Pursuit of the Impossible
Tag: raceday
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Training for your first ultra feels like stepping into the unknown. You read plans, watch YouTube, scroll Strava, and still feel wildly underprepared as you approach race day. Looking back now, after multiple ultras, long nights, failed race plans and hard-earned lessons, there are a few things I’d absolutely do differently if I were starting…
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There’s something weirdly intimate about an ultra runners pack. But it’s full of ultra essentials. It’s like a survival kit, a comfort blanket, a mini kitchen, a pharmacy, and sometimes… a crime scene of crushed snacks, sticky gel packs and damp layers. People always ask, “What do you actually carry for these distances?” So here…
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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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In every ultra I’ve run, Chester 100, The Bacons Way 100, Race Across Scotland (RAS) 215, among others, there have been many things that tested me. The miles, the heat, the elevation, the night, injury. But if I had to pick one common thing that carried me through more than any other, a place that…
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I still remember the moment I passed the marathon mark in my first 100 mile ultra. My watch clocked over at 42.2km, and for a split second I felt that familiar satisfaction of finishing a marathon. Then reality hit me, I still had another 120km to go. The legs were fine, but the voice inside…
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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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Running an ultramarathon isn’t just a longer version of a marathon, it’s a completely different challenge. Distances of 50K, 100K, 100 miles, or even multi-day stage races push your body, mind, and gear to their limits. Having the right equipment isn’t optional; it’s a survival strategy; it’s the difference between failure and success. In this…
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UTMB 2025 is just around the corner. Every August, the French town of Chamonix becomes the beating heart of ultra-trail running. The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) isn’t just a race, it’s the ultimate endurance challenge, the world cup of ultra running! What is UTMB and Why is it the Holy Grail of Trail Running? The…
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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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I have now added the Snowdon Ultra 100 miler to my 2025 race calendar. This will be leg 4 of 4 of my attempt at the GB ULTRAS 100 mile 2025 Grand Slam. The race takes place on Saturday 6th September 2025, has over 5,700m of elevation gain and has a tough 40 hour cut…
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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…