
Hannah
But then they knew how determined I was to make it happen. Yeah.
00:08:19
UKRunChat
Yeah. Okay. So how did you start preparing yourself physically then?
00:08:25
Hannah
So like any any other kind of race or one that you do, it was all about breaking it down into achievable bits. So I thought I gave myself 18 months to get ready for Project Salt Run. So my first thought was like, well, I need to find out if I can actually run a marathon. So I looked at how long people...
00:08:43
Hannah
learn that and it was too long obviously so I was like right I reckon I can do a do an ultra marathon in six months and I actually ran the Lady Bar 52 kilometers in um September of the first year I started running
00:08:46
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:08:58
Hannah
And then and then it was about how do I incorporate multi day training and events into my life. And obviously, as somebody that um that has, you know, two full time jobs, lives on a boat.
00:09:13
Hannah
you know it it's you know It was having to like you know manage everything else outside of that. So i did I started to look at just multi-day running and also putting endurance in there as well. So we did lots of strength and conditioning, but then the next big challenge I looked at was a year into my ah running journey I did three three by the sea I called it which was three ultras in three days along the Pembrokeshire coast then in the June I did the coast to coast which is 302 kilometres across west to east across the UK I then did a challenge where I did
00:09:48
Hannah
ah For three weeks weeks, Monday to Friday, I ran 20 kilometers every single day around my work. um And a lot of I spoke to a lot of ultra runners. I listened to a lot of podcasts. um ah So I was listening to people like...
00:10:05
Hannah
Damien Hall talking about running, Jasmine Paris talking about running, anyone that had done multi-day things like Nick Butter, who's run a marathon in in every country in the world, like Deo Katu, who'd run from Africa to the UK, Ross Cook, who ran Africa.
00:10:22
Hannah
basically anyone that I could see, anyone that i could listen to, Nikki Love, who ran across Australia, you know, that it is one of those things, Michelle, you'll know this. It's always like, you think you don't know anything about ultra running.
00:10:33
Hannah
And suddenly now I know the names of all these other ultra runners.
00:10:35
UKRunChat
yes
00:10:36
Hannah
Um,
00:10:36
UKRunChat
but
00:10:37
Hannah
But you realise that there are a bunch of nutters out there, but there aren't many of you. So actually a lot of the people I reached out to asking for advice and support were happy to jump on a call, happy to give it to me. um And they made me feel confident that I was able to do it.
00:10:52
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's incredible. that That tells you how good the running community is, actually, that people are prepared to give up time to do that for you.
00:10:56
Hannah
Yes.
00:10:59
UKRunChat
What did you learn? What kind of nuggets stick out in your mind that you took from people like that?
00:11:04
Hannah
um the to Two main for ultra running were... um learn how to run and eat real food as in like be able to run on a full stomach so I could eat and was while I was doing Project Sport 1 eating a full meal and running straight away afterwards so stomach you know the stomach is a is your strongest muscle when you're running um making sure you're you're fueling enough um and properly as well as like you know hydrating I feel like that's a bit of an obvious one and then the second thing around
00:11:15
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:11:37
Hannah
ultra running specifically for multi-day is many of the runners I spoke to said the first two to three weeks will absolutely break you but if you can get through the first two through two weeks you're going to be able to do it so when I actually went to India my thought was I've done three weeks worth of running at 20k a day I'll be fine I've done I've gone through that pain cave part of it I'll be absolutely fine
00:12:04
UKRunChat
Yeah, and were you?
00:12:05
Hannah
No, it was awful. the first two the first the first
00:12:08
UKRunChat
I'll come answer that in here.
00:12:10
Hannah
yeah The first couple of weeks were awful, but they were it was the expected awfulness. um And I was very lucky.
00:12:16
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:12:18
Hannah
Natalie, Alex, Joelle, who are all out with me, and Asghar Maja, our driver and helper, were fantastic you know had an incredible crew um you can't do anything like Project Salt Run without an amazing crew and they were all completely selfless for those first three weeks um really helping me get through that after that I did struggle with a lot of illness throughout the run and a lot of weight loss but just because I was you know eating trying to keep up the calories when you're running so much every day but um
00:12:49
Hannah
Yeah, those are the two things. Food, eat eat enough food and just realise that there is an end to the pain.
00:12:56
UKRunChat
Well, yeah, yeah. And it does get better after that, I'm guessing.
00:12:58
Hannah
Yeah.
00:12:58
UKRunChat
I've never done anything like that, but I suppose it gets not easier, but you can kind of cope with it a bit better.
00:13:05
Hannah
Yeah, exactly.
00:13:06
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah. So just because you, how did your body respond then to training, to going straight from nothing to ultra marathons? Because you were, you were managing scoliosis as well.
00:13:17
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:13:17
Hannah
Yes, so I've got a double curve in my spine um and one leg slightly shorter than the other. And I think for years I used that as an excuse to not really do much exercise because I was I've got a bad back. And actually I did – my back was so bad in my 30s that I was on about – I would say 18 painkillers a day. i had a back brace. I used to occasionally use a walking stick when the pain got really bad. So it it it wasn't a joke. You know, I was ah did really struggle, but actually movement and and hiking and walking really helped with my back pain and and strengthening my body.
00:13:50
Hannah
um But I guess i would I was trained by Nina Davis, who's an incredible running coach and It was very different. I'm sure it was very different training for her. But when I went, my training was never about things like heart rate or pace. It was one for 30 minutes or one for 5K. So I was always heading out for...
