Cardiff to London Ultra 2025

Well it’s a couple of weeks after Cardiff to London and I finally have time to sit down to finish writing a full race report. Cardiff to London was a race of two halves with the first half to Goring going really well and the second half a limp to the finish (well a fast walk!). I am really proud of pushing through and finishing this one, not in the time I had hoped but I carried on when I could easily have stopped and mentally that is tough! Although relatively flat this is a tough 200 miler with no crews, no poles, no head phones and only having access to your drop bag twice. The only luxury was check points that had more than just water(!) and a surprising amount of snacks and hot drinks, a special shout out to CP3 and 7 🤩

Setting off on a long bus and train journey to Cardiff
Ready for the start at 7am

Some photos taken from the Cockbain Events FB group – thanks!

The race started outside the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay on the Friday morning at 7am. RD Mark was extra kind and took us down at about 6.40am for the race briefing so we were all freezing cold from standing around in the shade for 20mins! A friend-of-an-old-school-friend-of-Iain’s (and someone I had met at Mapledurham BYU) popped down to the start to see us off which was a nice boost. I find the waiting around for race starts hard and was relieved when it was finally 7am and we were off. With only 21 runners it was a small group and most set off at a rapid pace. I had planned to average 11:30min per mile to the first check point but even running near the back of the pack I found myself running faster than this. I had some good chat with Elisabeth Chapple all the way to the coastal path. Everything felt comfortable and as we ran I soon warmed up. I had been a bit concerned about the navigation out of Cardiff but it was fine as long as I paid attention to my watch (I had turn by turn alerts turned off to save battery). Being early in the morning the traffic wasn’t heavy so road crossings were not a problem.

The coastal path was brilliant, easy running, no navigation and nice views. The sun was up and the sunglasses were on. I began catching up with people who had gone out fast – I would have a quick chat and then carry on. This continued for much of the first day on and off. I had a great chat with David Harvey which passed a few miles. He then went on to keep up a brilliant pace and finish in 45hr 26mins – amazing running 👏👏👏 He was walking 5mins every half an hour while I was walking a few minutes every mile so our pacings weren’t the same and he soon headed off in the distance. Before I knew it I was in Newport – again the navigation wasn’t too tricky just requiring a bit of concentration. It is then a few miles of country roads to Goldcliff where you rejoin the coast and where the first check point was located.

When I got to the check point my tracker was reset as apparently there was a problem with it. I topped up my water and then headed on my way along the coast. This section has some nice views and was easy running. I got a phone call from Iain concerned my tracker hadn’t moved on from the check point – apparently it had been working up until then and had then stopped. I assured him I was fine and it must just be the tracker that was now playing up! The guys at the check point had said they would see me at the bridge if it was still causing problems so I guessed I would see someone then. It was hot along the coastal path, there were a few people out and about but it wasn’t busy. At about 27 miles you turn inland for a small section near Caldicot. I was trotting along the country roads quite happily when I tripped over nothing and fell hard. After a few seconds mentally checking the body I got up and hobbled on – 2 grazed hands with slight bleeding (stung bad but not too serious), a sore left elbow, but thankfully not much blood and a very sore left hip (my biggest concern). I carried on running on it so it didn’t stiffen at all and although tender it thankfully didn’t cause me any problems for the rest of the race. I am finding I trip over nothing more often and it is really frustrating as I have no idea how to minimise it – I spent the rest of the race reminding myself to pick up my feet, especially during road sections. I carried on back to the coast and under the Severn Bridge, along the coast a bit further before heading slightly inland to join the road and cross the Old Severn Bridge.

It was hot all race!
Quick stop at CP1
Over the bridge!

As I expected I was met to reset my tracker and thankfully was able to keep walking rather than stop as it takes a good few minutes. The bridge was really cool to walk/run across and I am now looking forward to the Bridge 200 next year. The route then crosses to the service station on the far side of the road and I was tempted to stop for a quick ice cream as it was mid afternoon and hot but I kept going and was kept alert for the next couple of miles that were on sketchy roads that required concentration. It was a relief to get this section done and get on some quieter roads. I was still keeping a good pace and on target to reach check point 2 slightly ahead of my optimistic pacing schedule!

The running the rest of the way to the check point was uneventful and I came to the check point sooner than I expected which is always a bonus. It was the first of 2 indoor check points where we had access to our drop bags. I soon had everything done that I wanted, enjoyed a katsu curry pot and headed on my way leaving about 10mins before my schedule. All was going well, the hip I had fallen on wasn’t causing me any bother, I had managed my hydration well in the heat and my only slight concerns were some lower back pain and tight quads. A few miles from the check point I realised the back pain was from a pressure point from my race vest. I was using a front pouch for the first time to make accessing food easier and although it had performed fine during training it turned out it changed how the bag weight was distributed putting pressure on my lower back. I soon had all the food transferred to different pockets on the vest and the pain began to ease over the next few hours. Problem solved!

I met and passed Agnes (Agnieszka Kaminska) while crossing a lively field of cows who were very interested in runners! Thankfully cows don’t bother me and although they came close they didn’t cause a problem. I was moving slightly faster than Agnes so headed on focussed on trying to keep a decent pace.

I was aware my pace had slowed down since the check point and without using more effort than I wanted at this stage in the race I wasn’t going to speed up! This next section to the next check point was a bit of a drag in the evening. At one point I passed a young deer injured at the side of the road – it was standing but holding one leg and it didn’t run away. I was concerned leaving it next to a busy road so phoned Iain to get him to report it to the RSPCA, he sat in a queue for half an hour on the phone only to be told they didn’t have enough staff to do anything. I hope it was OK but suspect it didn’t make it. The country lanes were busier than normal as the route went past the parking for the Badminton Horse Trials and it was the end of the day with everyone leaving. This was frustrating as it meant I had to keep stepping onto the verge to let cars pass.

First indoor check point
Spotted in the wild, somewhere North of Bristol.

I ran some of this section to the check point with Giacomo Squintani which was great. The chat gave me a boost and made the miles pass a lot quicker than they would have otherwise. Head torches went on before the check point and when I arrived I was still on schedule so was doing OK even if I didn’t feel like it! It was a fantastic check point with loads of food and drink options but I just grabbed some boiled potatoes and water and headed on my way leaving Giacomo to have a slightly longer stop. I now wanted to get to the Ridgeway and with the next check point only 14 miles away, it wasn’t too far to go.

A few miles after the check point as I was heading through Swindon I became really tired and had slowed down a lot. I decided to stop at a garage to get a coffee to hopefully perk me up. Unfortunately when I came out of the garage my watch complete lost its GPS and declared I was 4.5miles off course – not helpful as I didn’t know which way to go! It was like a technology black spot and my phone was also misbehaving (it also had a copy of the map on it). I sat on a bench for a minute to collect my thoughts and drink my coffee. A quick call to Iain and I headed off up the road hoping the gps would kick in before the next road turn. Thankfully it did and I was back on my way (the only navigation stress of the whole run). Soon after this Giacomo caught me up again and we ran a few miles together before I headed on at a slightly faster pace.

By the time I got to CP4 I had caught up with Sam Jelfs and ran a good few miles with him onto the Ridgeway. He was having problems with one of his calves/ankle so not running as much as he would otherwise. I was enjoying the company. The Ridgeway at night is not the nicest run, there is no real navigation and the terrain was hard, rutted and stony underfoot. The only plus point was loos in a few of the road crossing car parks! I was really beginning to feel the miles and knew I was slower than I had hoped. The path is very undulating and I just wasn’t moving very fast. At some point in the night I pulled ahead of Sam and then I caught up with Nathan Taylor, Colin Crowhurst and Gari John who were running together and I stuck with them most of the way to Goring. They ran longer stretches than me but I walked faster so I would power walk ahead of them until they caught up and then run with them for a stretch. It was great when the sun finally rose and there was only a few hours until the next indoor check point in Goring. I was concerned that even though I had fully refilled my water bladder to 2L I was completely out of water and still had 5 or 6 miles to go. But nothing could be done about it so I just carried on mindful to not push too hard (unlikely in my current mindset with sore tired legs!).

Once the sun had risen the scenery here was nice but by now I had had enough of the Ridgeway and was looking forward to getting on the Thames Path. I finally arrived in Goring about 1h30 behind my schedule and about 10mins ahead of the boys who hadn’t caught me up after their last stop. This stop was taken up completely with admin and still seemed to take longer than it should. I did indulge in a quick wash, some deep heat and then sun cream to set me up for the day! I was finally on my way just after 9am and looking forward to the Thames Path. A diversion before I had even left Goring was a bit demoralising and then there is a steep climb that I had no memory of (easy at the start of the Thames Ring 250). I was already hot and beginning to flag.

A old uni friend had cycled out to see me in Pangbourne and I stopped on the grass for a 5 minute catch up, we will definitely need to sort a longer catch up! I also tried to use the toilets in the car park that Nathan recommend but after cutting across to the car park I was disappointed to find them closed due to vandalism. I retraced my steps feeling frustrated (and still needing a wee). My boost from seeing a friend didn’t last long and over the next section of the Thames Path I began to feel really low. It was hot and my quads were really sore, I was running less and walking more. I didn’t keep control of my mind and let all the negative voices start shouting – I wanted to stop. I phoned Iain a few times who pointed out I was still doing really well and moving well and just needed to keep pushing on. It was mainly a long slow miserable afternoon – I would sort my head out for a bit but it wouldn’t last long and then I would be planning how to stop again. I caught up with Nathan, Gari and Colin asleep under a tree. After a brief chat they said I could tag along with them as they were mainly walking until it was cooler in the evening. This boosted my spirits having company but a mile or 2 later than all ran off into the distance, obviously having a change of plan. It was back to my own head and feeling miserable. Sitting here now it’s hard to understand why I wanted to quit so much as I was doing OK but in the moment it was all I could think about and what a long way it was still to go. Sam caught me up running well but still suffering from calf/ankle pain. He was planning on a slight detour in Henley to nip to a shop for pain killers so I decided to go with him as I had forgotten to pick up my paracetamol at Goring. I was also able to get a Calipo and coke. I sat on a bench in Henley and had another chat with Iain but finally got myself moving again, only to walk thigh first into a bollard – very ouchy at the time but didn’t stop me moving.

