Two weeks ago, I broke through another set of milestones on my way to the start line of the Run the County Ultra Challenge. I went passed the 58km target of my longest run and completed the 100km South Downs Way Ultra @ukultraltd. It is the furthest I have ever run in a day.

When I got out of bed at 4am to make my way to the start, I knew that I was going to complete this ultra in one go, no doubt. I had total belief in my mind and body to be resilient enough to meet the challenges of such an audacious run.

Things didn’t go perfectly; my stomach didn’t adjust to such an early start, the carb loading or the onboard nutrition I was using. There’s a saying in competitive running; don’t use anything for the first time on a race day. Guess what? It’s right. And yes, at 60km+ my feet and legs were screaming for me to stop. All this said, I spent the first few miles and the last hour smiling, despite the struggles. I was outside, with people I love, encouraged by kindly walkers, taking in spectacular landscapes – the Downs are remarkable – and was blessed with the most amazing sunset as I ran up Beachy Head, pursued by my drone team. I cannot wait to see that footage!

I am proud of my crew and myself for completing this milestone. It was an important validation of all the hard work we have been putting in.

I am ready for the next challenge – 6 ultras in 7 days at the end of this month. And more than that, I am ready for the Run the County Ultra.

The real milestones though are not about the run. They are about helping as many people change their minds, just as I did when I chose life. When we have goals and ambitions and build positive consistent behaviours towards them, each step reaffirms our self-belief at a neurological level.

Of course, another set of milestones are all about generating money for thousands of lifesaving calls to CALM when people are in crisis and believe they have nowhere else to turn. Last night, we smashed through £6000 – enough to pay for 750 calls. Another milestone, done.