00:14:13
Hannah
A 30 minute run didn't matter how long it took, like how far I went or a distance. And it didn't matter how long it took me. So I, I never really spent a lot of time on like intervals or like, i mean, I probably should have done more intervals and hill work and stuff on my speed, but actually it was just all about time on feet. It was all about getting used to being out for as long as you possibly can and as often as you can. and So time on feet was just a really really big part of the training for me.
00:14:44
UKRunChat
Yeah, and I guess, like you say, just forgetting about how long it takes you or or anything worrying about
00:14:48
Hannah
Yeah, exactly.
Daily Routine and Overcoming Initial Challenges
00:14:50
UKRunChat
at all.
00:14:50
Hannah
Just not worrying about that all. and for my And again, because if I got injured, that would have just been an absolute nightmare in regards to pushing back any sort of training I was able to do.
00:15:02
Hannah
Even if I had the slightest niggle or the slightest feeling that I didn't feel good, I would either start walking or if I really felt it wasn't okay, not just not one at all because I just didn't want to risk any so any sort of injury while I was training. I also just I've never really been at someone that's run very fast, but also if I was running and I felt myself getting out of breath or I thought I couldn't hold a conversation with somebody at this point, I would slow my running right down.
00:15:31
Hannah
And you almost have to... um take away your pride when it comes to running, like not being embarrassed about running really slowly, not being embarrassed about having to take a walking break because you need to just gather yourself before you get to the next, you know, before you get to the end.
00:15:48
Hannah
I've never been embarrassed about walking. I've never been embarrassed about my... um speed or my pace I think that can be for many people that can be um a confidence thing and and a difficult part of running is you know seeing other people when you're out in your kit and being like oh but they must be thinking I'm running too slow or it's embarrassing when I walk and it's like no you've I think you know you should be applauding anyone who's getting out there and moving their body it doesn't matter how fast they do it
00:16:13
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Just like leave the egos at home and just go and do it.
00:16:18
Hannah
yeah
00:16:19
UKRunChat
and So you you say you had the help of a running coach. Did you imp employ any other people to help you with other aspects of training?
00:16:26
Hannah
No. So i knew i wanted to really focus on real food when I was running. And I knew that we didn't have access to a lot of foods that we have in the UK when we were running. So um a focus for me was about what is the type of food that's going to be out in India and how and can I run on that food?
00:16:45
Hannah
So i I focused on just like things like, you know, rice, peanut brittle, just stuff I knew I could buy out there. We'd be able to get in the supermarkets and foods and stuff. I did get some, we did Nina and I did do a sweat test with a precision hydration sweat test.
00:17:01
Hannah
And I found out that I am a low salty sweater, which is very good, especially if you're, which I was very lucky to have that.
00:17:05
UKRunChat
You're very lucky, yes.
00:17:08
Hannah
um Which meant that once I started to do longer runs, you know, 15, 20 K, I was then able to start using knowing how to use electrolytes within my running and how many electrolytes I needed and then beyond that we I went down to London two weeks before I flew to India and I spent some time at the altitude centre and I did heat acclimation training which is basically when you run on a treadmill in a sauna with the humidity up for an hour every day that for 10 days and it
00:17:36
UKRunChat
Right. Wow. Yeah.
00:17:43
Hannah
got my body ready for running in the heat. So those were really the only, the only things we looked at.
00:17:46
UKRunChat
yeah
00:17:49
Hannah
I wasn't, again, you know, this was a world first, so I knew i was going to be the fastest person doing it anyway, but you know, I'm not an athlete. So, you know, I wasn't, ah you know, and I'm 40, 42 few months, you know, i'm I would have felt ridiculous having like gels and all this like palaver. And I didn't need it. What I needed was endurance, mindset, um and a good team around me. and i And I'm lucky I had all those, all three of those.
00:18:18
UKRunChat
yeah so you only had quite a small support crew though didn't you but I guess all that you you knew them all really well and really important to to just help you with it just yeah give them a shout out
00:18:30
Hannah
Yeah, definitely. So actually, Joelle, I'd known for eight years, we met because we both love to travel and adventure. And he's his work is running adventures around the world. So I knew he'd be great.
00:18:41
Hannah
um to help with the route. um But Joelle, again, he's known me for years and was shocked when I told him the idea of Project Salt Run. Actually, Natalie and Alex, I didn't know very well. I actually only met them probably about a month after I came up with the idea of Project Salt Run.
00:18:56
Hannah
However, we met crewing for our friend Dan, um doing the but who was doing the Paddy Buckley, which is a twenty four hour um mountain race in in the Welsh Hills, which is self-supported. And actually that weekend, Dan had maybe about 60 people like helping him do this, this Paddy Buckley, you know, drivers, pacers, film crew, um everything. And um I met Natalie and Alex. There were a couple, couple,
00:19:24
Hannah
crewing for Dan and i they were amazing crew. And I just thought though they would be the perfect people to come out. They're a couple. So they could, you know, that they they really obviously get on really well.
00:19:35
Hannah
and Alex just so happens to be a co-operative. So I was like, brilliant. I've got someone looking after my feet every day.
00:19:40
UKRunChat
Yes.
00:19:42
Hannah
um And Natalie um lived in Manchester, as ah also worked in Manchester. So we could do training runs together and run together. we spent a lot of time um kind of training together and you get to know somebody very well when you're when you're out running with them as you know um and she's an incredible athlete as well Natalie and Alex are both really good runners so
Charitable Goals and Environmental Impact
00:20:05
Hannah
um i knew that they'd be really good support crew in that way too and Natalie's probably one of the strongest women I know both emotionally and physically so um so i knew she'd be a fantastic person to have out on the road
00:20:18
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's brilliant. So so you've done, what you see, you did all your training. did you Did you feel ready kind of when you were ready to get to to fly out there or were you thinking what to sign up for?