Back in the sun, near Reading.
Heading off along the Thames Path.

On such a nice Saturday afternoon and evening the Thames Path was really busy until quite late. I so wanted to quit but at the same time couldn’t bring myself to do it (I am now very glad I didn’t). From this point I walked the rest of the way to the finish. For the rest of the afternoon and evening I entertained thoughts of quitting getting as far as pulling out my phone to let Mark know. It turns out I can’t actually go through with it – I just can’t quit! It was a quick stop at CP6 at Bisham made easier by the basic facilities (a tripod stool). I planned to stop at a garage in Maidenhead which had an Asda attached – I figured it would have more gluten free options. Unfortunately, it was rubbish and had nothing at all worth buying, so I settled for a coffee which I took outside to a bench where I then got harassed by a random guy, luckily I was on the phone to Iain at the time so I quickly moved on across the bridge and on my way. Overnight, I was quite jumpy along the Thames Path until the early hours of the morning. It is a funny place to be on your own at night but other than being passed by a couple of cyclists in the early hours it was generally quiet. The miles ticked by and suddenly it didn’t seem too far to the final check point and my mindset shifted to getting it done and staying ahead of Agnes to ensure I finished first female. The sun rose on Sunday and I now knew I would be able to finish. It was like a switch had changed in my head and I was now focussed on finishing. I plodded along finally reaching the final check point at 5.30am. The final check point was brilliant and I was able to sort my feet (which were a mess and needed re-taping), I was also able to get a porridge pot, banana and two cups of tea.

CP7 – fixing feet for the final time.
Refueling for the final stretch.

Adrian arrived at the check point while I was there and headed off shortly after while I was still eating! I wasn’t bothered about my position or time now, my goals were to enjoy the rest of the race and stay ahead of Agnes. This looked straight forward on the tracker as she appeared to have slowed over night. It wasn’t until a couple of hours later that I realised her tracker hadn’t been working properly and she in fact wasn’t as far behind as I had thought. This helped me to get moving and stay at a pace below 20min/mi. The early morning was lovely but it soon got hot and then busy with ridiculous numbers of people everywhere. I tried to find a decent breakfast in East Molesey but again finding gluten free options was a challenge. I ended up with a bottle of coke, bag of crisps and an apple. It was really busy as I had managed to time it perfectly for the start of the Hampton Court 10k! This meant loads of runners whizzing past as I shuffled along. It at least kept me entertained!

It was a relief to get past Hampton Court and all the runners only to then find a half marathon and triathlon also going on. Runners and bikes everywhere not to mention all of the other walkers, dogs and cyclists. It was so busy, but I just kept pushing on counting down the miles. This section of long races always seems to take forever – with each mile taking so much longer progress feels slow but all you can do is keep putting one foot in front of the other knowing that each step brings the finish closer. My feet were a mess of blisters and beginning to be uncomfortable and I just couldn’t muster a run despite a few half-hearted attempts.

I was able to buy a coffee in Canbury gardens which was a nice boost and then it was back to power walking and dodging people! Running past Kew Gardens it was roasting hot but I finally felt the finish was near and that kept me going. The next section is a bit frustrating navigation wise as there are lots of new developments that you have to run through. I was unfortunately needing a wee which wasn’t great but I just had to keep going and hope I found a toilet soon! It wasn’t until Battersea Park that I finally found a toilet. Great clean toilets in Battersea park and right on the route if anyone needs the info for future races! It was then a final push to the finish. I crossed to the far side of the river on Chelsea Bridge as this meant we would be finishing with Big Ben behind us – a great photo opportunity.

Final few strides over Westminster Bridge.
56:08 – First Lady 🔥

With so many tourists around I must have looked a funny sight, I finally weaved my way to Westminster Bridge with the intention of running the last few metres across the bridge – this wasn’t as easy as I had thought with so many tourists! It was more of a run, stop, shuffle, run to the finish where my Mum and Dad were waiting with Mark and one of the other runners (Neil Young) who had had to pull out earlier in the race. I was made up to have finished as first female in 56 hours and 8 minutes. It was made extra special by my Mum and Dad making the journey to the finish – they had never seen me finish a race before. A quick handshake with Mark and getting my medal and we headed off to finding a spot in the park by the London Eye where we could sit and I could sort myself out. The one advantage of a small drop bag is I didn’t have much to carry! I was able to sort my feet which were the thing bothering me the most, eat some food and have a drink and then my Mum and Dad had located the nearest toilets where I was able to get changed and tidy myself up before we went for a meal. We then had a very very slow walk across to Victoria where they headed home and I waited for the overnight coach back up to Edinburgh.

Another epic adventure in the bag. As always lots that went well and lots to learn. Hormones are still impacting all my long races and I need to work out how to manage this better. For some reason my feet blistered terribly this time – I am going to go back to trying toes socks for my next race. I also think I claw my toes when I run which results in a lot of nail bed blisters – I am not sure how to prevent this at the moment. Although my mind went AWOL half way through I have discovered I can’t quit and will keep going however tough it gets. A great thing to know for these long hard races.

Personalised finisher cake 🍰
Well deserved!

Recovery is going well, with a week of no running and as much sleep as I could get I began to feel more myself. This last week has been short slow runs to aid recovery and next week I will add in a few more miles then a quiet taper week before Suffolk BYU. The blisters are all healing well after removing a couple of very loose toenails (mine never seem to just fall off completely), they should be good to go by Suffolk.

Thanks everyone for all your support and encouragement it means a lot 🙏

Preparing for the Cape Wrath Ultra

Note: this post contains Amazon affiliate links

Cape Wrath Ultra is an epic adventure race covering 250 miles of the North Western Highlands of Scotland, starting in Fort William and finishing at the iconic Cape Wrath Lighthouse on the most Northwesterly point of mainland Scotland. It’s been on my bucket list for many years (I think I first heard of the race some time in 2018) and I learned a lot about it by volunteering on the event team first in 2023 and then again in 2024 as I unfortunately had to make a late deferral after injuring my hip in March. This year I am fully trained, healthy and ready to finally take my spot on the starting line in just a few days time.

Unlike many other races we have done, the Cape Wrath Ultra is different in that it’s a multi-day stage race. The course consists of 8 separate stages, stopping each night at an overnight camp. No individual crew is allowed and all of my gear for the week must fit in to a standard issue 79 litre, dry bag with a 20kg weight limit, or carried/worn on the first day. The dry bag is transported from the start of each day to the next camp with the event team, and should be there when I arrive. Compared to a continuous point-to-point race, where you can travel relatively light and rely on regular crew or CP stops for resupply, or a Backyard Ultra where you have access to your own supplies every hour for Cape Wrath I must be self-sufficient for up to 45 miles, it requires quite a different approach and a lot more thought! Here are some notes on how I prepared for the race. Hopefully anyone planning to enter CWU or similar multi-day races in future will find it interesting and useful.

Gear

An extensive list of mandatory and recommended kit is provided by the organisers, Ourea Events. My starting point was to transfer every item on the kit list onto a spreadsheet and note which of my existing running gear I would use, and which I would have to purchase. In the end (aside from replacing/updating some worn-out “consumable” items such as socks, shoes and first aid kit), the only items I bought specially for the race were:

  • The mandatory drybag (Ortlieb PS490 79L) – I have a love/hate relationship with this after packing! It would be much nicer if they chose something which was less tube-shaped. Anyway everyone is in the same boat…
  • Ultimate Direction Adventure Vest 6.0 – a little bit of an upgrade to my previous 15L pack, this has 17L of capacity for the additional mandatory kit items I would need to carry and many more accessible pockets for food. I planned to use it with a 2L bladder plus a 500ml soft flask which I can use if I need to refill from streams on the longer days.
  • OMM Halo Plus jacket – my previous jackets were either too heavyweight (proper winter waterproofs) or had cutouts which meant they don’t meet Ourea’s requirements. Having bought it last Spring, I’ve worn and carried it many times in all conditions and totally recommend it as a great lightweight hill running waterproof. It needs to be paired with a warm midlayer on cold days though as it is only a waterproof shell and doesn’t have any insulation.
  • Evadict trail running waterproof trousers – a good upgrade over my “walking” waterproofs, with longer calf zips and stretchy knee sections so they are easy to put on when needed but don’t impede running. Very lightweight and surprisingly warm, having worn them over shorts in 0C conditions at Rasselbock Backyard Ultra 2025.
  • A new fleece midlayer (less bulky than my own, as this must be carried at all times on the course) – also bought ready for last year’s race and have worn it plenty since then.
  • A North Face Thermoball hooded jacket – this is a requirement to be carried in cold weather. My usual insulated jacket is too bulky, and I’ll need it to be in my dry bag to wear in camp anyway. Fortunately, I was able to pick this up on Vinted for £20 – can’t beat a good bargain 😁

Next I had to decide how many spare bits of clothing I should take. In the end I decided on a compromise between comfort, space/weight and flexibility. I have 4 pairs of socks and runderwear (so a fresh pair every 2 days), 2 pairs of shorts, 2 pairs of Salomon Sense Ride 5 shoes (one new and one with a few hundred miles of wear), 3 tech shirts and a vest, and 3 base layers of varying thickness.

For my camp kit in addition to all the mandatory stuff (sleeping bag, midge net, first aid kit, washing kit etc.) I am taking the relative luxury of an inflatable sleeping mat, a full change of clothes to wear in camp, a pair of long-sleeved pyjamas, a solar charging power bank and some line and clothes pegs so I have a chance of drying my kit. The drying tent that was provided last year will not be available, so this could be the difference between putting on wet kit in the morning, or having it dry(ish) 🤞 I’ve also brought a smaller drybag which I’ll use to store any wet or worn kit, seal it up and stuff it into the bottom of the bag to keep the festering to a minimum…

The weather seems forecast to be good (maybe even too hot!) for the first 4 or 5 days of the race, so hopefully I have everything I need to stay warm, dry and comfortable both on the trail and in camp!

The next stage was to weigh all my items and add the weights to the spreadsheet. Including food (more on that later), I expected to have a bit over 18kg in the drybag, and around 3kg in my pack. During the week the drybag should get lighter as I eat my way through the nearly 6kg of food in it!

