Jez Bragg - 3pm Sunday 3rd November

Ultra-runner Jez Bragg successfully completed the epic Te Araroa Trail - an end to end traverse of the whole of New Zealand - in just 53 days.  That's nine days quicker than the previous record.??

The North Face athlete completely the 3,054km journey entirely under human power, including a kayak crossing of the notorious Cook Strait, a feat which even few specialist kayakers have successfully pulled off.

Jez said: "If I'm completely honest, the trail was far more challenging under foot than I'd expected. Many of the Te Araroa tracks see very few pairs of feet, so are not well trodden and are often heavily overgrown. It was a real mental challenge to deal with the extreme terrain and conditions as well as the distance itself."  

Three quarters of the way through the expedition Jez picked up a stomach bug which laid him up for 3 days and threatened to scupper the whole attempt.  Luckily his father-in-law Mark - a retired doctor - was part of the support team.??

Jez, who was a keen rugby player during his school days, says: "I have a little theory that my inner strength - which is so important to ultra running - came directly from my upbringing; playing a lot of rugby, climbing trees, riding my bike, all sorts of physical activities, usually in a relentless fashion. It was undoubtedly the foundations for the level of endurance I have today."??

Jez picked up ultra running as a 'natural' progression from the marathon that he trained for as a one off charity challenge 2002.  He won his first trail ultra marathon in emphatic fashion in 2004 and has gone on to win the grueling 100 mile The North Face Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc as well as placing 3rd and 4th in the Western States 100 in California.

Jez has also represented Great Britain and England several times at the 100km distance, and has a 100km personal best time of 6 hours 58 minutes.

You can follow Jez on twitter @jezbragg on facebook and read his latest posts on his blog.

Following Jez's talk we'll show...

Part meditation on true spirit of adventure and part epic travelogue, The Road from Karakol is the story of a unique spirit who pedaled to the road?s end and decided to keep going.

Director: Fitz Cahall
Filming: Kyle Dempster
Produced by: Duct Tape Then Beer
With Support from: Outdoor Research, La Sportiva and 5Point Film

Paul Pritchard became disabled in 1998 during a climbing accident on a sea stack in Tasmania when a TV-sized boulder falling from 25 meters inflicted such terrible head injuries that doctors thought he might never walk or even speak again. 

He is still making a remarkable recovery and longed to return to the Himalayan mountain range.  The hemiplegia which has robbed his right side of movement and played tricks with his speech and memory meant cycling a specially built recumbent trike was the only way he could return to the mountains he loves and make the pilgrimage to Mount Everest.

'The Journey' follows Paul and Carol Hurst as they ride over the Himalayas from Lhasa, Tibet to Kathmandu, Nepal. This film takes us over passes with rarefied air above 5000 meters and on gruelling dirt roads as the pair ride all the way to Mount Everest Base Camp.
 
More than an inspirational story of triumph over massive adversity - Carol has arthritic hips and cannot walk further than a hundred metres and Paul cannot use his right side since a boulder fell on his head - the film is a celebration of ability: what can be achieved with determination and patience. 

Always looking to the future, Pritchard story gives the message that life doesn't have to stop with the trauma of head injury or disability.  He has since moved to Tasmania, the place that did him so much harm, and is raising two children.

Read Paul's blog report of the trip.

Featuring: Paul Pritchard, Carol Hurst
Director/Producer: Paul Pritchard
Duration: 20 minutes