00:20:22
Hannah
yep
00:20:29
Hannah
Absolutely not, no. I mean, you have to remember that you know we didn't have huge sponsors. we didn't have i mean I think when we finished the run, we we had only just hit 5,000 followers on Instagram. So even now, we've got a very small audience.
00:20:45
Hannah
What was difficult for me more than the running was I was trying to organise the expedition budget, the crew, the visas, um the logistics of being in India, how my businesses were going to run when I was out of the country. um I live on a boat, so how was I going to completely move house when I was leaving? So there was so much to think about logistically in the lead up to business.
00:21:09
Hannah
India, I was joking about, you know, a month before I left, like, God, I can't wait till all I have to do is run every day. And like, because I'm just trying to juggle so many different things. i I wonder whether if my only focus had been the running, I'd be more, I had been more nervous about it.
00:21:26
Hannah
and But there were so many moving parts to organise and figure out and in the lead up to the run that I almost didn't have an, all I all i could think about when it came to the running was get your training done, then get your to-do list done.
00:21:27
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:21:39
UKRunChat
yeah Yeah. So it must have felt like kind of a relief to be on that start line then, really.
00:21:45
Hannah
It was amazing. In fact, Alex's visa didn't come through. So we got to the airport and Alex wasn't allowed on the plane. So he then ah ended up having to go back to a friend's house for a couple of days and his visa got sorted. So actually, we had to push back the start day and by one day ah because we were waiting for Alex to get in the country, basically, so we could drive to the start line. Yeah.
00:22:07
Hannah
But it was such a relief to get to the start line. However, even when we were there, for anybody that's had to organise any sort of really ah big challenge like this, we didn't have enough money to finish the challenge when we left for the challenge. So the pressure was still on from a kind of financial point of view.
00:22:29
Hannah
Right, we're here. we've We've started. We've got the van, but we haven't got enough money to pay for the van, to pay for food, to pay for anything after about three weeks. So I just had to kind of lean in and trust the universe at that point that it would figure itself out.
00:22:43
Hannah
And luckily ah it did.
00:22:45
UKRunChat
Yeah, so so how were you managing that during in the run then? Were you you crowdfunding for the project?
00:22:50
Hannah
Yes. So we started a crowd funder um for the project. um We managed to raise overall quite a lot of money on there, maybe about £80,000, of which um there was a ah donation from um the Better Business Network, which I run.
00:23:08
Hannah
um and sponsors and members of the Better Business Network. and It was, you know, people don't realise just how expensive the undertakings of things like this are. um So we were crowdfunding to put the to for the run to happen.
00:23:23
Hannah
And then we were also, once we got to India, we started raising money for the four charities that we fundraised for. We did that on GiveStar. And the reason we did it on two different platforms is there is sometimes...
00:23:35
Hannah
Well, two twofold, really. Sometimes people fundraise on a platform and you don't know how much of the money that you're giving is going to the charity or is going to make the challenge happen.
00:23:44
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:23:47
Hannah
um And I know there is a......provide the opportunity for ah the the charities to get, you know, promoted and everything. But...
00:23:58
Hannah
Reality is they are very expensive to put on the but put on big expeditions. So we wanted to be really clear to people, if you're giving us money, this is what your money will be spent on. And i I kind of did want to highlight a little bit like um that background.
00:24:11
Hannah
i speak I've spoken to a few adventurers, maybe a few or expedition leaders, and it's crazy the amount of money things cost and the amount of debt people come back to the UK in after doing after doing charity challenges.
00:24:26
UKRunChat
Thank you.
00:24:27
Hannah
um So, yeah, it's just really good, I think, to be as transparent with people as possible who are supporting us when we're out on the road. And GiveStar is a great platform because it allows you as a someone donating, anyone that you donate to on GiveStar kind of sits on your profile. So you start to build this kind of legacy of impact as an individual when you give to people who are fundraising on GiveStar. And they do a lot of support to all their and fundraisers as well. So, yeah, that's that's how we did it.
00:24:56
UKRunChat
Yeah, oh that's nice. Well, tell us about your charities. Now seems a good time before we get into the actual, the run.
00:25:01
Hannah
Yes, and so we i knew I wanted to have a focus on why businesses need to be a make the world a better place. It's obviously what my work is about, so it's something that I i believe in wholeheartedly. um So our main aim was and how how do we do that? How do we signpost businesses to what they can do? So there's an incredible ah nonprofit called 1% for the Planet. was actually started by Patagonia. um And it's all about businesses giving 1% of their revenue to high-impact non-profits. So essentially what that means is it's a really clear way for businesses to show the impact that they're having because it's just they prove they give 1% of their revenue to ah one of the thousands of vetted charities on the 1% for the Planet platform, directly to those charities. 1% for the Planet don't take any money at all.
00:25:53
Hannah
And then with 1% for the Planet, they basically... um they check that against the company accounts and then they license a logo that that company that can then use. So 1% for the Planet is doing incredible work about kind of moving the money into the right places. And and then we wanted to highlight three incredible charities that are on their directory, one of which is called Big Change, which is reimagining education for young people. and So a social impact charity.
00:26:20
Hannah
One is called Klein Earth, which represents, it's a law firm essentially that represents the earth. So for example, they took the UK government to court for not having a good net zero strategy and won. And and they take yeah and they take they take governments to court and they take businesses to court and they represent the planet.
00:26:38
Hannah
um
00:26:38
UKRunChat
Some of these and people who like, because I've been reading about there there are rivers that are getting rights now and things.
00:26:42
Hannah
Yes.
