“I could never run a Marathon”…why you should consider an Ultra Marathon instead…
Sounds nuts doesn’t it? Let me convince you…
An Ultra Marathon is basically any distance over a Marathon, but your starting Ultra is 50km (that’s about 31 miles). So why would you want to run even further than a Marathon? Because it’s a completely different event.
It’s not about time or pace, it’s about green space, camaraderie and just a great day out (yes with lots of running, and snacking).
I did my first Ultra 2 years ago, with less than a handful of Half Marathon’s to my name. I never considered myself a serious runner, and the thought of a full Marathon still terrifies me. I need to enjoy running, and don’t enjoy putting myself under too much pressure. My upcoming 50th birthday felt like a good opportunity to challenge myself, but any pressure of performance / time would completely destroy the enjoyment of the event for me. When I read “no one ever asks you what time you did it in” it sounded like the perfect event to challenge myself without too much pressure.
So I signed up, and completed my first 52k Ultra in the Goring Gap in May 2022. I loved it so much, I completed the Serpent Trail 50k in 2023, and will be doing the inaugural Hangers Way 50k this Summer 2024.
Despite my achievements, why does a Marathon still terrify me? It may be my perception, right or wrong (having never competed in one), but here’s why I’m team Ultra all the way (and you might consider trying one).
Make it stand out
It’s not about pace, it’s all about enjoying the day, the scenery, the atmosphere and just generally being amongst other runners and volunteers all of whom are generous awesome people (or nutters?) of many different abilities, but all of whom are there for the experience and joy of the day!
It’s all about the trails – who doesn’t like a day out taking in the beautiful countryside?
No one ever asks you what time you did it in, but boy the kudos of saying you are an Ultra runner feels pretty good
Did I say it wasn’t about pace?...
Because it’s not about pace, you don’t need to worry about any elevation or hills – they’re only there for you to take the time to re-fuel – you walk and eat the hills.
Because it’s not about pace, you’ll have the time to appreciate and thank all those awesome marshals and volunteers who’ll pull you along during the day
Because it’s not about pace, and all about time on your legs you’ll have willing friends and club members to accompany you on some of your long training runs, which will keep you going through the training months.
Almost convinced? Ok, here’s the reality…
It’s still further than you’ve ever run before, and possibly even further than you ever thought possible. To do that safely and without injury, you will need to train. In my very first Ultra my friend signed up with me, and didn’t train. Hats off to her she finished, but it wasn’t pretty and very enjoyable and took over 8 hours, although she’s been living off the kudos of being an Ultra runner ever since.
What does training look like? Hard to say here, its very personal and there’s lots of plans out there to help. Depending on your starting point and goal, you’re probably looking at:
3-4 months slowly increasing your mileage each week, both in total and distance on long runs. I worked to getting up to c.30k on my longest ever run before the event and did some back to back long runs at the weekend – the biggest before taper being 25k on the Saturday and 25k on the Sunday. That was plenty, and the day (along with all your hard work and training will just carry you through the extra 20k on the day. That might not sound achievable now, but believe me, if you put the miles in, you’ll get there.
Learning how to fuel (eat and drink) whilst out running – that’s the fun part – but learn what works for you
Work in strength training to help keep you injury free and support your running. Don’t forget stretching. Many runners find yoga really helpful.
Having a great support system around you to keep you going – from a supportive home environment giving you the time to train, to your club members always there to help you along the way with offers to join you in training runs and Social Sandwich runs (don’t be afraid to ask).
Tempted? There’s always plenty of events, but doing one with fellow Club members is great. Why not check out Hangers Way, a very local event staring at Alice Holt at the end of June (on Spond) and come and join us.
Here’s to running further not faster
This race report was kindly written by FTRC club member Emma Roberts and was proudly sponsored by Aurora Legal.