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16 Ultra Marathons, One Mission | Mitch Hutchcraft on the Great British Dog Walk
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In this episode of the UKRunChat Podcast, we catch up with adventurer and world-record holder Mitch Hutchcraft following the completion of his extraordinary Great British Dog Walk Challenge.
Just weeks after we last spoke, Mitch ran 16 back-to-back ultra marathons, covering 720 kilometres from the UK’s lowest point at Holme Fen to the summit of Ben Nevis, battling freezing rain, snow and exhaustion across 16 consecutive days. In doing so, he set a new world record, all while raising awareness for overcrowded dog rescue centres and the illegal puppy trade in the UK.
Inspired by his rescue dog Teddy, who spent the first four years of his life confined to a concrete cage on a puppy farm, Mitch used the challenge to highlight the realities facing rescue charities, the growing number of dogs entering shelters, and the importance of choosing to adopt, not shop.
We talk about the physical and mental toll of the challenge, the unexpected power of community support, the dogs and rescue centres he met along the way, and why this mission was always about far more than breaking records.
Follow Mitch on Instagram
Photo Credit: Oliver Frampton
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Transcript
Introduction and Purpose of the Challenge
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the UK Run Chat Podcast. I'm Michelle and today I'm catching up once again with adventurer and world record holder Mitch Hutchcraft shortly after completing one of the toughest endurance challenges that Britain has seen.
00:00:15
Speaker
When we last spoke, Mitch was about to attempt his mission, which was running from the lowest point in the UK to the highest, covering 16 back-to-back ultramarathons in the depths of December.
00:00:27
Speaker
all to raise awareness for overcrowded dog rescue centres and the illegal puppy trade. What followed was extraordinary and I'm really excited to have Mitch back today. Hi Mitch, welcome back to the podcast. Thanks howra lot thanks for having me on again, it's great to be back.
00:00:43
Speaker
Yeah, how are you recovering? So it's been it's been about a month now hasn't it since you finished your challenge, is that right?
00:00:52
Speaker
A few weeks, yeah, finished on the 20th of December, so it was a very sore Christmas. I'm sure. I could eat all the Christmas dinner I wanted to. I burnt a fair few calories, I think, over them 16 days.
00:01:07
Speaker
just, yeah, just talk us through what happened then. So you you finished on the summit of Ben Nevis after 16 straight days of running, walking, crawling, I imagine, at points. What was going through your head at that moment when you summited Ben Nevis?
00:01:24
Speaker
it was I was just kind of couldn't believe it was over. The body was just starting to get into the kind of, ah you know, it's just been forced into submission. So ah the pain stopped after about day five. Well, not stopped. It became numb after about day day five or day six. I just couldn't believe it was over. it was such a relief because I'm not a runner. I enjoy running, but i um with my knee surgeries, um you know, it's I really struggle. So I knew this would be really tough. and It would be really hard and really slow.
00:01:49
Speaker
But I was yeah i was so relieved when I got there.
Record Achievement and Terrain Challenges
00:01:52
Speaker
and even finishing um in knee deep snow and trainers which I do not recommend to anyone because I didn't have my boots which is a very stupid thing for a former marine and ah i know and an adventure guide but um yeah it was it was finishing true running in fashion by slipping over on the ice at the top oh no
00:02:11
Speaker
um I mean, physically, how how broken were you then by day 16? Because you you were you did go into this carrying an an injury from your epic Everest challenge, didn't you?
00:02:23
Speaker
Yeah, um my knee was, it kind of swolls itself. I've had ah an ACL reconstruction, menstrual surgery, among other things. um And the 900 kilometre run um I did, well, the 1200 kilometre run and hike to Everest and into the summit really did put massive pressure on my knee. And um I didn't know whether or it would actually hold out. um But it held in there. It held in I knew if I kind of was steady, took anti-inflammatories, I would be able to push through the pain because it was worth it.