When it comes to packing I have arranged items into smaller drawstring bags. The drybag is basically a long tube, which is annoying as it makes it impossible to reach items at the bottom without having to take everything else out first. So the packing order is not that important, as I’ll have to do a full unpack and repack every day to access all my gear anyway. With a bit of careful squeezing and shaping, everything made it in to the bag in the end! The main thing that really helped saving space was to roll my clothes before stuffing them into the drawstring bags – apparently it helps get all the air pockets out. Anyway, I can say it certainly helped and I estimate it saved about 25% of the volume of my clothes 😮 There is a helpful guide to space-saving packing here: https://www.cabinzero.com/blogs/packing-tips/how-to-roll-clothes-for-packing 👀 After popping in a few extra items (since I had the space and the weight available), I weighed in at 19.9kg… hope my scales are accurate!

Spare running kit
Camp clothes
Cold weather kit and extra jacket for camp
It’s all got to fit in the bag…
… and it does… just!
Fully packed dry bag, plus my running pack and first day gear.

Food

Although I wrote that runners need to be self-sufficient, that only extends to food while out on the course. In camp, I will be served breakfast, dinner and the legendary afternoon soup and chips (for those fast enough to make it back before dinner time). Having experienced camp life as a volunteer for the last two years, I can say that the catering is truly excellent in both quality and quantity. In fact, I put on weight during my two volunteering weeks – not sure that will happen when I have to run 250 miles along the way, but we will see 🤣

To plan the food I was going to take I made another spreadsheet with the various things that I know I like to eat during a race – KMC energy drink and gels, home-made protein cookies, and a mixture of other savoury and sweet snacks and “real food” such as babybel cheese, crackers, nuts and dried fruit. I know from practicing on long runs that I tend to eat more substantial items when hiking uphill, so I checked the course description and planned for one cookie per major climb! For the shorter days (1 & 8) I will take 1L of KMC drink, increased to 1.5L if hot and 2L for the remaining days, to be supplemented by water from streams as needed (I have packed chlorine tablets if needed).

I added data for the weight and calories per serving of each food item and then adjusted the quantities to hit around 250 kcal per hour, based on the finishing time of a front-to-mid-pack runner from last year’s results. That’s actually quite a bit more than I’d eat even on a 100 miler, but I won’t have the luxury of several days of recovery, I’ll need to run again the next day so I’m aiming to take on a bit more energy and nutrients if I can!

In total I have around 6kg of race food (plus water which will be provided on site), totalling about 14,000kcal. That works out as 2.4kcal per gram, which is fairly efficient given that “pure” carbohydrates give you 4kcal per gram 🤔

All of the food is divided up into ziplock bags, one for each day, so all I need to do at the end of the day is removed any empty packets / surplus food from my bag and repack with the next day’s provisions – easy!

One final note about food, Ourea’s catering is plant-based (either vegetarian or vegan). Of course their menus are designed to provide plenty of protein and all the micronutrients that the body needs, but I have snuck in a few bags of beef jerky to provide a bit of a reward at the end of the day. I’ve also packed some protein powder and a mixer flask so I can have a quick protein shake to kick-start recovery at the end of each day’s running. The other “treat” item I’ve put in is a hip-flask full of whisky, which I plan to take in my pack on the final day to be opened when I reach the lighthouse!

Pacing

The individual stages of the Cape Wrath Ultra are not actually that long (relatively speaking 🤣 ). The longest day is 45 miles and there are three days which are less than a marathon. My training has gone well, I feel in good shape and I fully intend to come and “race”, rather than go steadily and treat it as an “experience”. I have done plenty of running on varied Scottish terrain so I know what to expect on most parts of the course, and have a good idea of the pace I can maintain both on and off trail. The big unknown is how well I can recover and go again the next day… that I’ll only find out as the cumulative fatigue sets in on day 2 or 3!

To plan out the race, I first plotted out the route on Strava, based on the 2022 route map which I was given during my first year as a volunteer. Once the final route GPX and guidance was published I went over them and made a few minor corrections, but broadly the route is unchanged. I’ll sync these routes to my Garmin as my primary navigation aid (along with the official printed map and the Avenza digital map). I haven’t done any official recces, but have experience on a short distance each way out of camp from runs and walks over the last few years, although I estimate that’s only about 10% of the route!

I then split each day up into sections (yet another spreadsheet – are you getting the hang of my strategy yet?) and read off the distances to each major waypoint (either the top of a climb, a checkpoint or other major feature). I pored over the map, exhaustively watched Youtube footage from previous years, race reports and even Strava cadence data from past participants to identify which bits of terrain were most runnable and walkable. For each segment I worked out a target pace (in minutes per mile) based on a moderate effort, what I would typically expect to do on a 100k race. Hopefully that’s a good balance between pushing fast enough to be competitive, but without blowing up and/or doing too much damage to recover each day.

I added them all up to give me expected times at each location, and total times for each day. In total this puts me at an estimated finish time of around 50 hours… based on previous years that would typically put me in the top 3 or 5, so that’s in the right ballpark as an “if everything goes to plan” goal. I am sure there are some speedy runners who are looking to go much faster (looking at you, Marcus Scotney 👀) so I will focus on the time goal firstly, and secondly managing my effort enough that I am still in a state to run properly right up to the final day. Whether that’s possible or not there’s only one way to find out, but it wouldn’t be a good goal if it was a certainty! I’ll report back in a couple of weeks and let you all know 🤩

The race tracking page is now live: https://live.opentracking.co.uk/capewrathultra25/ where you’ll be able to follow my progress over the week – I have race number 12. There will also be live video feeds from the start and finish of each day, and (not yet enabled) the “Ultra Mail” feature which means you can write me messages that will be printed out at the end of every day. I’m looking forward to reading them 🙏

Gore-Tex Shoes – Salomon Sense Ride 5 GTX

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I’ve written before about my all-time favourite shoes – the Salomon Sense Ride. Recently I ordered another pair of them so I had a fresh pair ready for Cape Wrath Ultra later this month. I took them out of the box, ready to give them a few runs before using them in the race… and I spotted a “Gore-Tex” tag. I’d bought the wrong shoes 😱 No big disaster, I just ordered another pair of the regular model (minus the Gore-Tex) as they will get used, just not for Cape Wrath! But what’s the difference, why is it a big deal, and when should you use Gore-Tex or not?

Put simply, Gore-Tex is a synthetic fabric which is waterproof. It was invented in the 1960s by Robert Gore and is most commonly used in outdoor clothing such as jackets and trousers which are designed to be waterproof. It can also be used in shoes – Salomon have waterproof versions of many of their shoes, for example the Sense Ride 5 (regular version) and the Sense Ride 5 GTX (waterproof version). The only difference is the “GTX” on the end, and a small “Gore-Tex” print on the upper – so it’s easy to mistake them (honest 🙈). Most other major running shoe manufacturers do something similar. The Gore-Tex material is usually added as a layer in the construction of the upper of the shoe, so you can’t easily tell the difference just by looking. Often it comes with a small price increase (maybe £10 extra), but sometimes you can find them even cheaper than the regular model, especially out of season.

Salomon Sense Ride 5 GTX – they look identical to the regular version 👀
Except for this tiny printed label on the upper 🔍

Although Gore-Tex shoes are marketed as “waterproof” you should really think of them as “water resistant”. If you’re running around in deep, wet, boggy terrain, wading through rivers or just generally submerging your shoes in water then your feet will get wet regardless, mainly due to water getting in through the big hole in the top of the shoe – the one you put your foot into 😉 However, if you are just running through a little bit of moisture, for example splashing through puddles, or running through dewy grass or even snow then the waterproofing will work well and keep your feet dry.

So why wouldn’t you want waterproofing (except for the cost)? Well, even though Gore-Tex is designed to be breathable (letting moisture out but not in), it definitely slows down the rate at which your feet dry out. Where a normal shoe lets water in easily, but also lets it out easily, with a Gore-Tex shoe once your feet are wet they tend to stay wet for longer. The extra layer of fabric can also contribute to making your feet sweat more (or at least the sweat doesn’t wick away so quickly). These effects can combine to increase the chances that you’ll develop blisters, or in the worst case maceration and eventually trench foot. The last time I wore Gore-Tex shoes in an ultra was at Ultra Scotland 100 in 2022 and my feet were destroyed by the end (scroll down to the bottom of the post for pics… if you dare 🤢).

In summary, Gore-Tex shoes have their uses but be sensible, and like with all kit – try it out before you use them on race day:

  • Short runs ✅
  • Winter runs ✅
  • Occasional puddles and mud, or just a bit of damp grass ✅
  • Running in the rain ✅
  • Ultras (even in dry conditions, your feet will be soaked in sweat by the end) ❌
  • River crossings ❌
  • Deep puddles, consistently wet terrain e.g. bogs, long wet grass ❌

Hope you found this post interesting and helpful. If you love (or hate) running in waterproof shoes, do let us know! Alternatively, have a look at this post about waterproof socks as an alternative approach to keeping your feet warm and dry.

Protein Cookies

I have suspected for a long time that I don’t get enough protein in my diet. With a heavy training load, busy family, work etc. I have been finding it hard to get enough protein so decided to try adding in a plant protein shake. Initially I was just using this after harder runs to aid recovery but in the last six months I have tried to add in a shake most days. The most noticeable difference has been if I have a protein shake in the mornings I am not needing to snack and am not super hungry by lunch. I am unsure if it has improved my recovery as so many factors come into play, but I think it can only be a benefit when I have a high training load and busy race calendar… so the protein shake is a success and here to stay! I usually make mine up with oat milk rather than water as I prefer the taste and consistency and I tend to drink it mid morning after my run to work.

Before Rasselbock Backyard Ultra I was thinking about my race fueling and was looking at ways to get more protein into my snack selection. I was looking for a snack that was easy to eat, kept well and was high in both sugar and protein. The solution was to combine a family favourite gluten free chocolate cookie recipe with some of my plant protein powder to make my very own protein cookies. Yes, they are full of sugar and not healthy but they were perfect during Rasselbock BYU and I will be making some for all future races. They kept well, were easy to eat and both Iain and I enjoyed them even in the later stages of the race.

The original recipe comes from Laura at My Gluten Free Guide – thanks to Laura for allowing me to share my version. If you are gluten free and looking for a sweet treat they are great just as they are 😋

To add protein my modified recipe just involves swapping 60g of flour with 60g of the plant protein powder. I don’t know if you could swap a higher proportion with success (let me know if you try)! Swapping this amount of the flour makes the cookies slightly softer and they don’t spread as much when you bake them, so I flatten mine out more when I put them on the tray, otherwise they come out very domed!

