When Jack Faint made the final steps of his 3,666-kilometre (2,278-mile) journey, his family was waiting for him in Kanniyakumari, the southernmost point of mainland India. As they chanted his name, the Laccadive Sea swelling onto the rocks behind him, Faint rushed into their arms.
The 32-year-old from Hartford, a small village in Cheshire in the north west of England, had become the first person to run the length of India. His parents, girlfriend, two sisters and close friends were in tears. “There were a lot of emotions crossing that line — pride, joy, gratitude and also sadness that the best adventure of my life was coming to an end,” he tells The Athletic.
What makes Faint’s historic achievement even more incredible is that in March 2019, at the age of 25, the Liverpool fan was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour — an oligodendroglioma — and was told he would be lucky to live beyond 40.
He completed the challenge with six days to spare, saying his body “exceeded all expectations”. Most days, he would clock 50km, often running seven to nine hours at a time, but there were physical and mental challenges to overcome.
The day after he had completed 84km (52.1 miles), he almost fell asleep while running. Then there were the blisters, and a bout of food poisoning that left him bed-bound two days before he was set to finish. There was also a tendon injury which forced him to rest on the 11th day (strapping and cold therapy meant he walked the equivalent of a marathon the next day).
His 74-day journey began in northern India, 12,000 metres above sea level at the Siachen Base Camp in the Himalayas. Supporting him throughout was Liverpool’s former physical performance coach, Jordan Fairclough, whose role included giving massages on the sides of busy roads. The 34-year-old left Liverpool last season after over seven years with the club, having won the Champions League and Premier League as part of Jurgen Klopp’s backroom staff.
Accompanying them on the trip were Fred Reid, as logistics and route planner, three videographers who joined at various points and Daniel Robinson, who was not only the drone operator and photographer but also Faint’s nutritionist, charged with ensuring he would eat the 5,000 to 6,000 calories a day needed to replenish his body.
Faint running in the rain (Devin Paisley)
“Some days, it was harder to eat than run,” Faint told The Athletic, then 42km into his 50km run on day 60. The group travelled in camper vans, taking turns to run alongside Faint to keep up his morale.
“We celebrate masculinity in the best possible way,” Faint said. “We are like The Inbetweeners one minute and then crying the next.”
On day eight, as he was making his way through the majestic Himalayan valleys, which at points reached over 5,000 metres of elevation, a letter arrived from Liverpool head coach Arne Slot that helped him keep going through the mountainous terrain.
“It really is people like you who make this club what it is, and on behalf of my players, my staff and myself, I want you to know how valued you are, how inspirational your story is and that we are all with you and supporting you, just as you support us,” it read.
Faint has been a Liverpool fan since he was five and “spent half my earnings” following Liverpool around Europe in his twenties, including to three Champions League finals. He watched last month’s defeat by Manchester United at an official supporters’ club in Hyderabad. Slot’s letter, he said, was “massive” because he was “close to my limit physically” when it arrived. He made sure that on that day he went running in the team’s red shirt, a gift from his mum and dad.
“It’s been unreal,” Faint said of the support he’s received, including messages from Federico Chiesa, John Barnes and other current and former Liverpool players.
Jordan Fairclough helps Jack Faint on the roadside (Devin Paisley)
Fairclough had only met Faint once before the challenge, becoming acquainted through a mutual friend, Paddy Montgomery, Liverpool’s former first-team scouting and recruitment analyst. For Fairclough, this journey has been full of surprises, teaching him “a lot in terms of what the body is actually capable of”, the coach told The Athletic.
“It’s having the ability to have a goal or an outcome in mind that you want to achieve and just knowing that you can do it,” Fairclough continued.
“Once you create an idea in your head, you can create it in real life. I’d say that’s something that separates the best-of-the-best players. They all have this mindset, and Jack said about a year or two ago that he’s going to run the length of the country. Just saying that out loud and sharing it with people is what helped bring it to life.”