00:02:51
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So when did you realise you'd actually broken a world record then? What what world world record is it that you hold now? and Well, I mean, it's not it wasn't even that really. yeah It was only about 10 days in, my cameraman turned around to me and said, you know, you know no no one's actually ever ran from the lowest to the highest point in It's never actually been done. And um which which surprised me, you know, because, um but you know, obviously John, got to land's end with much further and all this. And um I was, and they said, yeah, so you technically you've got an another world record. I was like,
00:03:20
Speaker
Amazing. i think that That was not the aim of the game. um Same with Everest. it was ah the I didn't even realise that was the longest climb of Everest in history until a year after I'd planned the expedition. um So it's just another kind of nice surprise. you know i just I just assumed um you know the some of the amazing ultra runners and people, um I thought it would have been i thought somebody would have um it wasn't a very original idea but it's only because I'm from the lowest point in the UK the lowest point in the UK is two miles from where I went to school literally two miles from where I went to school the post which is the lowest point of the UK nearly three meters below sea level so I just thought it would be a great idea um i don't really I didn't care about it being done before um but it was just I guess it's nice it was nice to hear that it hadn't been done yes
00:04:03
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's really tough. like you So you're constantly running uphill, basically, pretty much. What was the total elevation of your challenge then? It felt like it. It felt it so it felt like it, yes. um I don't even remember. I can't remember exactly. I think it was about Everest, maybe.
00:04:20
Speaker
I need to just triple check.
00:04:24
Speaker
ah The Peak District was quite hilly um and then when we got to the lakes, yeah Kendall um and Scottish borders and then the West Highland Way, it got quite um it got quite hilly. Originally it was quite flat, you know um essentially Cambridge basically to Scotland. So started off flat, but yeah, the Peak District, um kind of when you got past Manchester into kind of Crestland, Lancashire into the Lake District and the border into the borders, into the borderlands.
00:04:49
Speaker
um That that that it became a little bit then. But then we picked up the West Highland way. Then I picked up the West Highland way from the start of it, essentially. i kind yeah then some of the sections along that as many people will know listen to this are a little bit a little bit sketchy a little bit uh i had to go bit slow underfoot so i didn't hurt myself but uh yeah it felt the last day was the most elevation though uh the last day was um was we had to start at uh start at 1am start at 1am or 2am sorry start to yeah about um
00:05:28
Speaker
about 35 past was, uh, just to arrive, to make sure we arrived at Ben Nevis at this foot of Ben Nevis for seven, for eight o'clock, ready for, um, ready for the climb. So that was kind of, the hardest day. And it was actually ironically, it was one of the shortest days being just, just the marathon, rather than an ultra marathon. So by the time we finished Ben Nevis that day, here it was, uh,
00:05:46
Speaker
It felt tough, but it was only about 43km. Yeah, ive I've never actually climbed Ben Nevis. How long did it take you to get up then from the the base of Ben Nevis? That must have been a tough time. I can't remember. but was as if it only off it was It wasn't as quick as... ah Because I had an amazing team of friends, um people who were dog walkers, someone who brought their dog, and supporters, people who supported me on my Everest expedition. of Some amazing people came to support me. I wanted to kind of group event, you know, a...
00:06:16
Speaker
A nice group gathering
Mental and Physical Resilience
00:06:17
Speaker
for the final push anyway, you know. um So it was slower than the rest of the expedition. You know, would hike more than a run to finish the, ah even though the whole 30k leading up to Bendis, you know, to arrive there at 10 o'clock in the morning was running. and So that was probably, probably to it yeah, um far faster than faster than normal because the team was really was really fit, which was nice. and I was feeling very unfit at that point.
00:06:39
Speaker
So yeah, probably about who up and back up and down and we got down before it got dark which was which was lucky you did not want be stuck up there in the dark considering it was yeah it was in the summit you couldn't see more than 10 meters in front of you and it was you were sinking into knee deep snow yeah and of course yeah you finished on the summit but then you've still not finished your physical challenge happy you've got to descend that's that was mentally as well Absolutely. And as a mom would tell you anyone will tell you, coming down coming down is a lot worse than going up. My knees were getting battered.
00:07:13
Speaker
My knees were getting battered. So, yeah, coming down was a lot worse than going up. ah what was i was i was limping, that's for sure. And when we got back down to the river, straight into the yeah straight into the river offer for an ice bath in me in the the December Scotland.
