The coastal runners who relish the wind and rain
The Really Good Media CompanyWith persistent heavy rain and strong westerly winds prompting a weather warning, many people would have chosen to stay indoors on a Saturday morning.
But gathering at the southernmost point of the UK from about 05:00 BST were hundreds of endurance runners preparing for the start of the Classic Quarter at 06:30.
The 44-mile (70.8km) race is an non-stop ultra-marathon along the South West Coast Path, starting at Lizard Point and finishing at Land's End in Cornwall.
The BBC caught up with some of the runners who braved gale-force winds and driving rain to compete in the 20th edition of the race earlier this month.
The event can be run individually, or in teams of two or four, with each leg divided equally between the runners.
Amy Greef and Betty Lynes did not find out they would be running the opening leg until a few days before.
Greef, who is a member of Hayle Runners, stepped in for a teammate at the last minute.
She described the winds at the start as "a bit scary... as long as I can stay grounded, I'm excited.
"It's a good event to do, it's a carnival isn't it? Just a bit of fun."
Lynes, who was expecting to run the flatter leg of the race between Perranuthnoe and Lamorna, agreed to do the hillier opening section when her teammate became unwell.
Despite never having run a coastal course like this, she said she was planning to "just keep plodding".
"I really haven't trained for the hilliness or the windiness so we're just going to go with the flow," she smiled.
The event was especially poignant for experienced endurance runner Andy Jukes
He has completed the race multiple times but this year was his last.
Jukes was diagnosed with non-curable metastatic prostate cancer four years ago after a friend convinced him to get tested.
He was running in the quad relay to raise awareness for the disease.
'A massive challenge'
Jukes said: "I didn't need to be here, if I had been tested earlier I could have been cured and be living a normal life.
"But I'm not because I didn't know.
"Today is not about me, today is about raising awareness of prostate cancer and hopefully saving some lives along the way."
Despite having previously run up to 60 miles in a day, Jukes admitted that his 12-mile effort was going to be difficult.
"It's a massive challenge and I'm so glad I'm doing it for a reason and raising awareness for prostate cancer."
Pete Roper knows what it takes to win this race, having previously held the course record for 10 years.
This year he was attending as a coach, with first-timer Ginny Mills.
Mills, who is based in Dorset, has been working with Roper for the past year and said he encouraged her tackle the Classic Quarter as her first endurance event.
"I can't wait to get going," she said. "My aims are to get round and feel strong at the finish."
'It's a demanding course'
Roper won the first edition of the Classic Quarter 20 years ago and went on to take two more victories after that.
He said: "The race is demanding, it's fairly technical and a lot different to where we train on the Jurassic Coast."
The course includes a six-mile stretch of road around Marazion and a big climb out of Mousehole but is largely off-road, along the South West Coast Path.
Roper said: "There's a lot of narrow stuff, a lot of ups and down, a lot of single tracks. If a walker is coming towards you, you have to pause.
"It's demanding, especially the last 11 miles from Lamorna, there's a bit of hands-on work as you come out of Lamorna Cove."
He said the last five miles from the Minack Theatre are out in the open, and "then the finish is amazing when you come into Land's End".
More than 10,000 people have taken on the challenge since it started in 2007.