Female paddleboarder completes Isle of Wight circumnavigation

A charity fundraiser is believed to be the first woman to circumnavigate the Isle of Wight non-stop on a paddleboard.

Emily King also cycled round the island's coast and ran a marathon for the Isle of Wight Youth Trust.

She completed the standup paddleboarding (SUP) challenge in 18 hours on Saturday. She finished the running leg late on Monday afternoon.

She said it had been a "really good experience".

Ms King, one of the UK's most successful SUP athletes, was accompanied by Isle of Wight athlete Charlie Head on her circumnavigation.

Less than eight hours later, she was on her bike cycling around the island, completing the 90km in just over 10 hours.

The final leg of the challenge was running the marathon distance from Yarmouth to Bembridge on Monday.

She said the SUP leg had been hampered by weak tides.

"It was a long slog - long but beautiful," she said.

She said the cycle and runs were a "good workout".

"The scenery is just breathtaking - you just lose yourself and we met lots of incredible people on the way."

She undertook the challenge to help provide mental health and wellbeing counselling for young people on the island, having experienced PTSD and agoraphobia herself following a dog attack.

More than £2,300 has so far been raised for the Isle of Wight Youth Trust.

"I really believe you should try and give back and do something to help these small charities and do something that will affect these kids lives - I had an amazing time and am really happy to do it for them," she said.

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