00:07:28
Speaker
was going to say that sounds good, but I'm not sure it does in December, actually. Yeah. It was great. So um most nights or most nights some after the run, no matter where we were, I'd try and find a river or a stream to jump in. and So I'd finish the ultramarathon and then have a nice bath in the whatever stream, i you know, whether in peak the Peak District, whether we were, there's some really nice ones in, you know, around Northwest and the Lake District. So, yeah, it was always jumping in.
00:07:53
Speaker
Yeah. And I guess that helps you kind of recover quickly to get going again the next day. Was that the thinking behind that? You do a lot cold water. Yeah. last recognition Yeah, yeah, massively cold, cold and hot, cold and hot wherever possible. You know, really does help recovery. and You know, it really does help to reduce inflammation and to, you know, to kind of accelerate the lymphatic system. And um it's, yeah, it's, it's, and just for morale and yeah as well, psychologically. But yeah, but scientifically proven that helps, you know, it does help a lot. And it it for me, it helps a lot.
00:08:24
Speaker
Yeah, it's good, good feeling as well, isn't it? Yeah. what What would you say was the hardest part to deal with over the 16 days, Mitch? um It's quite hard. I think probably when I got to um pass Manchester at one point, I took like a wrong turn. It was only like a mile the wrong way, but it was uphill.
00:08:43
Speaker
And that moment when I was still really in pain, ah that was one of the hardest moments. because It just was. Psychologically, it really broke me. And I had to get back and carry on. um um But apart from that, um the last three days through the Scottish Highlands from kind of, from Loch Lomond was just brutal. I was wishing for snow because I love it when it's freezing and, you know, cold and...
00:09:04
Speaker
but It wasn't. It was unfortunately the worst ever you could think of. Like gale force winds with just heavy rain getting smashed inside of a face um so the So, yeah, the the hardest bit was probably we finished the 40km route of um from um all the way across. across Loch Lomond all the way up the west up the eastern edge of Loch Lomond and then we were behind schedule because the the ground on the West Island Way along the loch is like you can't really get much speed along there so we were trying to run it um but it was really hard to kind of get any speed forgot our head torches me and my cameraman Ben who's a legend who's done a lot of it with me We'd done the whole day that day. So we'd got to the van, pitch black, absolutely soaked, couldn't feel hands or feet. And it'd been about 40k already.
00:09:49
Speaker
And um then had to have a quick coffee in the van. And then had to, and know but then we still had 10k, over 10k to go to Queen Larrick. and to yeah to push onto the Queen Larrick. And um that was horrible because that was all uphill as well from from there, from the campsite north of Loch Lomond. And that was just hard to really get into the zone with that one. It was absolutely hammering it down uphill. um Everything was, the knees were already swollen.
00:10:17
Speaker
And that was, yeah, that was a really tough 10K to bring it into 50K. And that was day 14. that was 14-volt marathon row.
00:10:26
Speaker
Wow. what What's going through your head then when you're talking to yourself? Because ah can tell from speaking to you that there's no way you would quit, is there, ever? But what what's going through your head? what What kind of tips have you got for us who are going through like endurance challenges? How do you keep going?
Advocacy for Dog Rescue and Illegal Puppy Trade
00:10:42
Speaker
What are you saying to yourself? Same way I got through the first 15,000 kilometres to Everest, always remember, no matter what it is, no matter how bad it is in that moment, no matter how bad the po pain is emotionally, physically, it's actually chapter chapter seven in my book coming out, as Strategic Pain Management.
00:10:59
Speaker
All you need to know is pain is temporary. pain is temporary it ends that's all the matters and as long as you can tell yourself that as long as you can always tell yourself that no matter how dark it gets it doesn't matter it's one hour one day one week the pain will end the pain always ends so as long as you always have that mindset knowing that there is always always a light at the end of the tunnel there always is then you can get through anything yeah and how do you get yourself going again the day after to do the same that's that must be hard as well just getting up that alarm clock going on
00:11:31
Speaker
Yeah, that is really tough. I just kind of force myself out of bed and just despair remember why I'm there. You know, having a purpose beyond self, probably more than just yourself, makes a massive difference. So I look at my dog. I look at my dog every single morning.
00:11:44
Speaker
um the remark Teddy, the Cocker Spaniel that we rescued that inspired me to do this run. It's kind of looking him just every morning when I woke up. He'll just be like, gave me the boost I needed. Having a purpose, having a reason beyond just yourself.
