Otley athlete Chris Carver knows all about going through the pain barrier after competing for Great Britain in the gruelling 24-hour World Championship in Brive, France.

He clocked up over 138.4 miles and burnt off around 13,000 kilocalories but he helped the men’s team win a bronze medal in the European Championship which was run concurrently with the main event and he finished in 53rd position out of 230.

As he reflected on his triumph this week while nursing his tired and aching body he revealed just how punishing the event was.

“My shoulders are very sore, I have one blister on my right foot but the soles of both feet are badly bruised due to 24 hours of pounding. The leg muscles are so sore that today I could just about manage to run if I needed to,” he said.

Chris also spoke about the amazing number of calories he burned up during the race. “When you consider the human body can only assimilate about 300 kcal per hour (7,200 kcal per day), that’s a massive shortfall,” he said.

“To actually take on board 7,200 kcal whilst running I had to have a sports drink and a small snack every 20 minutes or so – a massive undertaking.

“The roof of my mouth is still sore from all the eating and drinking- although much better than it was.”

Despite the punishment his body has taken he is already eyeing up his next challenge – the Perth Ultra Festival on September 4-5.

There will be a 24 hour race, 100km race, 50km race and a 12 hour night time relay.

“I will hopefully be taking part in the 24 hour race representing England in a competition against teams from Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy,” he said.

But for now he is happy to retrace his weary footsteps and reflect on the story of a weekend which saw him chosen to carry the Union Jack at the opening ceremony on the day prior to the race, The team of six men, two women, three officials and a physio then returned to the hotel for a large pre-race meal followed by a team talk and an early night in preparation for the following day’s mammoth effort.

The weather on race day was overcast and cool although mid May in Brive often produces sunny conditions with temperatures well over 20 degrees Celsius.

The race itself started outside the Brive Town Hall in front of a crowd of thousands. From there the runners ran just less than a mile to a riverside park before embarking on numerous laps of a looped course which was 1,250m in length.

For Chris the race started well and he soon got into his stride passing the marathon distance in about 3 hours 45 minutes before powering on to a 100 km personal best of 9 hours 11 minutes.

It is impossible, of course, to run for a whole day without eating and drinking and for the first 16 hours or more Chris’s plan of drinking every 20 minutes and eating a small snack at least twice an hour worked very well indeed.

Approaching 100 miles was the point where things began to go wrong – slowly at first.

It began with cramp in both calves which needed attention by the physio. And then, an hour or so later he began to feel nauseous and needed a five minute sit down.

Then there was a stone in his shoe and the freezing overnight temperatures requiring the addition of an extra layer of clothing. And, with only 10 minutes left to run, a further bout of cramp – in his foot this time.

Despite all these distractions he passed 100 miles in 15 hours 22 minutes – another personal best – but eventually the massive effort took its toll and began to adopt a different tactic of walking for half a lap then running for two and a half laps.

Some of the other British men were having a really good run and at this point it was looking likely that we would be awarded a team medal in the concurrent European Championships or maybe even the World Championships if things went their way.

In races of this length there are lots of things that can (and often do) go wrong for the runners. So much so that each runner needs someone to look after them and make sure they are fed and watered and ok medically.

The final few hours were very tough mentally but Chris struggled on though each stride was more painful than the preceding one. Overcoming the little voice in the mind telling him to stop is one of the demands of 24 hour racing. Hallucinating runners are quite a common sight in these events.

The winner, Shingo Inoue (Japan) set a new Asian Record of 273.708 km (170 miles). The World Team Championship medals went to Japan (gold), Italy (silver) and USA (bronze).

In the concurrent European Championships Italy finished with the gold medal, France the silver and Great Britain the bronze.