00:26:43
UKRunChat
Yeah, okay.
00:26:43
Hannah
it's it's Yeah.
00:26:44
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:26:44
Hannah
So it's all that sort stuff. They're really cool. So they're they're called Client Earth. And I just love the way that like it's it's a clever way to use the law and legislation in the same way businesses do it to get away with not paying tax and stuff.
00:26:56
Hannah
and And this law firm is doing it to like make people take responsibility for what they're they're doing. And then the last one we fundraised for was Frank Water. ah Water scarcity and water education is a really big issue in India.
00:27:09
Hannah
There's lots of people out there in India who's still walking 30 kilometers a day to get water. You are incredibly grateful for what you have in your life when I'm running every day and I'm thinking,
00:27:21
Hannah
every day but it wasn't till I hit 30k I thought some people have had to walk this today just to get clean water for their family we were ah running daily past water you know water pumps and seeing people have to walk to get water for their homes and their families um and we were and we also ran through so much agriculture where we were seeing water intensive practices happening and it's something we don't think about in the UK because we turn on our taps you know
00:27:47
UKRunChat
We don't see that, do we? No.
00:27:49
Hannah
We just don't think about it at all because we've never had to deal with the issues. um So, yeah, water education, Frank Water do incredible stuff in India and lots of other countries, but um specifically in in India. So we wanted to support them too.
00:28:03
UKRunChat
Yeah, and you've raised £90,000 so far, but still fundraising, yes?
00:28:07
Hannah
Still fundraising. So in the same way that we were crazy enough to say 100 marathons in 100 days, we said one million pounds of people on the planet.
00:28:08
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:28:15
Hannah
I still think that could have been achievable if we'd been maybe able to just get our kind of story out to the mainstream media a bit more. um But the reality is out of all charitable giving done by people in the world, only about one to 2% of that charitable giving goes to environmental causes.
00:28:35
Hannah
even though they're the underlying underlying like needs that we have. um So we had in a way we had the difficult challenge of fundraising for something that doesn't really get fundraised for very often and also shouting into the void that is the internet as a as I'm sure you know. so um So I've still i've I've continued that to be my mission now for for my lifetime that my legacy is I want to raise one million pounds for people in the planet.
00:29:05
UKRunChat
That's incredible. I think that's what struck me with the press release that you sent because the climate crisis can feel overwhelming. Like how can one person create change? But you said that the project was about showing that ordinary people can.
00:29:18
UKRunChat
And I think that's that's brilliant, isn't it?
00:29:19
Hannah
Yeah.
00:29:20
UKRunChat
Like we just, if we all change, we can create a massive change.
00:29:25
Hannah
And we don't have to be perfect. You know, I'm not a perfect runner.
00:29:27
UKRunChat
No.
00:29:29
Hannah
And actually we found I went out doing Project Sort One thinking that business more businesses would get behind it, businesses would be where we'd get the money from and the support from.
00:29:43
Hannah
But actually what we found was we were getting a huge amount of support from individuals who just really believed in what we were trying to do. And an example of that is we of the 5,000 Instagram followers that we had, we had over a thousand donations to our gift star page, people giving, you know, everything from, um I think we, you know, we had a huge donation from XL coffee of 10,000 pounds. um But then we had individuals, you know, ah leaving us five pounds, two pounds, you know, whatever they could afford. And it was interesting to see that because people were giving what they could
00:30:23
Hannah
um And that was really powerful to see people that I did not know giving us money. And it doesn't, it's not really ever about how much money you give. It's about, you know, if if that's a lot of money to you, that's a lot of money to us. And that was, and to see people, yeah, putting their hands in their pockets and giving money to charity to a bunch of people that they didn't know ah for us was, yeah, felt incredible.
00:30:49
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's amazing, isn't it? Yeah. And that that makes the project more meaningful to you as well, doesn't it That you are impacting those people at that level.
00:30:56
Hannah
Yeah, because it wasn't, you know, it's very easy for, ah you know, I'm sure it's very easy for some big companies to whack, you know, a big charitable donation. But actually for a lot of individuals, especially in the UK at the moment, that £5 that they're donating, it you know, or £10 or £20, it could be the difference of like, you know,
00:31:11
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:31:16
Hannah
um you know coming out of their food budget this week or something like that. So it was it the generosity level was, I felt, really high. um And it proved that lots Lots of people and small actions makes a difference because that's exactly how Project Sort One happened. It was lots of people all thinking we could do something together and we and we made it
Physical and Emotional Challenges
00:31:39
Hannah
happen. So I say we could i say it's Project Sort One because it's not Hannah Cox. It was you know it was me, Natalie, Alex and Joelle.
00:31:47
Hannah
Raja and Asghar who were on the ground, but then there were hundreds of individuals and businesses that got behind us. And on the grand scale, you know, of of of the climate crisis and how many people there are in the UK, you know, probably small fry, but that didn't stop every single one of those people stepping up and doing it anyway. And that gives me so much hope for the future and being able to make a difference.
00:32:16
UKRunChat
Yeah. And we'll we'll pop a fundraising link in the show notes as well, if anybody wants have of those charities as well.
00:32:19
Hannah
Thank you.
00:32:22
UKRunChat
So take us back to that start line then, Hannah. So you you alluded earlier to how difficult those first three weeks were. So just try and talk us a little bit through the journey, because it's and it's you know it's a huge amount of time to be on your feet 100 days, isn't it, constantly?
00:32:28
Hannah
Yeah.
00:32:37
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:32:37
Hannah
Yeah, and it was, yeah, there there were a few things that I had been told was going to happen.