00:11:56
Speaker
um You know, the same way I managed to um get on Everest was to just remembering that People are watching, not a dad's watching, looking down on me. um So remembering all the reasons why you're there and flicking.
00:12:07
Speaker
Yeah. ah Tell us about Teddy. You mentioned him briefly in our last chat before your challenge, but tell us a bit more about Teddy then. So you rescued him. He'd been part of a puppy farm, hadn't he? Yeah, so he was, forty we think he's four years old. He was from who was rescued from an Irish puppy farm. So it was 52 of them rescued at one time, 28 Spaniels. they All of them kept, he was kept in a concrete cage for four years, a concrete cage outside in the garden, tiny thing, and never had it a walk in four years, never had a name in four years, never know any knew anything but of abuse, really. um And he was just petrified when we got him. He just buried his head into the um into the insec pa pillow and talked
00:12:46
Speaker
He's come out of a shell so much in the last four months now. He loves walks. He gives you kisses. He's um coming out of his shell so much and it's so, so rewarding. But yeah, so basically a lot of the time what happens is um these a lot of farmers and things are when they're struggling no more to make money. A lot of them now will try um transfer um transfer the where they used to keep the livestock.
00:13:07
Speaker
Now they use it for dogs, breed dogs. And um it's a way to make a lot of money and the conditions are often disgusting. And it' it's a massive problem. And it really, yes, so it really gave me, it gave us motivation to and kind of spread the message about how bad the problem actually is, you know, um and how education is so important.
00:13:26
Speaker
You know, ah about a quarter, um over a quarter of the dogs in the UK right now were brought during COVID and and a massive percentage of there of them were brought from the League of Puppy Farms. Most people don't actually know their puppy was from from a registered breeder, from a they registered licensed breeder. So it's scary. It really is scary. And there's over 100,000 dogs right now in the UK that need their home.
00:13:49
Speaker
Oh, wow. I mean, you visited five rescue centres as part of your challenge as well, didn't you? what What did you learn there that people at home might not might not know? Just ah people were just just just to scale up the problem, and hearing and first-hand from the amazing people people that deal with it every single day you know the fact that a lot of people just don't understand the breeds you know people think i'll get a dog for christmas i'll get a dog for this um the main thing that they would they would say to people was do your research you know it doesn't matter what what what how big the dog is it's the breed of dog you know make sure you always always look for the green flags always make sure make sure you've seen mum make sure you make sure that it's come from a responsible home as much as you can do your research there's so much that yeah that's one of the main messages to always do your research um always make sure it comes from if you can a reputable breeder never buy off places like gumtree or um or uh you know these kind of sites just never trust anyone until you've gone there yourself um because so about ah about ah one quarter of dogs that are bought from illegal puppy farms which is most dogs don't make it to one year old if they die oh that's so sad
00:15:00
Speaker
I mean, you've you've also talked to rescues about younger dogs arriving with behavioural problems as well, haven't you? Yeah, massively. but You know, the conditions they're kept in um and often kind of the interbreeding, all the problems that come around it.
00:15:15
Speaker
So many dogs are born with physical and mental conditions um that make them so kind of hard to train and they cause problems and then people don't understand these problems. So it's just about education and people really understand them. But yeah, the illegal puppy is um our industry is absolutely massive now. And the problem is the punishment, the risk is worth worth the reward at the moment.
00:15:36
Speaker
So, um you know, we really need to increase that. The people that have got um and in trouble for Teddy, you know, 52 dogs, they got a £1,000 fine and a three-month suspended sentence.
00:15:47
Speaker
You know, as if as if the price of less but as if as if the price of less than one puppy is going to is going to make deterrent from not doing it again. It's it's stupid and we need to do something about it. Yeah, so you've had a petition going, haven't you? How's that going? Well, we didn't actually start because still waiting back for advice from experts to make sure it was the correct thing. So this was a great start for us to kind of get message out. And we're looking into ways to how to continue, you know, how to continue to really get it out. But yeah, we hope to in the future. Yeah, it was a bit more complicated than initially thought. So you need to make sure it's going to make a change. mean, not doing it. for the sake of it. So, yeah, but we are planning to do a lot more in the future with the dogs. But this was, we were so proud of what we did. know, at least we managed to get the message out so many thousands of people and several dogs got rescued along the way. And we managed to at least help shine a light on some of these tiny, on some these smaller animal rescue centres, which don't normally get, you know, much publicity. So it was really nice to have them join us and to do our bit to help.