Iain is a big fan and has taken them on some of his recent hill runs… the only challenge is getting hold of them before they get eaten by the kids 🤣

Low GI Diet… or how I lost 10kg in 3 months and never felt better!

Disclaimer: Don’t make any major changes to your diet based on what you read on the internet. Always consult a qualified dietitian or your GP first, especially if you have any underlying health conditions. I am just sharing my experience, make of it what you will!

Despite running roughly 50 miles per week consistently for the last few years, I’ve always had a bit of a tendency to put on weight easily. There might be a genetic factor to that but more likely it’s due to being weak-willed when there is food available. No matter how much I tried (and succeeded) to shed a few kilos, along would come a birthday, Christmas or other occasion and those few kilos would jump straight back on. Coming home from Christmas and New Year 2024, I weighed in at 80.9kg on the 3rd January, heavier than I had been since 2021. With a big year of races coming up, I decided it was time to do something about it!

Along with the books on running psychology that I reviewed last month, the other book on my Christmas list was Christopher McDougall’s “Born To Run 2”. While his original book promoted the benefits of barefoot and minimalist running, the sequel looks at the diet of the Tarahumara (the Mexican ‘tribe of ultra runners’) and the benefits it can have. Put simply – they follow a low-GI diet – so I decided to try it!

What is a low GI diet?

All foods can be categorised according to the Glycemic Index (GI). Essentially what it measures is how easily the food can be broken down into glucose, which is carried around in your bloodstream and metabolised as the primary source of energy for everything that you need to do… not just running!

Foods with a high GI can be turned very easily and quickly into glucose. Examples are obviously sugary foods – sweets, cakes, syrup – but also refined (white) flour which means most bread products and pasta, as well as potatos (chips, crisps…), white rice, and (sadly) beer. As you probably know, many foods also have a lot of added hidden sugar, including a lot of “healthy” breakfast options such as muesli and granola.

Foods with a low GI are the opposite, they take longer for the body to break down into glucose, either because they contain more complex molecules or significant amounts of fibre which slows down the digestion process. Examples are nuts, beans, meat and fish, diary (cheese, milk, cream…), many fruits and vegetables, and whole grains (oats, brown rice, barley…).

It’s a sliding scale and there are lots of food somewhere in the middle. You can find plenty of lists to look up individual foods if you’re unsure.

The problem is that our normal Western diet is mainly full of high GI foods. When we eat them we get a rapid increase or spike in our blood glucose levels. The body responds to this by releasing insulin, which triggers the storage of any excess glucose that’s not immediately required for exercise or recovery as body fat. This causes the blood glucose levels to drop rapidly, making us hungry for more food and starting the cycle again. Since most of us start the day with a sweet breakfast (cereal, toast with jam etc.) we can end up riding the spike/crash rollercoaster all day long. By replacing high GI foods with low GI alternatives, it smoothes out the peaks and troughs in our blood glucose level, reducing the opportunity for our bodies to store fat and feeling full for longer. At least that’s the theory!

What a low GI diet isn’t – it’s not about calorie reduction. You can still keep a healthy overall amount of calorie intake which is particularly important if you have a high training load and are exercising frequently. Going into calorie deficit can cause your overall fitness to suffer and in the worst case lead to conditions like RED-S. Low GI is also not a low-carb diet (like the Keto diet), although it has some similarities. There are plenty of carb options that are low GI, so you can continue to eat a balanced, healthy diet. It’s also perfectly possible to follow a low GI diet while being vegetarian or vegan if that’s your thing.

How to start a low GI diet?

Born to Run 2 has a detailed plan for switching onto a low GI diet, but essentially it involves being very strict for a period of roughly two weeks to force your metabolism to adapt. This is probably the hardest part of the process as it requires cutting out some common foods entirely (no potatoes or white flour products). To avoid having to cook several different meals Julie and I went through this together in January. It’s a bit of a “cold turkey” phase and we definitely felt a bit rough for a few days – Julie worse than me. We both experienced the “keto headaches”, which were not pleasant… but we got through it. After the two week period is over, you can re-introduce a few more medium and high GI foods, or stick firmly to the low GI diet as you prefer. Obviously the more you stick to it the bigger the benefits!

Here’s an example of some of the changes I’ve made that I’ve stuck to for the long term:

  • Breakfast – swapped muesli for either smoked mackerel on wholewheat toast or porridge with nuts and dried fruit.
  • Cut out white bread – lunch is usually salad or fruit with oatcakes and cheese (if not leftovers from the night before)!
  • Cut out pasta and white rice – brown rice is an acceptable option to everyone (even the kids), and if we’re having pasta we usually cook a portion of an alternative (wholegrain, pea, lentil) for me.
  • Swap potatoes and chips for sweet potato. Usually I’ll have a bigger portion of veg with dinner and less potatoes.
  • Sweet snacks (evening chocolate bars 🙈) replaced with savoury – cheese cubes, nuts and dried fruit. If you really want chocolate, dark is the way to go as it has much less sugar.
  • Low GI first – if you have to eat something high GI, then make sure you eat some low GI foods first, to slow down the overall rate of digestion and avoid a glucose spike.

All of these are fairly easy to introduce, even alongside cooking “normal” meals for the rest of the family. The main thing which required a bit of experimentation to find a good subsitute was a pizza base. I’ve shared a good recipe at the end of this post.

The results

After the first few days which were a challenge(!) I’ve felt great throughout the whole last three months. I’ve gone through a whole training block, including speed work, hill runs and long runs, not to mention an epic race at Rasselbock BYU. I’ve been sleeping well, injury free and have plenty of energy for training. I’ve lost weight consistently, between 0.5 and 1kg per week on average. The only weeks where it’s been harder has been two weeks I was travelling with work,where eating in restaurants makes it more of a challenge, and it showed 😬 Can you spot those weeks on the graph? In the end I finally hit 69.9kg on 27th March, a little less than 3 months since I started!

I think besides the physiological benefits that result in less fat storage, there are a couple of less obvious ways that the low GI diet helps. Firstly, most of the things that I would typically snack on fall into the high GI category. While I did allow some evening snacking, especially to get a bit of protein in immediately after a run, most of the time I didn’t feel as hungry between meals and if I did have the urge to snack I didn’t have anything in the cupboard I was allowed to eat… so much less snacking overall. Also I completely cut out beer, which is high GI. The second trick (not strictly related to low GI) is portion control – basically I switched to eating meals off a smaller plate! Training my body to obtain more fuel from fat stores rather than high levels of blood glucose meant I could eat a little bit less, lose body fat and still have plenty of energy for training!

At the start of March I ran (and won) the Rasselbock BYU, whereI largely stuck to my normal race diet including carb loading with (high GI) Domino’s pizza the night before and the usual mix of real foods, energy gels and drinks throughout the race. It’s fine to have plenty of glucose flowing round your system when you’re burning it off! After the race I switched back to low GI foods again with no ill effects, recovered fine and my weight continued to drop.

As I said at the start, please do your own research and consult a qualified professional before making changes to your diet. Having said that, this really worked well for me and my nutrition advisor said that a low GI diet is generally regarded as suitable and healthy for all, and simply reverses the increase in ultra-processed, added-sugar foods that are common in our diets. If you do try out any of the suggestions in this post, please let me know by posting a comment or connecting via our socials – I’d love to know how you get on!

Gram flour pizza base

Some foods required a bit more experimentation to find a suitable substitute, and one of those which was non-negotiable was Saturday night pizza. After a few failed attempts, I am now using the recipe below. It’s super-easy and requires only a few minutes to prepare. It’s also gluten free, dairy free and vegan!

The ingredients (per 1 pizza base):

  • 115g gram flour (a.k.a. chick pea flour, available in most major supermarkets or a local Asian store)
  • 160ml water
  • Pinch of salt
  • Tablespoon of vegetable oil
Batter mix with plenty of air bubbles
Just cooked at the edges… give it another 30s.
Flipped successfully, 1min on the other side.

Method:

  1. Mix all the ingredients (apart from the vegetable oil) together in a bowl to make a runny batter. You can use an electric mixer or a whisk.
  2. Leave to stand for 30 mins (or longer if possible).
  3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, skillet or griddle pan to a high heat. Give the batter a final whisk to get some air into it.
  4. Pour the batter into the pan, tilting the pan to ensure an even spread right up to the edges.
  5. Cook on one side for approximately 2 minutes, until the batter is dry on top.
  6. Using a spatula, flip the batter over and cook for a further 1 minute.
  7. Remove from the pan and place on a baking tray.
  8. Top with tomato puree, your favourite pizza toppings, and plenty of cheese.
  9. Bake for a further 10 minutes in a hot oven (200-220C)
  10. Enjoy a low GI treat!
Topped with salami, mushroom and red peppers.
Ready to eat!

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Black Diamond UL Overmitts

About 20% of the population suffers from Raynaud’s Syndrome, which causes poor blood flow to the fingers at the slightest sensation of cold. I’m one of the unlucky ones and there is nothing more frustrating than having your hands go numb and stop working when the rest of you is fine and warm. It’s really frustrating not being able to open gels and other foods, use a valve on a drinking hose, or just struggle to adjust your jacket zip. If you’re one of the lucky ones who doesn’t suffer from Raynaud’s then great, but maybe you just like to keep your fingers nice and warm!

I have several pairs of gloves of different thicknesses that I wear at different times of the year, but this winter I tried adding something new – waterproof overmittens – and it was an absolute gamechanger. By wearing them over even a relatively thin pair of gloves I found that my hands got warm and stayed warm, even when running in sub-zero conditions! The pair I got were the Black Diamond UL (UltraLight) Overmitts. The RRP is £50 but you can find them cheaper elsewhere – I paid £34 for mine.

These mitts are made from a thin, layered fabric which seems to offer a great compromise between wind/waterproofing while still allowing enough flexibility to still use your fingers without taking the mitts off! For example I could still feel enough to use the individual buttons on my watch. There is elastic at the cuff and also at the base of the palm so they are nice and snug without being tight over the fingers. That’s really handy as I have worn them over a pair of lightweight gloves for typical UK winter temperatures, or over the top of much bulkier winter insulated gloves when running at -8C in Sweden. They’re also super-lightweight at only 28g (size L) and pack up really small, so popping them in your backpack or pockets on a cold day is an absolute no-brainer!