00:32:39
UKRunChat
bound
00:32:43
Hannah
And I thought, well, that won't happen to me. And it did. So for example, I'd i'd seen and I'd watched it, you know, when they people post their races on YouTube and the stuff, and people like running mad long distances and saying, oh I'm not hungry and not eating at the checkpoints and their support crew being like, you need to have something to eat.
00:33:00
Hannah
And then being like, look, I'm just not hungry. And I'm thinking, and I remember watching a lot of those before I went away thinking, When are you like, I'm never going to be a not hungry runner. Like I'm always going to want to eat.
00:33:10
Hannah
um How can they have just run, you know, 50k and say that they don't want anything to eat? So that was a challenge, actually, the met the pure amount of food I was having to eat every day because I just wasn't hungry. And actually, I i don't even, for example, like I don't eat breakfast. Sometimes I won't eat till lunchtime. So to get up, have to have a massive breakfast. um I was eating a massive breakfast, two meals while I was running.
00:33:36
Hannah
And I say, you know big plate, mounded plates of pasta, um, a meal when I finished running and then an evening meal. So I was eating like five, meal five massive meals a day and snacks in between. Um, and that was ah food just became so unenjoyable for me, but luckily Alex, Joel cooked it, Alex cooked it. They were just trying to mix things up as much as possible just to give, you know just try and make it an exciting kind of food.
00:34:04
Hannah
But it was a lot of it just felt like shoveling fuel down. um The first couple of weeks, the main issues were um and continue to be throughout the the run was lack of sleep. and we We were all sharing a van. So it wasn't like I was quite strict at the beginning. was like, right everyone needs to be quiet at eight o'clock. I'm going go to bed because I've got to get up early to run.
00:34:25
Hannah
But then that's just not how life is. you know So if anyone you know anyone here who lives with other people, whether that's your kids or your partner, like... Unfortunately, there's compromise involved when you live in the same house. So imagine how hard it is when you live in the same van.
00:34:39
UKRunChat
yeah
00:34:40
Hannah
So um sleep was difficult um and just my body getting used to it. The first couple of weeks was just very painful, sitting down, standing up, stretching, making sure I was doing pre-run stretches and post-run stretches and kind of religiously um to make sure that I could get through that you know every single day um but yeah the pain for the first couple of weeks just in kind of like my thighs and my you know legs and sitting down and standing up that that was pretty rough um until I got through that and yeah the food god I just it was so nice to finish running and about two or three days afterwards just not eat a lot of food because I was just so I was just so sick of eating massive meals
00:35:25
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:35:26
Hannah
um
00:35:27
UKRunChat
Were you having to like plan your calorie intake out or were you just kind of thinking i just need to eat at these times during the day?
00:35:34
Hannah
Yeah, so I wasn't thinking about anything like macros or um it was all about just getting getting in the calories. i We were also limited on what we could what we had because we were cooking on the van. We didn't really have a fridge. We didn't have a freezer.
00:35:49
Hannah
Um, so there was a lot of repetition in the foods. Um, so lots of pasta and roadside vegetables, but that was dependent on what they were selling on the roadside. Um, towards the end of the trip, we managed to like cheap cheese, which I hadn't had at the beginning. Um, so it was hard to find like high calorie things to eat apart from peanut butter. And I was just so sick of peanut butter after about three weeks. Um,
00:36:14
Hannah
Um, and what was difficult with that was often the the high calorie stuff, I'd start to get sick of eating that particular high calorie item. Um, but yeah, in regards to nutrition, I was just trying to, trying to eat as much as possible.
00:36:31
Hannah
um but I did lose a lot of weight in the first kind of 50 days. Um, but then luckily I was able to maintain that weight for the final 50 days.
00:36:41
UKRunChat
Yeah. but So paint us a picture of a typical day then during the challenge, like what time of day we're getting up, we getting up early to avoid the heat or?
00:36:47
Hannah
Yeah, so we actually started with that concept of getting up really early, avoid the heat. But actually, it didn't work because everyone was grumpy getting up early. um Because the UK, it was daytime during our nighttime, Natalie and Joelle's mainly were having to do a lot of like work in the evenings and social media and things like that so they were staying up late and then if me and Alex were getting up really early no one was really getting the sleep that they needed um and it just in my head wasn't really worth it to get those like two hours in out of the sun so we swapped that so we were actually quite it was quite relaxed I would say to towards the end so I'd set my alarm for about
00:37:14
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:37:30
Hannah
Par past seven, um get up, go outside, do my stretches, make some porridge, um have a big bowl of porridge. um Alex at that time, he'd he'd get up and he'd go do everybody's laundry. He was the laundry guy. um Then I'd set out for my first 15K, go and get that done.
00:37:52
Hannah
Then the van would meet me. I'd sit down, have a big meal. Imagine like it's a huge plate of pasta. probably sit probably for about 20 minutes, sit there, eat my food, um have a ah flask of electrolytes, refill my water bottles and my snacks, head off again, do another 15K, have the same happen again, stop eat again, refill my flasks, have my electrolytes.
00:38:18
Hannah
I was finding actually, I started with an electrolytes and a water carrying them. Then I didn't, I started to not like the taste of the electrolytes. So I would run with water and then top up my electrolytes at the at the checkpoints.
00:38:31
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:38:32
Hannah
um And then at that second checkpoint, Alex would swap my trainers and check my feet. So and I took kind of have a fresh pair of kicks for the last 12K. And then usually,
00:38:43
Hannah
um natalie about about 5k from the end would be dropped off by the van um to join me for the last 5k so she could get some some running in and get some social media content and things like that so and then once the run was finished which so that would usually take us um i'd be about i would say be about six hours moving time but actually it would take about eight hours um And then at the end of the day, it would be stretches, have a cold shower, a bucket shower in the van, and put my comfies on, have something to eat, and a couple of hours later, have something else to eat and then go to bed.