00:16:51
Speaker
Yeah, oh, that's lovely. And did your own dog join you? i know I know Teddy's working up to kind of getting out and about, isn't he? But you've got you've got an old dog, haven't you? Yeah, he would be with us as well. Teddy do a little bit of walk with us, and most of it was with Buddy.
00:17:04
Speaker
and I got Buddy four years ago as a kind of therapy dog for my mum who was suffering from really bad depression. um and they But there's another thing to say, he's not a rescue. I got him from a family friend who was ah who was a breeder. There's nothing wrong with responsible dog breeding. Absolutely nothing wrong I would always, always rescue you now, though and a lot no matter what. But there is nothing wrong with it. It's all about making sure you just find responsible breeders, you know, family homes, registered licensed breeders, and making sure that it's as legit as possible and just do your research, do your due diligence.
Community Support and Personal Reflection
00:17:36
Speaker
So, yeah, but Buddy is very fit. You know, he's four years old. He's done so many expeditions with me. He was with me for the first 2,000 kilometers across Europe um on there being pulled in a doggy trailer and running alongside me. He's just the best mountain dog in there. So he was with it for all of it Unfortunately, um here i think he got a thorn in his foot the last day. So he couldn't actually come the top of Ben Nevis with me, but he'd done a lot and he absolutely loved it. He would do half a marathon and he wouldn't even, he'd just be like, why are we stopping? He absolutely loved it.
00:18:08
Speaker
They're brilliant running companions, aren't they dogs? They just they just carry on. They're amazing. Yeah, um I don't know whether I would have been able to do it without Buddy, without my golden retriever by my side, I tell you.
00:18:22
Speaker
So did you have somebody with you along the whole way? I'm assuming lots of people came and joined you for sections as well. Tell us about that. Yeah, no, I mean, great. and Loads of members of the public was amazing. Also my girlfriend, Nikki, who was incredible, um helped so much, even though stressed her out, I'm sure. And my two cameramen, Ollie and Ben.
00:18:40
Speaker
ah Ben joins me as part of by my limited assessment expedition across the last cyclone across the Middle East. And he he even done like four of the ultra-Americans with me filming it. So it was amazing. And did people bring their own dogs to run as well?
00:18:52
Speaker
Yeah, every single day, ah so many dozens of dogs joined me along the journey. It was so good to meet me and it would give me such a boost and I knew it would, you know. Pretty much, yeah, hours was every single day there was at least someone new with new dog, with a new dog.
00:19:04
Speaker
Yeah. Does that ever get exhausting for you, though, when you're kind of carrying this, you know, the weight of this physical challenge and you've got to be kind of upbeat around others? Is is that tiring? or Sometimes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. mean, it does. I'm human. It definitely yeah they did sometimes. Yeah. But it would always be very temporary. And then I'd really be happy that everyone was there.
00:19:22
Speaker
um And the dog especially the dogs, you know, are more than the people, obviously. um And so so it was always great to. ah It was just great. And I love conversation. on ah I don't stop talking myself. So it does help a lot.
00:19:34
Speaker
Yeah, no, it's it's always nice just chatting to other runners as well, isn't it? And do you consider yourself a runner now? Because when we last spoke, you were like, i'm not a runner. No, absolutely not. You know, I've never been like a fast runner. I've never really enjoyed it that much, to be honest. it so It's more just because it poses a big challenge and it's a great. i I still like the way I like seeing.
00:19:54
Speaker
i like I don't like the act of doing it, but I love the adventure. And if it's an an interesting place, you know, but no, i say not even even before my surgeries, I was never a a ah even like I was never I'd never call myself a runner, you know, or a cyclist. is I'm just kind of a I can do it. It's just to get the job done, you know, but I'm not fast at all, you know.
00:20:13
Speaker
four-hour marathon pace. I'm just a very average, four-and-a-half, very average kind of, you know, I'm just, it's more about getting the job done and enjoying adventure and everything around it. But there was, and there was some incredible runners, you know, the last, second to last day I had, um I had a Cocker Spaniel and a and a lovely lady called, called Nicola, and she was an amazing, incredible runner. um She holds the record for the last section of the, ah ah record at Stanford for decades on the West Highland Way.