The only downside I’ve found so far is that Black Diamond appear to have discontinued them, so get them while you still can!

Rasselbock Backyard Ultra 2025

Let’s just say we had an absolute blast at Rasselbock this year. After Julie ran there in 2024 we knew it was going to be a great event and we were not disappointed. Both of us entered to run this year and after four months of solid training since the BYU Team Championship race in October we were both in good shape. Our stories of the race are intertwined as you’d expect so we thought the best way to share both sides of it was to talk though the event in an interview style… even if we’re only interviewing ourselves, I’m sure it will all make sense! If not then we’ll blame it on (🚨 spoiler alert 🚨) the 350 miles we ran between us 🤣!

How did you feel your preparation went leading up to the race?

Julie: My training over the winter had gone really well. In the run up to Christmas I had added in hill reps and some speed work by attending parkruns. After Christmas I fell back into my normal routine of slower steady runs, which was feeling really comfortable and then in the final few weeks before Rasselbock I switched to run/walks to make sure my walking was up to speed as I knew I would be doing a lot! The only negative thing was in February my Ménière’s disease flared back up and I was having an attack every week. This meant I was having to be flexible in my running to ensure I was hitting my monthly mileage. Unfortunately each attack leaves me wiped out for about 24 hours which isn’t ideal. Despite this I was feeling really prepared for Rasselbock and looking forward to seeing how far I could go.

Iain: I’d also put in a solid training block with no big races since the Team Champs and was generally feeling good. Not 100% niggle-free but definitely in decent shape as I’d done some speed work before Christmas, setting a new 5k PB (18:45 in case you wondered 😉) and then doing consistent volume including plenty of run/walk practice. I’d also switched to a low GI diet (maybe a topic for another post?) since the New Year, which helped me lose a few kilos and generally feel good. You can never tell when a great race day is going to come along, but all the groundwork was there.

Car loaded up and ready to go. Bed made up under the boxes of kit!
Lots of space on site for camping in tents or vehicles.
It’s light but very cold at 7am in the morning in camp.
First look around the event HQ.
Looking towards the corral, which we plan to visit many times during the race!
Pre-race breakfast of bacon sandwiches. There was a large area cordoned off for cooking, no-one else was using it 🤷‍♂️
Fuelled and ready for action (keeping many extra layers on for now).

Did you manage to get a good night’s sleep ready for the start?

Julie: Last year I struggled with sleeping the night before as it was so cold and I was in a little bivvy bag. This year we were sleeping in the car and we came well prepared for cold temps. The week running up to Rasselbock had been a tricky one as I had started a new job as well as getting everything ready for being away. This meant my sleep hadn’t been great and I was very aware of this.

After pizza in the marquee we retired to the car and were tucked up in sleeping bags by 9.30pm. It was really comfy with a duvet, sleeping bag, duvet sandwich and I was soon asleep. I actually woke a couple of times because of being too hot and stripped off several layers during the night! All in all it was a good nights sleep and I woke about 7am ready for the day.

Iain: After a pretty hectic few weeks leading up to the race, including quite a bit of work travel it was actually nice to be able to leave home (with the kids in the capable care of my parents) and just enjoy some time together. The journey down passed quickly and although we arrived at Sherwood Pines after dark it was great to see a few friendly faces waiting there on site… although they were mainly waiting for the pre-ordered pizza delivery rather than to see us I expect. It was bitterly cold (about -2C overnight), but I slept like a baby in the back of the van and woke pretty well rested for the day(s) ahead.

Looking back into the corral.
Out of the corral to the first bend…
… round the back of the maquee…
… and out of the camp site.
First long downhill on soft forest path…
…down to the first right hand turn.
Onto the first gravel road….
… gently undulating…
…and downhill to the next junction.

Some people say that the race doesn’t really start until 24 hours at a Backyard, but that doesn’t mean the first day and night are easy! How did it go?

Julie: The start of the race was fantastic with so many lovely people around. The laps passed by chatting to old friends and new runners – I love hearing everyone’s stories. I knew the course from last year and was pleased to find the underfoot conditions were actually better this year and instead of one of the muddier paths we were using a parallel track which was much more pleasant. The sun was shining and it was a really nice afternoon. My only real concern was I was feeling very bloated and suspected me period was going to show up mid race rather than wait until the end. However this was completely out of my control so I just got on with it.

The first night also went fine. I reminded Iain to get in his fast laps for a nap when he got tired and otherwise just got on with it. I was maybe slightly more tired than I had hoped but thankfully not sleepy! The legs were a bit tired but nothing really unexpected so I just took it lap at a time. The nights do seem long in March and even for me, who likes night running, I was glad when it got to morning!

Iain: As usual at a backyard, the first few laps I spent getting used to the course – where to run and where to walk, where the climbs were, and where to watch out for trippy roots. It felt really easy and I settled in to a 13 min/mile pace, aiming to complete the loop around 52 minutes. At least on my watch, the course measured a bit short but this could be due to poor signal due to the wiggly section through the woods on the second mile. I do remember on the very first lap feeling some twinges in my right hip and thinking to myself it might be a long and difficult race. By the end of the first day my legs just settled into a rhythm – everything hurt a little bit, but that’s what you expect after 30 miles, and after than it never got any worse.

Julie and I mostly ran separately (didn’t want to waste our chat on each other 🤣) and the day passed really quickly, with loads of different people to talk to on each lap – both old friends and people I was meeting for the first time. We had formed a little bit of a pre-race alliance with Luke Carter, Andy Imms and Eleanor Gallon, so it was nice to see them from time to time on the loop and check in that they were doing OK. On yard 3, I took my phone out to take a photo recce of the route – the results are scattered through this post to give you a flavour of what to expect on the course.

The first night was actually surprisingly difficult for me. Not so much physically but I was really sleepy. Julie kept me right and I used my pre-planned “fast lap and sleep” strategy twice, once at 11pm (41 minutes) and then again at 5am (44 minutes). Both times I was able to get roughly 15 minutes of solid sleep, and it got me through to the morning where as usual I perked right up and continued strong through to the 24 hour mark.

Turn left at the junction…
… up the first short climb…
… past the trenches and memorial wood to reach the end of mile 1.
The first significant hill with a suitably motivational sign.
Over the top of the hill, a short distance to another right turn…
…leading to a narrow gravel track, leading to the entrance to the forest.
A short section of wiggly singletrack through the trees…
…down first, then back up again…
…before popping out onto another track.
A short uphill leads back to a junction, turn right to reach the end of mile 2.
The second significant climb of the route, not sure how helpful this sign is 🤣

33 Runners completed 24 yards / 100 miles, but by the end of Sunday afternoon there were only about 10 left! How did the second day go for you?

Julie: Things started to go wrong for me at about the 24 hour mark. I was feeling really tired and beginning to get sore knees – this isn’t unusual for me and usually I manage it well as I know they clear up within a couple of days of finishing the race. I think the hardest thing was that my legs felt like lead and I felt like I was running through treacle. I said this to Iain a couple of times but there wasn’t really anything I could do about it. I kept heading out on each loop but as we headed into the afternoon my heart just wasn’t in it and then I became really emotional and kept crying uncontrollably on several of the loops (not something I have experienced mid race before). Iain tried to help but it was actually making it harder as I just needed some headspace to try and sort myself out. He headed off and I ran with several different people. Thanks to all those who listened to me and supported me on those loops, I know I wasn’t much fun but I really appreciated those around me being so supportive. I was really struggling with knowing what to do as I could still easily get round the loops but mentally it was becoming harder and harder – and I don’t quit on races. I ran a loop with Eleanor mid afternoon and had a caffeine gel. Chatting with her (and the gel) really picked me up and I came back in at the end of the lap and said to Eric “I am back in the game!” as I felt so much better.

Unfortunately it didn’t last long and a couple of laps later I was back wading through treacle. I decided I was going to get to the first night loop and see if that perked me up as I love the night loops. Also in the back of my mind was the fact it was hard without a crew as we weren’t really able to switch off between loops, if I stopped soon I would be able to support Iain who was looking so strong and focused. I started the first night loop and told myself I would make a decision at the bottom of the first long down hill. When I got there I was averaging a 15min/mile pace. I could have got round but I decided it was not my day to get the big distances I had hoped for. I was a bit emotional as it was a hard decision to make and I felt like I was letting people down. But I also knew it was the right decision for me on the day. I walked back up to camp and discovered my period had started – explaining the heavy legs, slow pace, tiredness and emotionalness.

Once back in camp I had a bit of a cry, but once I had let go of all the emotions I was really happy with the decision I made as I had made the right decision for me on the day. I was then able to switch to crewing Iain which I was super excited to do and really happy to be able to support him through the rest of the race.

Iain: The second day continued in much the same vein as the first for me – I was still keeping a steady pace, and just enjoying every single yard. It certainly didn’t hurt that it was another lovely sunny day! I was a bit surprised that “only” 33 runners completed their hundred miles – between us I had guessed at 50 and Julie and 40, so we were both overly optimistic.

The afternoon was a the most difficult part of the race for me, as I had a front-row seat to see Julie starting to struggle. Even worse, I wasn’t really able to help her. After a few more laps together, she asked me to run at my own pace and give her some space to figure things out. It looked by late afternoon like she had turned a corner, but as I know from previous races it’s possible to dig yourself out of a hole for a while but really hard to stay out of it! Julie was behind me on the first night yard, so I didn’t see she had dropped until I got to the end of the yard and saw she was back in the marquee. We had a big hug, but I was so happy to see that she was content with her decision and she already had her “crew hat” on so I was looking forward to continuing to race together, just in different roles.

The second night of a backyard has a fearsome reputation (and Iain has failed to complete it before). What was different this time?

