For those who want to see what Day One of this run is like, please take a look at this http://connect.garmin.com/activity/163629339 A choice between recce-ing the route and going to watch us at Newcastle today saw me doing this. I think I made the right choice! But if you look at the climb, in the first half of the first day, I hope this puts it into perspective that the distance involved is neither here nor there. The 2,000 foot of climb on day one will be the REAL test. There are no feasible alternatives to this at all. It's not possible to run on the Snake or Woodhead pass as it would be very dangerous and there's no pavement to take you away from the lorries and cars so this is the only route to take.