00:39:21
Hannah
So not very exciting, but, and yeah, ah not also not you know not super stressful, not really strict on time. It was like, it's literally a marathon, not sprint. So, yeah. Yeah.
00:39:35
UKRunChat
Now you mentioned trainers there. Considering you covered over 4,000 kilometers, you only went through three pairs of running shoes. Now, in a world where the running industry tells us that our shoes have run out between 300 to 400 miles, I'm quite interested in that.
00:39:41
Hannah
Yes.
00:39:49
UKRunChat
So that they coped all right, did they?
00:39:49
Hannah
Well, yes well yes yes and no. So, I wore high-low actives. They're a B Corp and a 1% for the planet trainer brand. um Their logo is ah run as if the world depends on it or something like that.
00:40:04
Hannah
And I'm like, well, that's perfect for us.
00:40:05
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:40:06
Hannah
um So, I was running in their trainers' before I went out and I had a pair of trainers of theirs I'd been training in. So I probably had about three or four months worth of miles in.
00:40:18
Hannah
And then I had two brand new pairs of their trainers. And then I also had an extra brand new pair, which were a size up just in case my feet swelled. So I went out with four pairs, but one pair i i didn't wear at all. um And I just rotated them basically on ah on a daily. They lasted till around 1000 kilometers each.
00:40:38
Hannah
I think on their website, they had on their website says 300 to 500 kilometers for their trainers. But They actually lasted a lot longer than that. Um, however, then the bottom had just completely rubbed off the bottom of the trainer.
00:40:50
Hannah
So I didn't want to change the brand cause I was just really concerned about the, you know, suddenly having a new trainer and you know, my, yeah, what's it called?
00:41:03
Hannah
Anyway, i just, yeah, I just was worried about that. And Alex was as well. So, yeah, I just found ah that they so they have like tire repair huts essentially on the sides of the road in India. And I thought, okay, no, I've been watching them repair tires with, um you know, inner tubes and and cutting out bits of tires and stuff. And I thought, well, I'm on the road. The cars are on the road. I'll just stick some tire on the bottom of my trainers because it'll be like thick tread.
00:41:33
Hannah
So i i got a couple of... in exchange for a couple of selfies got some cut up bits of tyre from these guys on the side of the road and then Alex um worked his magic and cut out the right size super glued them onto the bottom of the trainers used a scalpel to like kind of neaten up the edges and yeah I just stuck um old tyres to the bottom of all of my pairs of trainers and they lasted me till the end
00:41:55
UKRunChat
Wow.
00:41:58
UKRunChat
That's brilliant. I love it.
00:42:00
Hannah
Yeah, I've been sent, because I'm a green runner, the green runners team had given us, given me some trainer and repair stuff.
00:42:03
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:42:07
Hannah
They've got stuff called pair ups and I definitely, yes yeah, so I would definitely recommend, you know, with your trainers, it doesn't matter, you know, you can get a lot more out of them usually.
00:42:09
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah. We've had Karen on before with from the Green Wings. Yeah.
00:42:18
Hannah
um But, you know, they it was more for like the tops of the trainers. It was nothing for the soles. But the yeah, the tyres worked. Yeah.
00:42:27
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's so innovative. Yeah, it's brilliant. So what, there must have been high points and low points. What was your best day out there, would you say? What's what's your happiest memory?
00:42:39
Hannah
um I had, I mean, obviously I had loads of happy memories. I was really lucky to be experiencing something like that with my friends. um I would say we We had um the hedge doesn't exist anymore. Hedges are man-made. So basically, if you don't ah maintain a hedge, it will disappear. You know, there were bushes, but to actually maintain a hedge, it will disappear. um But we were obviously running along the rough the bu path.
00:43:06
UKRunChat
Mm-hmm.
00:43:08
Hannah
150 years ago, lots of roads, you know, landscapes change, et cetera. But Joelle had said, oh we you know, there's a bit where the Inland Customs Line runs along the canal here. And I've looked on Google Earth and I'm sure that there's some of the terracotta pathway there is the Inland Customs Line. So we had an idea that we might kind of discover some of it when we were when we got to that point, which is a couple of weeks in.
00:43:32
Hannah
And we know, we knew that like the British engineered roads when they were in India were like those, with what we're used to in the UK, the sort of like terracotta bricks like this.
00:43:41
UKRunChat
so good. Yeah.
00:43:42
Hannah
And, um, And yeah, we got we got to the canal and we found the Inland Customs Line still there, along running along the canal.
00:43:52
UKRunChat
soak
00:43:54
Hannah
And then we were running along it and there was like these old buildings that were clearly like the old custom houses which had gone to ruin. And it honestly felt, I felt like Indiana Jones or like ah like I just discovered Tutankhamun.
00:44:08
Hannah
It was like, I cannot believe This is the Inland Customs Line still existing 150 years ago. If this was in the UK, this would be some sort of like cultural heritage walk or something. But actually, it's just in the middle of nowhere, along a canal, villages using it, obviously not knowing the cultural significance of it. but We tried to talk to a few people. Everyone was like, we don't know what you're talking about.
00:44:30
Hannah
And that was like actually running along it, like the terracotta path was... incredible. It was, you know, especially after weeks of running along a national highway where I was like, you know, really, really didn't feel like i was connecting with the land or the culture.
00:44:46
Hannah
And yeah, that was, I would say that was one of the many, many highlights was just that moment of discovering the Inland Customs line in real life.