Julie: For the second night I quickly swapped into crew mode and was able to have Iain in his chair with his eyes shut within 30s of finishing the lap. He would then have a quick drink, grab a couple of gels and be on his way. All in all it worked great. While he was out on the loop I had a lovely time chatting to other crews, Eric and Jonathan, Karen who was doing the timing and even the medics! It wasn’t until a few hours after I stopped that I remembered to properly look after myself and grab some food and drinks and the odd power nap! The night was really cold for crewing so I just kept adding on my layers Iain did amazingly well and only started struggling with sleep demons in the last few hours of darkness when we swapped onto the caffeine gels and Kendal Mint Cake which perked him right up! By this point I knew he had the win as he was looking so strong, it was just a case of how long it would go on for.

Iain: I really expected the second night to be really hard, especially as I had been feeling sleepy on the first night already! In reality, it was the opposite and turned out even better than the first. I’m not sure if it was having Julie crewing me, the sense that we were getting to the sharp end of the race as runners kept dropping, or a combination of things, but I had a distinct sense of clarity and focus that carried my right through till the early hours of the morning. I remember running through the forest trail section on mile 2 and seeing every twig and root in sharp detail like I had HD vision – I’ve never experienced anything like that before. I also remember there were a couple of photographers and bikers out and about the night which was a bit of a surprise! I’m convinced they were real too – no hallucinations this time 🤷‍♂️

Around 3am I did finally start to get tired. I was still hitting my target pace, but my run had slowed down a lot and it was starting to feel just a little bit hard. I thought about trying another fast lap to get some proper sleep (up to that point I was managing on 5 minute power naps each loop), but my legs didn’t have the speed to make it worthwhile. In the end I decided to finally go full caffiene – after all I only had 3 hours to make it through till dawn. A combination of a caffiene gel at the start of the loop, and then a sugar boost from a chocolate-coated Kendal Mint Cake bar half way round worked a treat, and I was even able to pick up the pace a little. Within a few hours it was morning!

From the top of the hill, turn left and carry on along a long straight path (watch out for bikes – it’s narrow).
Turn left at the end…
… and head steeply downhill at first…
… gradually bending right and levelling out…
… onto a wide sandy road.
Turn left at the end of mile 3 and follow a long, gradually uphill path on the soft forest floor to reach the playpark and Go Ape!
Turn right to head back towards the camp site.
Turn left to rejoin the route we took at the start of the lap.
Turn right, back into camp…
… past the marquee again…
… and across the finish line!
Inside the marquee was busy on the first day, but soon thinned out.
We set up our own little area in a corner which was just perfect!

By morning there was only Iain and Lizzie left running, but lots of people returning to the campsite to watch the race unfold. Tell us what happened on the third morning!

Julie: Monday morning was great as a good number of runners and crew returned to camp to pack up and watch the end of the race. It was great to have so many friends around and the atmosphere was fantastic. I loved chatting with everyone and it was lovely when the sun came out. The amazing lady from Walkers catering also returned to site and did an amazing job feeding us all. The hash browns were particularly awesome and I ended up eating four 😋. Iain requested a cheese toastie which was kindly prepared ready for him at the end of one of the loops. It was great to see Iain and Lizzie get to the 48 hour mark and then the 50 which was the Scottish record. Iain was focussed on each lap at a time through the morning. He was super strong, had no real niggles and was enjoying himself. I loved seeing him have such an amazing race. Apart from a blister to deal with crewing was straightforward. Late morning I sat in the sun and promptly fell asleep for a lovely half an hour with the sun on my back. I made sure to set an alarm for quarter to the hour every hour just in case I fell asleep!

When we heard Lizzie had turned back on the 51st lap I wasn’t surprised as she had looked like she was having a tough time for quite a while. I had no idea if Iain would know he was on his final lap but suspected he probably would. So it was just a case of waiting for his return. All the spectators clapped Lizzie back into camp – she had had an amazing run smashing her PB and finishing as the assist on 50 yards. Impressive stuff.

It was brilliant to see Iain run strongly into the finish line as the winner of the 2025 Rasselbock Backyard Ultra on 51 yards. I couldn’t be prouder of him. He ran the race brilliantly and was strong throughout. What a start to the year 💪❤️🏃🏻

Iain: I always get a huge boost when the sun comes up and I describe it as feeling like I’ve got new legs! Combined with the fact that I was still feeling physically great, and we were now down to two runners, I just continued having a great time. Some people don’t enjoy being along on the loop, but for me I was just having some happy time in my own head. Compared with Saturday and Sunday which were really busy with walkers, dogs and bikers, I enjoyed having the trails mostly to myself, and having a bit of banter with Andy the marshal as I passed him on each lap. Having seen some video footage and Lizzie’s podcast it seems she was really starting to struggle at this point, but I wasn’t really aware of it. I was really motivated to make it to 48 hours (matching Julie’s PB) – this was a real milestone for me, and a few yards later setting a new Scottish record was just icing on the cake. At the start of lap 51 I passed Lizzie on the first downhill, looking back she was walking more than usual and looked like she was on her phone (not sure!). Anyway, this was the first time I really tried to play any games, and I put in a fast first mile with the aim of being out of sight by the time she reached the gravel road. I slowed down after that as I still wanted to conserve energy for many potential future laps. When I emerged from the forest trail section, marshal Andy told me that he’d heard on the radio that Lizzie had DNF’ed and was returning to camp.

The feeling you get when you know you’re on the final lap – I can’t put it into words. I just loved every second of the last few miles, and everything felt effortless, even running up all the hills. I even gave a final honk at the “silly goose” sign for good measure. Passing the Go Ape, Kit the race videographer met me, clipped on a mic and followed me in with a camera. I think I gave him a bit of a challenge keeping up with me 🤣 Running into camp and across the line was just the greatest feeling as a decent little crowd had come back to watch the end of the race. The finish of a backyard can be a bit anti-climatic as often the camp site has cleared out and there is hardly anyone left, but that wasn’t the case. The sun was shining and I shook Lizzie’s hand before trying to say a few coherent words and accepting the magnificent trophy. I think I was enjoying the moment so much that Julie had to remind me eventually to sit down!

How have you recovered from the race?

Julie: Once the race finished the exhaustion hit. I sorted our stuff and loaded the car as quickly as possible while Iain booked us a room in the closest Premier Inn. By mid afternoon we were all checked in and having a lovely afternoon nap – getting up for dinner was an effort but worth it to replace some calories! and then back to sleep for a lovely 11hrs. I had some dizziness from my Ménière’s Disease but managed to sleep it off, only bouncing off a few walls, without full blown vertigo thank goodness!

Since then my legs recovered really quickly, but it is taking a bit longer to get over the tiredness. I will gradually up my running over the next couple of weeks and get back to full training for the next race. I did manage pilates on Thursday which was tough!

Iain: After two complete nights without proper sleep, I was shattered! I was capable (barely) of driving but not navigating and made an accidental turn onto the M1 causing a 10 mile out and back detour on the way to the hotel 🙈. Anyway, a night of solid unconsciousness and a major dent in the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet sorted me out and the drive home the next day was a good chance to relax and talk through the events of the last few days.

After a couple more days with my feet up (at work 😉) my legs are feeling good. I did a 5k walk and the only real issue remaining is a blister on the base of one of my toes that hasn’t fully healed yet. I’m used to taking a full week off after an ultra, so I’m feeling ready to get back to some easy running next week.

Receiving the furthest male and overall prizes from Jonathan.
They are heavier than expected!
Winner, assist and RDs.
Miles Together with Rasselbock Running 🤩
Essential post-race recovery: chips and friends!
The new Rasselbock mascot crocheted by Julie. Now living with Eric & Jonathan – we hope to see him at future events!
The trophies, including an official BYU Bronze Coin 🏆

Every race is a learning experience – what did you take away from this one? And what’s coming next for you both?

Julie: There is lots for me to think about from this one. I have realised that day one of my period on race day is always going to affect my race performance and I need to think about how I mitigate that. I have also realised that I find it harder to perfom at my best when Iain is also racing – I become too invested in his race and don’t focus on my own. We both also agree if you want big numbers at a backyard having a crew makes all the difference. So in future we are planning to run different races and crew each other when we can. We will run the same events if it is a team event (e.g The Highlander BYU in July for Team Scotland) but will be mindful of how we run them.

For me nutrition and hydration went well and for this race I taped my toes for the first time and had no foot issues during the race and found only one small blister at the end. This is a big improvement for me as I usually have to manage multiple nail bed blisters in long races. I will be continuing with the taping for future races.

I have also realised that I need to work on my mental drive for Backyard Ultras. I have the mental strength but don’t always have the driving factor that you need to push through. I need to work on my self belief and confidence as I find when you get towards the sharp end of the race, starting all together on the hour every hour I find it incredibly hard not to doubt myself, especially if most of the others are completing their laps faster. I am the person that gets psyched out by the mind games! But as with all aspects of running this is trainable and knowing it is a weakness it is something I can work on. Interestingly it isn’t a problem in point to point races where I am usually on my own and don’t have to see the other runners around me.

Iain: Every so often a performance comes along that you always dream of, but never quite know when it’s going to happen. I had taken quite a lot of points for improvement from by last BYU as well as some new mental strategies and it’s really gratifying to have put them in to practice and finish with quite a lot left in the tank. I’m planning to run at the Highlander BYU / 4 Nations / Scottish Championship in July and also GOBYU in October. Neither of those courses is an “easy” one to do a PB, but you never know. At least I can go into both of them with confidence! Before that there’s the small matter of Cape Wrath Ultra in May – while I love BYU I also love long point-to-point races too. The Cape Wrath trail is 250 miles from Fort William to the Cape Wrath lighthouse at the far Northwestern point of Scotland, and the event tackles it over 8 days of racing with a camp between each days. Lots of off-trail and hilly training planned for the next few months.

Any final thoughts?

Julie: Rasselbock BYU is a fantastic event and I had a brilliant weekend even though my race didn’t go to plan. The reason for that was all the amazing, inspiring and all round awesome people that were there – other runners, crew, Race Directors, marshals and medics – everyone helped make it a super special weekend.

Iain: While I was on top form, I couldn’t have finished in good style without Julie’s crewing in the second half of the race. We’ve definitely learned that we do best when we’re supporting each other rather than competing. I’m not saying we won’t take to the start line together ever again, but I’m looking forward to returning the favour and crewing her later in the year!

