Sabrina Verjee on record-breaking run across Cumbria's Wainwrights

Sabrina Verjee, from Ambleside, completed the 325-mile route course on Thursday

A record-breaking fell runner said she survived on about eight hours' sleep over nearly six days during her run across Cumbria's Wainwright peaks.

Sabrina Verjee, 40, finished the 325-mile (525km) route early on Thursday in five days, 23 hours and 49 minutes.

It was her fourth attempt at the course and she promised her "amazing" support team there would not be a fifth.

Now the veterinary surgeon has her eyes set on completing her next challenge, Scotland's Cape Wrath in August.

"I tend to recover very quickly," she told BBC Radio Cumbria.

"I expect to be back running next week, just gentle jogging. I'll probably be back to optimal in three to six weeks."

The 40-year-old said the Wainwrights had become "an obsession" and she wanted to inspire others to get outdoors

The 214 peaks, which include the summit of England's highest mountain - Scafell Pike, get their name from Alfred Wainwright's seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells.

Ms Verjee, who notched up the fastest-known time, previously ran the course in 2020 but was forced to abandon a third attempt in May due to "brutal weather" which caused an asthma flare-up.

Her first go was pulled early on as the Covid-19 lockdown set in.

'Absolutely incredible'

The most challenging part, she admitted, was planning and organising her support team, who kept her fuelled and motivated along the course.

"For me, when I start running, it's easy, all I have got to do is run - they were absolutely incredible."

Sabrina Verjee undertaking the Wainwrights challenge in 2020

The previous record for the quickest completion of all 214 was set in 2019 by Paul Tierney and the first recorded continuous round was completed in 1985 by Alan Heaton in nine days and 16 hours.

"I probably only slept with about eight hours' sleep altogether," she said.

"I guess I am motivated to keep doing what I am doing.

"You are pushing along on the fells through the night and I guess occasionally you get a little bit weary some times.

"Probably from day three onwards, through the night, I had an occasional bit where I was starting to slow down, I started to feel my eyelids getting a bit heavy."

The 214-peak course in the Lake District gets its name from Alfred Wainwright's seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells

The runner said the views from the route "inspired" her to keep going, particularly in the final stages.

"We live in such a beautiful place, everything is stunning," she said.

"I kept sneakily turning around to look at the sunset thinking, 'OK - you can have a quick look but you come on, keep moving'," she added.

Sabrina Verjee says her next challenge is Cape Wrath in Scotland in August

With her husband Ben supporting her on the journey, when she arrived home she recalled her first meal.

"There was not much to go at, I just had to raid whatever was around," she laughed.

"I managed to find a ready-made pie which I put in the oven and we had leftover sandwich fillers and buns and some garlic bread.

"Everything tasted good - I was hungry".

Ms Verjee hugged her husband Ben Turner after finishing the challenge near her home