Race

Coastal Quarter race report (2020)

On September 5th 2020, I ran the Classic Quarter 44 mile ultramarathon from Lizard Point to Land’s End, which is the most Southerly tip of England to the most Westerly. The race is organised by Endurancelife and includes around 5500ft / 1600m of ascent. It was my first race of 2020.

Preparation

I felt relatively confident going into the race. Lockdown had meant a very good training block, although I may have peaked a month too early and then started getting reoccurring knee and ankle issues.

How to Run 100km, Part 2: The Cotswold Way Challenge

In Part 1 I shared my preparation for my 100km fundraising run, with a focus on the heat, as this race was due to take place in the longest heatwave the UK has seen in 5 years 🔥

This is my race report of how it went on the day I ran the Cotswold Way Challenge 2018.

Royal Crescent, Bath

I woke up at 5am and immediately peeked out the window. Thank the gods, it was overcast. It was actually quite cool out, about 13°C.

How to Run 100km, Part 1: Preparing for a Heatwave

At the end of last year, I sat down and drew up my 2018 race calendar. It would be my first year of running ultramarathons, and I knew I wanted one race to also be a fundraiser for mental health.

The Cotswold Way Challenge seemed the perfect candidate, as the mental health charity Mind were already involved. It would be my first 100k—with a daunting 2400m of elevation—and definitely the pinnacle of my running year. As a bonus it was a point-to-point race (no loops) starting in Bath, traversing a large part of the beautiful Cotswolds, and finishing in Cheltenham.

How to Run 50 Miles, Part 2: The Butcombe Trail Ultramarathon

In Part 1, I talked about my inspiration for running 50 miles and the injury-ridden preparation for my first ultramarathon. This is a report of how it went on the day of the Butcombe Trail Ultramarathon 2018, my first ultramarathon.

The Night Before

• Prepared power porridge: 50g oats, 200ml milk, 2 tsp honey, a banana, and some whey protein.
• K-taped my knee, essentially making my quadricep a quinticep. My physio had taught me how to do this a while back, when I got my patellar tendonitis diagnosis. It’s a handy way of distributing some of the load.
• Drank an SIS hydro, to make sure my electrolytes were topped up.
• Checked my GPS app had the map loaded, and printed off some navigation pointers.

Morning registration

My alarm went off at 5 am. I was awake before anyway. Demolished the porridge by 5:30 am, giving it two hours to digest before race start. Necked a small coffee, as I wanted the option to take on some caffeine during the race. Took another SIS hydro to top-up electrolytes, applied Bodyglide to any potential rubbing areas, and headed off into the windy, wet morning. Application of sun cream was not deemed necessary.

How I trained and ran my first 10k: Bath Two Tunnels

In September 2016, I ran my first race: a 10k. Afterwards, full of enthusiasm and zeal, I wrote this blog for an old website. I remember wanting to sign up for a half-marathon, but nothing beyond that. Two years and two ultramarathons later, I’m re-publishing it as a guide for beginners, and something for me to smile back on.

On September 18th 2016, I ran the Relish Running Two Tunnels 10k. I finished a whisker under 50 minutes, which I was very, very happy about.