Faint was living in Melbourne, Australia, at the time of his diagnosis. He suffered a seizure one morning on a bike ride to work, hit his head, and was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Hours later, his life changed.
“The director of neurosurgery came in after the MRI scan and she said, ‘We think you’ve got a suspected brain tumour’,” Faint recalled. “Before the diagnosis, like a lot of people in their early twenties, there was a lot of drinking, drugs and smoking. I didn’t look after myself at all. I didn’t have any form of fitness practice and was quite overweight.”
The neurosurgeon, responding to his request for advice, suggested he become sober, eat a plant-based organic diet and meditate. “I don’t know if any of those things are proven to prevent brain tumours, but I think she took her doctor’s hat off and put a human hat on and saw a young man that needed change in his life and recommended ways to do that. So that is exactly what I did,” said Faint.
A few weeks later, he set off on a year-long solo trip around South America and Asia, spending “the most transformational four months” in India, where he discovered yoga, breath work and meditation. “It helped reframe and reshape what the diagnosis was and helped me form a gratitude practice,” he explained. “It was there that meditation became central to me and how I could deal with what I was diagnosed with.”
Faint was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour at age 25 (Devin Paisley)
When Faint returned from travelling, he took up running and was soon conquering marathons and ultramarathons, raising money for various cancer charities while doing so. Last year, he ran 650km of South Africa’s coastline in 14 days, a warm-up for what would be his biggest challenge yet.
It was the six months leading up to the start of his challenge in India that were the most “intense”, he says, as he had to juggle a full-time job at a tech startup, train six days a week and generate funds for the project, which cost around £80,000 ($105,000). Anything raised beyond that will be split with cancer charities in the United Kingdom and India.
“I still don’t believe I’m anything too spectacular or special. I think a lot of people maybe would treat it how I would,” Faint said of his diagnosis.
“I’ve always had a natural attitude that you don’t cry over spilt milk. Once something’s done, you react proactively and positively rather than stressing that something’s already happened. I’ve learned resilience, but it’s been a rollercoaster. I’ve had bouts of depression over the past six years and I’ve struggled on many occasions with just managing life and part of the reality I was faced with.”
What kept him going during those low points is what kept him motivated as he covered the length of India on foot.
“Family,” Faint said. “And a disciplined approach to fitness always helps. My meditation and gratitude practices have saved me on many occasions. But also having loved ones around who can help shape you and support you when times are tough.”
Faint arriving at Paragon School for a press conference in Chandigarh, a city to the north of New Delhi (Daniel Robinson)
There was the high of arriving in Hyderabad during the religious festival of Diwali, but also the low of realising the reason they were stuck in a traffic jam 130 miles south of the city was because 20 people had been killed when a motorbike crashed into a bus, setting it aflame.
“It was really sad,” Faint said. “Life is finite and we shouldn’t sweat the small stuff. We should be grateful for what we have.”
Faint, who has been living in Cape Town, South Africa, for the past two years with his girlfriend, said it is likely he will need some form of treatment in 2026, which could mean brain surgery. But he was not looking too far ahead.
His daily practices have taught him to stay in the present. And right now, he is at the southernmost point in India, celebrating life and his achievement with those he loves.
Jack Faint uses walking poles through the Himalayas after sustaining an injury (Jordan Fairclough)
“One of the messages I’ve always tried to reiterate is that the only thing that we can really control is how we react,” he said.
“That’s the only choice we have. We all face adversity, we’re all going to lose loved ones in our lifetime, we’re all going to face really hard things. In those moments, everybody deserves compassion and empathy, but it’s always up to us what that reaction is. Do we sit in bed and feel sorry for ourselves? Or do we go out and try to turn that into something transformative that can tell other people, who are maybe thinking the same thing, what purpose looks like?
“It’s also about trying to show other people who have been diagnosed with brain tumours or cancers. They can often feel like it’s the beginning of the end and get wrapped up in that fear, but it’s not the end.”