00:20:47
Speaker
um
00:20:50
Speaker
Yeah, being with people, like knowing how slow I probably was, but um like I can't remember how fast it was, but it was something, it was crazy. I think she'd done the last 40, 45 miles, so not kilometres, 45 miles of the West Highland Way like six and a half hours or something. Wow.
00:21:07
Speaker
Yeah, that is fast. Yeah, it's all going. It's something like that. It was, yeah, yeah, it was, yeah, absolutely. I cannot even comprehend how fast that was. but but Yeah, and but that must be pretty inspiring for you as well, to have people like that joining you and helping you along.
00:21:23
Speaker
It's amazing not knowing you, yeah, not knowing who you're going to meet every single day. and Everyone's got an amazing, every single person's got their own story. Everyone's got their own amazing story. always say, yeah,
00:21:38
Speaker
wow And it's just so inspiring to hear
Impact, Future Projects, and How to Support
00:21:42
Speaker
stories. Yeah. ah So now that it's all over, what what do you feel that you've achieved? What really what real world impact have you had so far then?
00:21:51
Speaker
And what's going to happen next? um i say hol It's hard to tell. you know It was just a great mission. um we We managed to spread the word. you know um I've never probably do as much as I hope. I always hope too much. But um we've done our bit and it was amazing.
00:22:05
Speaker
And we I learned a lot. And I learned so much more about the dogs and the industry and that. is And it's given me more of a motivat motivation to spread the word more. um But yeah, i love doing I love doing challenges for great causes. And it's just helped me really want to do that even more. And I'm going to continue doing that. We've got loads loads of big stuff coming up.
00:22:22
Speaker
Just finished the book. The book's coming out in May. A documentary coming as well. So I can't wait for everything to be coming out. And more importantly, the YouTube um the youtube episode about the the whole dog run, the whole cause behind it will be coming out in couple of weeks.
00:22:37
Speaker
Oh, fantastic. Well, let us know when that's out and we'll share it for our listeners and to see. Absolutely, please. Yeah, please do. Definitely, yeah. I mean, all the four like all the four links, the four links to all the um small dog charities, dog trust um small dog shelters that I ran with along the way, and they're all still on my bio. So anyone, if they can, and please just search for Mitch Hutch. Very easy to remember, M-I-T-C-H-H-T-C-H. Just search for Mitch Hutch on Instagram and it's the link is right there in the bio.
00:23:04
Speaker
And um um because we were buying, yeah um but we were buying we would ah we didn't ask for donations this time. We were asking people to go straight onto there to buy their Christmas wish lists, the Amazon Christmas wish was lists. So if you can just go on there and find, they're all amazing. um So yeah, just search Mitch Hutch and go onto the link and um on the pet on the bio and help out if you can. Oh, amazing. And they subscribe as well so you can see the video.
00:23:27
Speaker
And subscribe as well. Same same name, it yeah, Mitch Hutch. Just subscribe on there so you see the the whole um the whole kind of, documentary episode when it comes out. Yeah. And we'll put that link in our show notes as well. So what, what's next for you though? You're obviously still recovering. Have you got anything planned this year or you're just taking a break? yet Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Still have some expeditions coming up. um ah a yeah big I'm planning to do a big, about a thousand mile book tour on the but um on a bicycle um as part of my book tour around the country. um I'm planning on doing an expedition to the Alps from the UK.
00:23:59
Speaker
I'm planning on running to the top of Kilimanjaro from the ocean, from the beach. So sea to summit. So yeah, from the beach to the top of that. And ah as as one of the seven summits. So there's lots of stuff coming up. There's lots of exciting stuff coming up.
00:24:15
Speaker
Yeah, wonderful. I will keep us posted with what you're up to. Will do. and Thank you so much. Yeah, it's been really nice catching up with you. I hope that you all listening to this episode have enjoyed this episode of the UK Run Chat podcast. Thanks to next Mitch for joining us. We'll pop all the links. Thanks everyone for listening. not All right. and Amazing. Yeah, we'll see you next time.
00:24:37
Speaker
see you next time, I'm sure. Take care.