00:44:54
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's lovely. And did you chat to many people on route? Did you tell them about what you were doing?
00:44:59
Hannah
We did. we um We had written in Hindi and Urdu on the sides of the van what we were doing. um We had also got Asghar, our driver, to explain Project Sort Run in Hindi and so that we could show people the videos. Asghar's English is good, but it's not fantastic.
00:45:18
Hannah
ah We used a lot of Google Translate when we were talking to each other. Our Hindi was pretty much non-existent as a group.
00:45:22
UKRunChat
Thank you.
00:45:27
Hannah
if i um you know If money had been no object, then a translator would have been a huge hugely important, useful part of the trip. However...
00:45:38
Hannah
We did have a lot of Indians who spoke English, who were who could translate for us. um So along the route, actually, lots of people were translating and trying to trying to help us. um But the majority of people we met had never heard of the Inland Customs Line. They do learn about the East India Company and school in India. Obviously, they've learned about British Empire and Gandhi and the salt tax, which was, you know,
00:46:00
Hannah
50, 60 years after the Inland Customs Line was there, that Gandhi's Salt March was was so famous.
High Points and Crew Dynamics
00:46:07
Hannah
But yeah, it was interesting that people didn't know about the story, but that's also was part of the story because it's like how much hidden history there is around us. And if we don't continue to tell the stories of our experiences, then we're never going to be, then the people in the future aren't going to know about that. So We did meet, um we went to the village that Roy Moxham, who wrote the book The Great Hedge of India, um visited and found a part of the hedge. we fact We visited the same people, found the same parts of the hedge. I've got a piece of the hedge at home. I don't know if I was allowed to take those leaves out of India, but so don't don't have a go at me. But yes, I have got some leaves that I took with me.
00:46:50
Hannah
Yeah, I mean, people were just so... I mean, India's an incredible country, chaotic, but so generous. And people were just so kind and generous the whole trip. It was amazing.
00:47:07
UKRunChat
Yes, there was a story about a man who drove for 12 hours to bring you biscuits or something.
00:47:12
Hannah
Yes. So Alex made a friend in the in the car park because our van was avan had a picture of the map of ind India on showing where I was running. it had the logos of all the businesses that have sponsored us. We'd had the van kind of wrapped, Project Salt Run. And most evenings we would sleep in a petrol station forecourt because it was a safe place. We could plug the electric in. They usually had washing facilities there.
00:47:36
Hannah
So it was very unglamorous. We'd finish and we'd literally go to a petrol station, cook outside, that you know be at the petrol station food court with our table and chairs, eating pasta, and then sleeping at petrol stations.
00:47:49
Hannah
And Alex just started chatting to a guy at the petrol station who turned out to sell biscuits and he um and he was asking about when we were in Agra and um Alex told him and he he drove 12 miles to bring his biscuits a couple of weeks later, which was insane. But I mean, that just that just shows the generosity of Indian people there's just a curiosity and i just so want to support and help um and we had that so many times to our trip of people seeing the van stopping bringing us food bringing us dinner um yeah um inviting us to sleep in their homes giving up their beds for us um yeah we we we were so so lucky to to have that experience
00:48:33
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's so lovely, isn't it? Yeah.
00:48:36
Hannah
yeah
00:48:37
UKRunChat
So what what were the with were the tough, there must have been tough moments in the 100 days. What was the...
00:48:42
Hannah
Yeah, of course. Of course, there were tough moments. I mean, we weren't trying to shield. We weren't trying to keep them quiet. But you have to remember, there was four of us, you know, from the yeah UK. Obviously, there were moments where I was having a bad day or Nat was having a bad day or Alex. and Did we feel the need to share that all over social media? Not really. Was that going to help the situation? No, it wasn't. Yeah.
00:49:06
Hannah
You know, we were lucky in the way that when that happens a few times, when someone's having a bad day, you just recognise actually um I need to be a bit i i need to be a bit ah mindful of the fact that they're just having a bad day and maybe they're snapping and maybe they're annoyed. um But that might be me in two days. So I just need to you know just need to let people breathe and have a bit of space.
00:49:27
Hannah
Understanding that, you know, arguments and or even when you know arguments sometimes just don't need to happen and conversations don't need to happen, things can be left. we You can be annoyed about something, but you can kind of sit on it for a day or two before deciding, is that worth bringing up with that person? is it or or actually...
00:49:47
Hannah
after two days of you know being annoyed about it, actually, that's fine.
Completion and Reflection on the Journey
00:49:51
Hannah
um So that was tough. you know The dynamics of there being four of you on on in a small space with different personalities. um That said, um you know we had an amazing time, but it's just like it wasn't all sunshine and roses all the time.
00:50:07
Hannah
And it was hard, especially when people were ill and every single member of the team um went through illness when we were out there. and Natalie ended up having to be put on, you know, going to hospital. Alex ended up having medical help as well. And so did i um So we we all have were sick. And also, it's just tiring being, about you know, it was relentless. You know, yes, I was running every single day, but every single person on that team was pulling 12, 14 hour work days, you know, yeah,
00:50:40
Hannah
i i i would ah I would hazard to argue their job was harder because i was getting almost all the praise for doing all the running and it was like, oh, honey, you're so amazing. And then, you know, they'd all be there like, Alex has been up since seven doing the laundry in like a cold bucket in a, in a petrol station forecourt.
00:50:56
Hannah
Natalie's been trying to create an Instagram reel with dodgy internet till 10 o'clock at night, even though she's knackered because she wants, you need to get something up that day or, and she's also been for a run that day. And she's also, you know, they're juggling lots of things. So they were definitely the unsung heroes of the trip.
