Robert Pope runs across Ireland in less than 24 hours after drinking a Guinness

A man has run the width of Ireland in less than 24 hours, becoming the first person on record to do so.

British marathon champion Robert Pope ran 215km from Galway City in the west to Dublin in the east in 23 hours and 39 minutes.

The incredible run was bookended by two pints of Guinness; one in Galway and another, after the run, in Dublin on Sunday.

Originally from Liverpool, this isn't the first absurd feat the 44-year-old has completed.

Back in 2016, he ran the length of America five times, following the route of fictional movie character Forrest Gump.

Pope decided to take on the Ireland run just two months ago and used it as a chance to raise money for the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF).

The spontaneity didn't allow for a lot of training, especially after factoring in an iconic music festival.

"I was meant to do an eight-week training programme, but obviously Glastonbury got in the way of that," Pope admitted to BBC.

"I was also working, so it was probably just five weeks of 'Yeah, I'm happy with that' training."

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Robert Pope ran the width of the island of Ireland in less than 24 hours. Photo / Google Maps

Ultra running has experienced a wave of popularity over the past few years, according to Pope, partly because of social media visibility.

"On social you'll often see people doing these crazy bonkers runs," he said.

However, he added that there were a lot of unseen failures.

"Nobody ever posts anything about failure anywhere. You see a lot of people posting and if they have failed at something they're like 'I'm absolutely gutted because I didn't succeed', but they did succeed because they gave everything they had to get there."

Similar to when he crossed the US, Pope took a relaxed approach to race day in Ireland and grabbed a drink with his four-man support team near the start line at Galway's Spanish Arch.

Then, at 10.31pm on Saturday, he dipped a foot into the Atlantic Ocean and began running towards Dublin; a journey that would take the average person far longer than 24 or possibly even 48 hours by foot.

Pope said time moved quickly in the beginning but fatigue and nausea set in after just two hours and he considered throwing in the towel.

"I just said to the guys, 'I don't think this is me over-reacting, but I think I'm going to have to quit'."

Quick update. Not a great one.
Legs are flying. Guts are dying. Seeing what happens in next hour. Most unexpected. This early anyway. Most unwelcome. 🤮🤢

— Robert Pope (@runroblarun) August 7, 2022

Thanks to a supportive team, a can of Coke and some painkillers, he was able to continue. Support via social media also helped lift his spirits.

"One fella, he'd driven down about 45 minutes, having heard about it and he brought us down a bunch of bananas," Pope told BBC.

"And my body just went 'yes, you want one of them, have one of them'."

Running through Cloghan, a town in County Offaly, one local shop employee offered him some free cereal bars.

Then, for the final 16km into Dublin, Pope had an unexpected new friend called Tony join him for the last leg.

"I'm in a hole at this point and Tony comes along and asks, 'Do you mind if I run with you?' and I was just like 'yeah, but I really need to concentrate now'."

Tony ran slightly ahead to warn upcoming traffic.

Incredibly, Pope decided to add on another 1.6km - an old school mile - to get to Dublin's Samuel Beckett bridge where the River Liffey meets the Irish Sea. It was here he officially completed the run and celebrated in the most Irish of ways with a pint of Guinness.

As for how Pope passed the time, he listened to U2's entire discography in chronological order to celebrate the birthday of the Edge - the band's guitarist.

Since there is no official record of other runners completing the feat, Pope's certain he is the first person to run across Ireland in less than a day.

Although, he admitted that "some gnarled old club runner from Cork could have done it once in January".

Pope managed to raise £2,094 (almost NZ$4000) through a support page, which is still running.