Pursuit of the Impossible
Category: Race Review
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The Manchester Backyard Ultra. My final race of the 2025 season, and my second attempt at this brutal, beautiful format. After finishing 4th last year with 25 loops, I came into this race ready to dig deeper and go further. No targets this time though. No ceiling. Just me, the trail, and the will to…
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I arrived Friday at lunchtime, checked into my hotel, and dropped off my bags. After helping the GB Ultras team set up the race HQ, I grabbed a pizza, then returned to my room to organise my race kit and drop bags. Registration started at 5:30pm, so I picked up my race number, caught up…
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That’s race 3 out of 4 races completed for the GB Ultras 2025 100-mile Grand Slam series. The Race Across Bannau Brycheiniog, the Brecon Beacons National Park! The Beacons Way 100 mile ultra is just over 100 miles starting from the ruins of Abergavenny Castle and following the Beacons Way National Trail all the way…
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This past weekend I revisited the stunning Southern Upland Way in Scotland as I took on the Ultra Scotland 100 miler, organised by GB Ultras. After running the whole of the Southern Upland Way from coast to coast in 2024, I was looking forward to revisiting sections I ran in the pitch-black last time, in…
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Labelled as “the pinnacle of ultra-trail race routes in the UK” and has a tag line of ‘Beautiful beyond belief. Savage beyond reason‘ – UTMB, this race certainly lives up to that and more! The start and finish line is located in the village of Llanberis in Snowdonia national park in Wales. Usually held in…
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Chester 100, that’s my first race of the season completed. And which will hopefully be leg 1 of 4 of my GB Ultras 100-mile Grand Slam 2025 attempt. After completing this race twice before, in 2022 and 2024 I knew just what to expect and knew when and where I could improve. But, at the…
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The backyard ultra race has been around for nearly 14 years now, after the first one being held in 2011 in Tennessee. Invented by the famous endurance race designer Gary ‘Lazarus Lake’ Cantrell, who invented one of the toughest races on the planet, the Barkley Marathons. The backyard ultra has been growing steadily in the…
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I think it’s finally starting to sink in now, the enormity of the race I’ve just completed. The Race Across Scotland 2024 was an immense challenge and my biggest to date. I thought I had trained well and thought I was ready, but must admit I was getting a little nervous and anxious inside in…