We hope you enjoyed reading this as much as we did writing it! If we haven’t said it enough already, the ultra-running community is such a great bunch of people, and Backyard Ultras just bring out the best in that. Thanks to Eric, Jonathan and the whole Rasselbock crew of volunteers and marshals for an epic weekend. We love you all, and look forward to seeing you again soon at another event 👋

Training for the mind – Book Reviews

It’s said that running an ultra is 90% physical, and the other 90% is mental! However you choose to do the maths, it’s clear that there is a huge mental component to ultra running. We all spend lots of time training our bodies (and I wrote a post about my training approach last year), but much less training our minds. After suffering a complete mental collapse (a.k.a. losing my shit 🤯) at Thetford BYU last year this is an area I decided it was time to pay some overdue attention to. I put a couple of relevant books on my Christmas list and after reading them over the last few weeks, here’s what I learned…

P.S. You can find these books easily from your favourite bookseller, but if you click through the links below to buy at Amazon it will help (just a little) to support Miles Together at no extra cost to you. Thanks in advance 🙏

How Bad Do You Want It?: Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle by Matt Fitzgerald

Matt is the author of several other books on endurance sports (not that I’ve read any of them), but this one is a collaboration with Professor Samuele Marcora, so it’s got two things going for it: it’s very readable, but also backed up by solid scientific research. The main idea introduced is the psychobiological model of endurance performance, which basically says that our performance in an event is not primarily limited by our physical ability, but by our mind. He uses the analogy of a fire-walking event where we must pass over a bed of hot coals to reach a wall. The wall represents our physical limitations – the fastest, longest or hardest that we could achieve, effectively our physical limitations which can only be improved by physical training. However, our actual performance in the fire-walk (how close we can get to the wall) is limited by our mind’s ability to tolerate the associated discomfort – known as our perception of effort. In a nutshell, our mind controls how much of our physical maximum performance we can achieve in an event. According to Marcora, it is perception of effort, not the actual effort itself that the critical factor that our mind monitors during an event and influences the level of effort the mind can direct the body to generate. As a result, by training our mind to either tolerate higher perception of effort, or to produce more actual effort for a given perception, we can increase our athletic performance.

The rest of the book consists of a series of examples of coping mechanisms – strategies which we can train our minds to use that will increase our performance. These are illustrated by real-world examples from a range of endurance sports including running, rowing, triathlon and cycling. Each coping mechanism is based on a specific psychological principle or effect, with summaries of relevant scientific studies as well as relevant anecdotes. Some of the ones I found most interesting were:

  • Bracing yourself, which means preparing mentally for an event by telling yourself that this will be hardest thing you’ve ever done, to expect it to feel tough (or even painful). It’s kind of obvious when you think about it but by setting out this mental expectation, when your mind perceives a high level of effort (things are getting hard), instead of responding by backing off, slowing down, or wanting to quit, it can go “OK, I expected this, its OK to keep pushing”. Putting this in practice for ultramarathons means expecting the race to feel hard! Combined with a sensible starting pace, every ultra should feel easy to begin with, but at some point it is going to feel hard. Exactly when that point is might vary, but I was really hit by this about 20 miles in to By Way of the Glen (180 miler) and finding it unexpectedly hard so early was really demoralising and made me start to think about quitting (and burning my running gear and never running again 🤣), This coping mechanism should also translate well to Backyard Ultras, which of course are well known to be easy… up to the point that they aren’t! When you hit that point, being braced for it means that it’s easier to keep going – after all this was what you expected.
  • The audience effect. It’s well known and scientifically proven that people can perform better due to increased motivation (performing for the audience), but also that the mere presence of the audience reduces perception of effort, making the same level of performance feel easier. Not only that, but having a supportive audience not only makes you perform better but even feel capable of performing better, creating a virtuous double-whammy effect! Applying this to running ultras, we all know the boost of seeing our crews at checkpoints, or other supporters along the course. Even talking on the phone to someone, or asking friends to send messages of encouragement as they “dot-watch” or follow your progress should have the same effect. At Race Across Scotland this year I’ll be (hopefully) taking part in a research study where the researcher will actually attend and observe my performance and behaviour at the event – I hope that will contribute to me having a great race 🤞
  • The group effect is when we produce an elevated level of performance due to either taking part in an activity as a group (such as a team at a cross-country race, which is one example given in the book), or from being part of a “group culture” which creates a social force leading to greater effort. Interestingly, this effect is biologically hard-wired into us, but we can arrange circumstances to benefit from it. A great example would be the Belgian team at the 2024 Backyard Ultra World Team championships – not only did every single member of their team achieve 48 yards or more, three of them set a new joint world record of 110 yards – and they all appeared to be having fun doing so! If you know me you’ll know I am quite a competitive type and tend to view other runners as my competition, but I’m looking forward to seeing how collaborating can improve performance – especially in the Backyard, where you always need at least two people in order to keep the race going.
  • The workaround effect is also a really interesting concept – it’s based on our brain’s ability to adjust dynamically to our body’s limitations. For example, as we become extremely fatigued or even injured during an ultra race, our minds can spontaneously develop new movement patterns (e.g. a modified running gait) that enable us to continue. I think this is strongly related to a concept I heard from John Kelly “it doesn’t always get worse“. It’s easy to think when things get tough (perception of effort increases) that we are on a downhill slope to getting slower and slower and eventually quit (or DNF). In reality (and I have experienced this a few times in races), if you push through, your can find a new lease of life, or a second wind. Knowing that this has a sound basis in psychobiological fact makes it easier to trust this and push through the inevitable low points in an ultra race.

There’s lots more good stuff in the book, relating to goal setting, dealing with failure and much more! In summary, I found “How Bad Do You Want It?” gives a lot of really interesting ways to think about and look at endurance sports performance. So if a good dose of science is what you like, then you’ll probably appreciate reading it. It didn’t have quite as much as I’d hoped in terms of specific, actionable strategies that can be practiced – but at least for me, understanding more about how and why my body and mind behave the way that they do gives me more confidence in my own ability to manage myself better in a race situation… at least, I think it will. I’m sure I’ll find out during the coming year!

Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness by Steve Magness

The second book on my reading list is a a bit different as it tackles to topics of resilience and toughness in a wider context than just endurance sports. The author Steve Magness is an “Executive Coach” although he has a background in exercise physiology,and most of the examples he uses are taken from the world of sports. The main point of the book is that that traditional view of being “tough”, which involves gritted teeth, a “suck it up” mentality, and hiding any signs of weakness behind a façade of false bravado is flawed. It doesn’t actually help us perform at our best, and worse it can fail entirely under pressure, leading us to “freak out” and make bad choices (for example DNF’ing an ultra).

Conversely, he introduces a different type of resilience, illustrated by anecdotes and backed up by current psychological science. This new resilience is based on four pillars:

  • Embrace Reality. The foundation of resilience is developing an accurate appraisal of the demands of a task (such as a race) and an accurate appraisal of our own ability (our fitness, or training status). This immediately helps with realistic goal setting, leading to a positive cycle where our level of stress is reduced, our self-confidence is increased since we know we have the ability to achieve a task, and it can also help avoid the classic pitfall of a “macho” approach of going out too hard and crashing later in a race!
  • Listen to your Body. The thrust of this part of the book is that by becoming more in tune with the feelings and sensations that we will experience (during an event), we learn to respond to them more critically. For example, if your knees get sore after 50 miles of running (a feeling) we need to know if it’s just the normal sensation at that point in the race, or if it might be indicative of an injury. Having a solid baseline of information will help us respond appropriately. There are also some really interesting ideas about understanding and controlling your “inner voice”, which plays an important part in determining our mind’s response to feelings.
  • Respond Instead of React. This is about creating “space” between the sensation and our response to it, training our mind to make sensible decisions rather than triggering an immediate reaction like spiralling into unnecessary negative thought patterns, or giving in the urge to quit. This section (and the others, actually) has some interesting practical exercises that you can do to train these behaviour patterns. One example I have tried a bit in training runs is called “zooming” – consciously focussing on the task at hand (for example focussing on running form) is zooming in, and disassociating from what you are doing is zooming out. Steve recommends having lots of different strategies available to you so you can make use of them as and when required, depending on the specific demands of the situation.
  • Transcend Discomfort. This sounds a bit hippie, but really it boils down to thinking about the “why”, so that when challenges arise (and they certainly will at some point during an ultra) you can put them into proper context. If you see the bigger picture, you can make the “tough” choice to overcome difficulty rather than give in, and find meaning out of suffering.

I’m not sure my summary has fully done justice to the book, but hopefully it gives you a flavour of what it’s about! Handily, there are dozens of little “Toughness Maxims” scattered throughout, which were super helpful trying to recall the key points that I just explained to you. There are also lots of specific, actionable strategies which you can practice. I have tried just a few of them, but hopefully some good ones which I’ll be able to put to use when the going gets tough during upcoming races.

I hope you found this post interesting, I certainly enjoyed revisiting both books to write it! Please leave a comment if you’d like to read more like it – there’s plenty more on the Miles Together bookshelf that I could dive into. Don’t forget if you want to buy either of them you can find them both on Amazon:

How Bad Do You Want It?: Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle by Matt Fitzgerald

Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness by Steve Magness

The Road to Big’s

If you’ve heard anything about Backyard Ultras you’ll know there are two races that are the highlight of the Backyard calender. First is Big’s Backyard Ultra, the original race in laz’s literal back yard in Tennessee and now the World Individual Championship Race. Second, the World Team Championships, first held during COVID travel restrictions in 2020. But did you know that every single backyard race is an opportunity to qualify for either of these races? Heard about bronze, silver and gold tickets and the “at-large” list, but confused what it all means? This post aims to explain it all as simply as possible – we promise!

Note: this is written from a UK perspective. The process is the same for other countries, but you’ll need to look up the exact distances and qualifying races on backyardultra.com yourself.

Note #2: all the graphics were produced by Rasselbock Running and re-used with permission.

Big’s Backyard Ultra

The Individual World Championship is held every other year in October at Lazarus Lake’s very own backyard in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, the site of the very first Backyard Ultra back in 2011. It alternates with the World Team Championship. You might remember that we were on the UK team for the 2024 Team Championship, so in October 2025 its the turn of the Individual Championship. Qualification for the race is open for a two year period (16th August 2023 to 15th August 2025) but it’s already a mammoth task to secure a slot. Of the 75 spaces at the event, 50 are given to the each country’s champion from the World Team Championships races. Winning your country’s Championship race with a minimum of 24 yards gives you a Golden Ticket straight in to Big’s. In 2025, the UK will be represented by Sarah Perry, who won the UK race with a total of 59 yards.

