Darren Barker 'over the moon' following 'brutal swim' as he smashes 1000-mile barrier on The Longest Round

Darren Barker insists his 'spirits are high' still as fatigue starts to kick in on The Longest Round challenge after smashing the 1000-mile barrier.

‍

‍

Barker had set off from Edinburgh on August 19th on an epic 1800-mile adventure finishing in Morocco. He has successfully navigated the first two stages, cycling from the Scottish capital all the way to Dover before swimming for 21 miles in open waters after his English Channel swim was cancelled at the last-minute.

‍

He is now flying through the third stage on his cycle from Calais to Gibraltar - and is set to reach Spain soon having travelled 1000 miles across land and sea so far.

‍

Fatigue is naturally starting to kick in but Barker is keeping his spirits high after completing his 'brutal swim', that he admits has been the toughest part of the fundraising challenge so far - which he is doing in memory of Ricky Hatton.

‍

He said: "The hardest thing for me so far has been the swim. The swim was brutal, it really was. So so tough. And then to get on the bike the next day with headwinds all day long, was tough. So yeah I think the swim and the first day on the bike in France were really really tough.

‍

"I was gutted when the swim didn't go to plan and we had to do it the way we did. But you can sit around, mope about and feel sorry for yourself, or you can do something about it.

‍

"Emma and Karen my relay partners, I couldn't be prouder of them because they were just so upbeat. They really wanted to do the relay but it couldn't be done. So we said look, let's do the distance, let's get it done. So just over the moon. But like I said before, without a shadow of a doubt, that was the toughest day."

‍

Barker's full focus is now on cycling to Gibraltar with him scheduled to arrive on September 11th before completing the challenge in Morocco on the 14th if everything goes to plan.

‍

Barker, who stopped off in Bordeaux on Wednesday night, added: "I am feeling good, I am feeling like I have been on a bike for two weeks, I'm not going to lie. My body is feeling it, my quads, my legs - they have felt better.

‍

"But mentally in a very good place, feeling strong. It's starting to get very hot down south, currently in Bordeaux, beautiful city. Spirits are high, the team have been fantastic, I couldn't have done it without them."

‍

Barker is raising funds for suicide prevention charity, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), in which Hatton was an ambassador of.

‍

‍

And when asked what is spurring him on during this challenge, Barker replied: "I am thinking a lot about Ricky, thinking a lot about loved ones that have passed on. I'm thinking about the difference me and the team are hopefully going to make.

‍

"The Longest Round challenge is a microphone to get people talking, to spread awareness, we're raising money - it's happening. We're having conversations when we're here.

‍

"There's four of us here. Me, my brother (Lee), Boysie Wise and Keegan who is documenting it all - we're with each other, we're sharing stories, we're talking and we're trying to have as good a time as we possibly can whilst thinking about the reasons why we're here."

‍