In the seventh edition of the race, Watson finished the race in a time of 8 hours, 16 minutes and 50 seconds, eclipsing the previous best time by 28 seconds.

Battling difficult conditions, runners made their way from Anglesea to Torquay, along the Surfcoast walk, Aireys Inlet and finishing back in Anglesea. But the howling weather was not the only obstacle Watson faced.

The strong winds blew a course direction off-course which saw him taken off-track. After realising something was not quite right, he called his fiance, who was able to track him online and confirm that he had been given a bum steer.

Watson lost eight minutes, making the record-breaking effort even more impressive. While he described it as a slight hiccup, he admits he would have been frustrated if he fell behind record-pace.

Nonetheless, Watson was extremely proud of his performance in his first 100km competitive race.

“It was close. I knew the record was 8 hours, 17:08...I went in with the goal of breaking that record,” Watson said.

“I’m really glad I got under by a couple of seconds, because if I had missed it by a little bit I wouldn’t have been able to sleep that night.”