00:51:15
Hannah
That was, I imagine that was very difficult for all of them. um, But it just made me incredibly grateful, not only for the life that I have, but also for the friends I have.
00:51:26
UKRunChat
Yeah. what What was it like ah kind of getting to the Bangladeshi border then and finishing that run? What would what were your feelings?
00:51:33
Hannah
It's just absolutely surreal. So I actually had two days before when we'd been running into Kolkata, I stupidly had put kneecap on my Spotify. And if you know that band, they're like an Irish um band who play very fast music. And I had put the music on and I was like smashing away down this path in Kolkata. And it was really big. It's really busy in Kolkata. So the way to navigate yourself when running through traffic is ah is just keep the same speed so that the cars know what you're doing so the combination of me trying to keep my speed the same and also having too fast music musical making me run too fast I got really bad shin splints and I thought at the time it might be a stress fracture and so actually those last and it it was you know typical it was
00:52:07
UKRunChat
Oh,
00:52:25
Hannah
so close to the end and I i just went out too hard for the last couple of days. It was awful. um It led to that to day 98. We were went out with a run club and I was running around... um a park in Kolkata loops to get my marathon done and I just could not finish the last 6k there was just there was nothing left so I ended up just walking um the last 6k and it took me ages to finish the marathon that day um on day 99 me and Alex came out with me and at that point I actually thought I had a stress fracture in my left leg and I was crying because was
00:53:08
Hannah
knew I was going to finish because I was like, to it was day 99. I was like, I'm not going to not finish. but like But I knew it was going to be complete and utter agony to do so.
00:53:19
Hannah
um But then I woke up on day 100 and I don't know what the universe helped me with that night. But somehow I went to bed, took a bunch painkillers, woke up in the morning, felt okay. And then I think just that it was such a blur that last day. It was almost...
00:53:38
Hannah
ah like I can i only put it akin to I've never got married, but I can just imagine it when I, when my friends who've got married, tell me about their wedding day. It was that like, I was elated.
00:53:47
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:53:48
Hannah
I was excited. i didn't want to miss a moment of it, but I didn't know what was going on the whole time. Like, I was like smiling from ear to ear and it went ah it finished so quickly. And by the time we got to the Bangladeshi border, it's almost like I was so high on life, I didn't know what to do with myself.
00:54:07
Hannah
um But that that's what i that's what I imagine getting married feels like. That sort of like having all your favourite people around you, just having a brilliant day. That was day 100 for me. i I absolutely loved it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
00:54:23
UKRunChat
But not the 99 before
Post-Run Life and Future Plans
00:54:24
UKRunChat
it.
00:54:25
Hannah
Not the 99 before, yeah.
00:54:28
UKRunChat
So what what happens after Hannah? Like, how do you come down from that? but Because that's huge. And then suddenly, i mean, you didn't come back straight away to the UK, did you?
00:54:32
Hannah
Okay.
00:54:36
UKRunChat
But kind of what's life like now for you? And what's next, I guess?
00:54:40
Hannah
Yeah, I mean, I don't, it's it's hard. So we did 100 marathon distance. um However, because I had quite a bad bout of illness halfway through the run, it ended up being 75 marathons and 23 ultra marathons. to So it was 100 marathon distance, but it was the equivalent of, nine ah in my head, 98 marathons. So kindly the London Marathon ah events have allowed me to do 99 and 100 at Brighton and London this year as a green runner to promote being a green runner and also to help continue to fundraise and showcase one raising money for Project Salt Run but also that continue the story of like you don't have to be good you just have to go for it
00:55:26
Hannah
um And I'm definitely I'm so I'm training for those two races, and not for for a particularly for a time, but I've never actually run a marathon. um in a race environment where I can't just sit down and eat some food. like so so So I'm actually quite nervous about the fact that, you know, at 15K, I haven't got someone sat there with a big plate of gnocchi. So i am um I'm quite nervous about how am I going to actually complete a marathon without...
00:55:57
Hannah
these like without that routine and with you know so many people and stuff so we've got those two coming up we weren't able to run the Pakistani part of the inland customs line so that's definitely on the radar for next year and I've been speaking to somebody else about potentially another exciting running challenge to happen in the next two years um but for me now running is about just and the enjoyment of running I think if any if project sort has given me anything which a lot of people listening to this podcast will love and understand, is running is just something that has just brought so much happiness to my life because it's just surrounded me with an an amazing community and new friends and new confidence that I can do new things.
00:56:43
UKRunChat
Yeah, oh well, thank you, Hannah. It's been an absolute joy talking to you today. I've i've loved hearing you stay the room.
00:56:47
Hannah
ah Thank you so much.
00:56:48
UKRunChat
Fantastic. Where can people find you then? Give up give all your social media and your websites a a shout out. We'll put them on the show notes as well.
00:56:53
Hannah
Yeah, excellent. So Project Sort One's the one from India, but I've just started my own um Instagram account called Better Not Stop um with a little underscore at the end. It's linked to the Project Sort One Instagram where I'll be showing updates of how I'm going to be raising the £1 million pounds to people on the planet. and And then I can also be found on LinkedIn, Hannah Cox.
00:57:15
UKRunChat
Fantastic. Thank you so much for coming on to the podcast and sharing that story. What really stands out to me about Project Salt Run is is just the reminder that big change often starts with ordinary people just taking one step. and And yeah, well done for all the money you've raised so far for charity. If you'd like to learn more about Project Salt Run or support the campaign, we'll pop all the links in the show notes. And if you enjoyed this episode, please do share it far and wide. You've been listening to the UK Run Chat podcast and I'll see you next time.