When Hannah Cox first read about the Inland Customs Line – a 2,458-mile route across India – she became enchanted by its story.
Built by British colonial rulers to enforce a salt tax, Cox dreamed of backpacking along the long-forgotten route as a way of honouring the memory of her father, who was born in Kolkata but emigrated to the UK as a child.
But two years ago, the 41-year-old from Tameside concocted a crazy idea. “I decided to make it this big physical challenge,” Cox says when speaking to Telegraph Sport from India. “I was going to run the entire length of the line and do 100 marathons in 100 days. So many people told me, ‘That’s impossible. I just kept being like, ‘Well, do you know what? I’m going to have a go’.”
Her friends’ scepticism was well-placed. Before her 40th birthday, Cox, an entrepreneur from Tameside, had never been for a run in her life. But eager to reconnect with her cultural heritage – and an ambition to raise money for a number of charitable causes – she started a gruelling 18-month long training programme.
Project Salt Run was born. The idea, which was set up through a crowdfunding campaign, was to transform what was once a symbol of division into a route of connection, courage and climate action.
True to her word, Cox completed the epic feat of endurance last Monday, crossing the finish line at her father’s home in Kolkata after 100 days running west to east through nine of India’s states.
Hannah Cox
Hannah Cox (middle) crosses the finishing line in Kolkata with her support team members Alex Fowler and Natalie Smith — Instagram/@projectsaltrun
During her adventure, in which she slept in a campervan with a small support crew, she battled acute gastroenteritis, fell ill numerous times and even superglued parts from a rubber tyre to her trainers as she neared the end of her expedition.
“I’m a green runner, so I came out to India with three pairs of trainers from a sustainable trainer brand which lasted me 1,000km each,” says Cox, who started the race near the Pakistan-Indian border on October 26 last year. “When it got to about 3,000km, I started to wear the bottom of the shoes off, but we didn’t have any other shoes so we stopped at one of the shacks repairing tyres on the side of the highway. I swapped a couple of selfies for some inner tube, and we stuck the tyre on the bottom of my trainers. That’s how my trainers have survived.”
The repairs Hannah Cox made to her trainers
Cox repaired her trainers with parts from the inner tube of a tyre — Project Salt Run
By following the old Inland Customs Line, a 19th-century “hedge” that once divided communities, Cox’s journey became one of reflection and purpose. Sustainability was at the heart of the project – the entire expedition was vegetarian and the crew sourced food locally along the route. “There was lots of porridge, so many eggs, rice and seasonal vegetables that you can buy in the markets and on the sides of the roads,” says Cox. “I would wake up, have breakfast, run 15 kilometres, have another meal and then run another 15 kilometres, have another meal, a protein shake and then a big evening meal.”
Hannah Cox
Hannah Cox has raised over £75,000 for charitable causes — Instagram /@projectsaltrun
Yet Cox’s adventure was far from plain-sailing. Just 11 days into the trip, she was struggling to keep anything down and passed out while running after suffering from heat exhaustion. “I practically needed to be carried for the last six kilometers of that day,” she says. “Halfway through, on day 49, I was projectile vomiting over the side of a petrol station forecourt for about 12 hours. I ran a marathon, ran another marathon the next day on absolute empty and then continued to run for about a week, not keeping food down. I lost so much weight.”
Hannah Cox
Cox lost over 10kg during her gruelling journey across India — Instagram/@projectsaltrun
At her lowest ebb, Cox lost around 11kg (1st 10lb) but giving up was never an option. On one other occasion during the race, she spent most of the night vomiting before getting up at 4am to visit the Taj Mahal where, by pure chance, she met Richard Branson.
“His daughter is a trustee of one of the charities we supported,” said Cox. “They were doing a charity cycle ride at the same time I was doing Project Salt Run, and by absolute coincidence they were visiting the Taj Mahal on the same day. Richard Branson had decided to come on the trip as well, which no one knew. So we were completely surprised to meet him. But I was really sick.
“Five of the people from the charity challenge, because they weren’t starting till the next day, decided to then come on the run. I was thinking, ‘Please don’t come with me, because I’m dying’. I ended up puking on the side of the road and running with these five strangers!”
Hannah Cox
Cox at the Taj Mahal, where she had a chance encounter with Richard Branson — Instagram/@projectsaltrun
Cox’s achievement is all the more extraordinary given she has scoliosis – an abnormality in her spine – which once required her to wear a back brace. “I’ve got a double curve in my spine,” she explains. “Eight years ago, I was told by a physio that I would have to wear it for 23 hours a day. I ended up working quite hard to do lots of physio and hiking and walking so that I didn’t have to wear it anymore.”
Cox’s father, Deric, who died in 2011, never returned to India after leaving as a child. “The whole thing’s been a bit of a love letter to my family and the things I care about,” says Cox, whose ancestors worked for the British East India Company. “But it was also about showing how some of the big changes have happened from a bunch of normal people getting together and saying, ‘We’re not happy with the status quo’.
“It still feels so surreal. I only started running to run 100 marathons in 100 days. So now I’m at the other side of doing that. I’m like, ‘Oh, what do I do now?’”
There are few tales that are more inspiring which show how ordinary people can be powerful forces for good.