That leaves 25 spaces which are filled by the runners who record the highest number of yards at any Backyard Ultra event during the qualifying period (this is the global At-Large List). A big run at any event until the 15th August 2025 could earn you a spot, but beware! At the time of writing, the 75th slot is held by runners with 82 yards, so you’ll need to run 83 or more to qualify. The UK record holder Matt Blackburn is on the list with 87 yards, so it looks likely that 2 UK runners will be booking their tickets to Tennessee once the qualifying period ends. A few big results in the Spring though and Matt might have a nervous summer… You can find the latest list and watch it change throughout the year on backyardultra.com.

World Team Championships

If you don’t fancy your chances of running 85-ish yards, a (slightly) more achievable goal is to qualify for the UK team. The next World Team Championships will be held in October 2026, so we are quite near the start of the two year qualifying period which runs from 16th August 2024 to 15th August 2026. This qualifying period overlaps half of the qualifying period for Big’s, so any run between August 2024 and August 2025 counts for both. The key dates are shown below:

The eagle-eyed among you will have spotted that qualification period is split into two halves. The first half (August 2024 to August 2025) contains some Bronze Ticket races, and the second half (August 2025 to August 2026) has four Silver Ticket races. Similar to the Golden Ticket to Big’s, if you win a Silver Ticket race, you book yourself an automatic spot on the UK team. Iain earned his spot on the 2024 UK team by winning Pig on the Hill BYU which was the final Silver Ticket races in the previous qualifying period. The 4 UK Silver Ticket races were announced last week on the Rasselbock Backyard livestream and here they are:

The trouble with the Silver Ticket races is they are already popular and often sell out quickly, and that’s where the Bronze Ticket races come in. If you manage to win one of this year’s Bronze Ticket race you automatically earn a spot in one of the Silver Ticket races – even if it is already sold out. It’s also common (at race director’s discretion) to offer Bronze Ticket holders a free or steeply-discounted entry. The Bronze Ticket races are grouped by region, so check the graphic below to see which ones will earn you a spot in each of the four Silver Ticket races:

All making sense so far? One last thing to mention… each national team for the World Team Championships has 15 members. Four go to the Silver Ticket holders and the remaining eleven are made up of the runners with the highest number of yards recorded at any event during the qualifying period. At the moment it will take you a run of 39 yards or more to get onto the team, but expect this to increase rapidly! There’s plenty of time for any of the runners currently on the list to be knocked off before the end of the qualifying period.

We hope that all makes some sense. It can be a bit overwhelming, but there are two key things to remember:

  • Long runs will get you onto the at-large list.
  • Winning Bronze gets you in to Silver, winning Silver gets you in to the UK Team, and winning the UK Team Gold gets you to Big’s.

Simple!

Julie is already on the UK team list for 2026 thanks to her 48 yards run at the Team Championships in October, but it’s far from secure with many big events coming. The 2024 Backyard Ultra season has already started with the Longbridge and Trails & Tarmac BYUs taking place last weekend. We’ll be starting our own season at the Rasselbock BYU in March. Looking forward to seeing some of you there 👋

Year in Review: 2024

We’re writing our 2024 year-end post from the comfortable position of taking a little bit of a break. Both of us took on run streaks up to Christmas and arrived there feeling flat-out knackered, so a good rest was definitely overdue. It’s been nice to put our feet up for a few days and just relax, ready to hit the ground running again (literally) in January.

It’s been a busy year for both of us, but as always it’s been great to catch up with our “running family” at various events around the country, and I’m sure that will continue in 2025! However this year has gone for you, we hope you’re enjoying Christmas time, and have a fantastic New Year when it comes. For now, let’s look back what we got up to in 2024 🤔

Giving the shoes a rest for a few days after many, many miles between us in 2024 😌

Iain

2024 started out great for me, feeling strong, getting stuck into a good training block and improving my time at three early-season hill races – I was pretty much in the best shape I’ve ever been in. Unfortunately disaster struck in March and I sustained a hip injury which meant I lost almost 3 months of running, and had to miss out on two of my big races for the year. The Cow Shed Backyard Ultra (April) was postponed due to the weather… luckily for me, otherwise I probably would have made the bad decision to try to run anyway. I made the hard decision to defer my entry to the Cape Wrath Ultra to 2025, but at least had the silver lining of bagging a last-minute space on the event team so got to hang out with a great bunch of volunteers, runners, and Ourea Events staff. I’m very much looking forward to finally making it to the start line this coming year 🤞

By early June I was making a decent recovery and I managed to string together several weeks of training and regain some fitness, just in time for Pig on the Hill Backyard Ultra, which was my last chance to qualify for the UK Backyard Ultra team. Although I hadn’t run more than 15 miles since February, everything went to plan and I managed to grab the win (and Silver Ticket) to secure my place! This proved to be the high point of the year, results-wise, but it was also just a great feeling to be back racing again, not to mention it’s an absolutely spectacular location 🤩 Three weeks later I completed the Run The Borders 100k race around the Borders Abbey way. Definitely not fully fit / recovered, but nice to tick that route off my bucket list.

The final big race of the year was the Backyard Ultra World Team Championships – looking back it was absolutely a highlight of the year to represent the UK alongside Julie (and 13 other worthy team members), but from a performance point-of-view I completely screwed it up and barely matched my PB from 2022. Chalk that one up to experience and hopefully I’ll be able to earn a chance to try again in two years’ time.

Although I ended up running the fewest races I have ever done in a year (barring COVID), having the last few months “free” I’ve been able to get stuck in to my winter training block “early” and am already finding my way back towards (I hope) my best. Julie and I have both been enjoying going to parkrun now that family commitments allow us more Saturday morning freedom, and I have managed to improve my 5k PB down to 18:45 – not too shabby for an old bearded guy 💥 In the end, not the year I had planned or expected, but plenty to feel positive about.

2025 I have some big races planned:

  • Rasselbock Backyard Ultra – aiming to give Julie a run for her money. We’ll see how that goes, since her PB is 11 yards further than mine 😱
  • Cape Wrath Ultra – this year is going to be the year. More than just a race, this is going to be an epic adventure.
  • Race Across Scotland – inspired by watching Julie smash this one in 2024, I’ll be toeing the starting line. Having never run 200+ miles before I’m going to do it twice next year 😁
  • God’s Own Backyard Ultra – had major FOMO this year, so going to put that right and aim to finish off 2025 on a high… with a little added motivation to have a crack at reclaiming my course record!

I’m sure a few more things will sneak their way on to the list, we’ll see! It’s going to be a busy year, that’s for sure… and that’s just my half of the race calendar 🙈

Julie

2023 was a hard year to follow and 2024 has proved to be a year of learning with mixed results. I started the year with high expectations of Rasselbock Backyard Ultra hoping for the win and a silver ticket place on the UK team for the World Team Champs. I had to go on a solo expedition as Iain needed to work and look after the kids, and this definitely made it harder. I had knee pain from early on and with Cowshed Backyard Ultra and a place on Team Scotland planned in April I called it a day before I should have at 38 yards. It was an absolutely fantastic event, Eric and Jonathon put on a brilliant race with a great atmosphere and it was a lot of fun running with friends old and new. Unfortunately I walked away feeling disappointed with my result, especially when Cowshed was postponed because of the weather. 38 yards left me with a nervous wait to see if I made the UK Team for Oct.

Withe Cowshed cancelled I booked a last minute place at Mapledurham Backyard Ultra to see if I could improve on my backyard ranking and make my place on the UK Team more secure. It was another great event, with some strong runners, a great atmosphere and really fun race. I took the win with 31 yards but was disappointed not to be able to improve my ranking… in fact I dropped into the reserve placings after a strong race at Portland pig that saw Andy Imms and Luke Carter both improving their backyard results. The summer was going to be a long wait to see if I made the team.

In June I ran The Whopper looped event put on by Greener Miles. It was a lovely course in Whinlatter forest and was meant as a training race before Race Across Scotland to get some elevation in my legs (something I am not great at in training). Unfortunately I had a nasty virus just beforehand and was well below par. I called it a day after 6 hours feeling I had got all the benefit I would from the race and to continue for another 6 hours would be miserable with no real benefit. It wasn’t the race I had hoped for but was the right decision to make.

July was a really bad training month still recovering from illness, with summer holidays to factor in and a nasty fall on the West Highland Way during a training run. I went into Race Across Scotland feeling very under prepared and nervous in case I fell again. However it is the most stunning race and I am so glad I took part – the organisation is fantastic, runners and volunteers lovely and the scenery breathtaking. I managed to finish first female despite the poor training but the last day did not go to plan with serious sleep deprivation kicking in and my period unexpectedly starting – without Iain’s crew support I am not sure what would have happened. I was pleased with the results but disappointed with how I raced the last day – another learning opportunity.

In September I was diagnosed with Ménière’s Disease – an inner ear condition that causes vertigo and balance problems. Luckily I do seem to get plenty of warning before attacks with a blocked ear and tinnitus but it is still a challenge I am learning to live with. I am very much hoping it stays relatively mild.

At the end of August I was relieved to find I had made the UK BYU team as the second reserve and would get to run at the Backyard World Team Championships. It was the highlight of the year and an amazing opportunity to run with such fantastic athletes. I managed to improve my backyard record to 48 yards which I am really proud of but still feel I have more to give. I was again plagued with knee pain which was disappointing and something I am looking to address over the winter – I am having to accept that the perimenopause is causing challenges with joint pain (among other things!)

So overall, some good results and great races with lovely people and lots to learn and take away for 2025.

Next year looks to be a busy year starting in March with a return to Rasselbock Backyard Ultra to see if I can improve on last years result (and keep going until I time out). I also have a place booked at Cockbain Events Cardiff to London race in May – I am really looking forward to this one and as it starts where Lon Las Cymru finished, making a great link-up of the two routes. I will also be returning to Thetford in June for the Suffolk Backyard Ultra to see how far I can go – it will be interesting to run at such a large Backyard event.

That’s all I have booked at the moment but hopefully we’ll both get a chance to run for Team Scotland at the Highlander BYU in July. I am also considering the Ochil 100 in September and there are a few other races I have my eye on – watch this space!