Roth Regatta

Ultras

For a small group of runners, the marathon is merely a stepping stone to even longer, harder races. The world of ultra running (events that are longer than a marathon) presents countless racing options, from 30-milers on the South Downs to six-day challenges in the Moroccan Sahara Desert.

Choosing an ultra

Ideally, your first ultra should be flat and in an area that you can travel to easily. You can sign up for an event with testing hills or one that’s halfway round the world, whe

n you have a little more experience and have made sure that you enjoy running ultras.

Ultra training

Forget speed and distance when you are training for an ultra – time spent on your feet should be the cornerstone of your running plan. Regular runs of more than three hours are hard on your body, so try to break up the big runs into more manageable blocks spread out over a weekend. Make sure you train on the same terrain that you’ll be running on during the ultra. Long, brisk walks can also

benefit your preparations, particularly as they come with lower risk of injury. It’s also a great mental boost if you know you can walk quickly and maintain a good pace in parts of the race where you might need to slow down to eat or to tackle a hill. Both in your training and racing for an ultra, think of the race in stages, breaking the run up into manageable chunks, rather than starting off worrying about the 50 miles that lie ahead of you.

Adventure racing

If you want to mix your runni

ng with some other sports, then adventure racing is a great place for you to start. Events range from individual two-hour ’sprint’ races, which involve several different activities, to multi-day team expedition races which require months of careful planning.

Types of events

The events are usually team based (with at least one woman in the team), and they focus on the core disciplines of off-road running, mountain biking and some form of canoeing or kayaking. Like running, adventure races have a designated start and a finish but they rarely follow a set course. Longer races will often require you to have a degree of navigational competence, where picking the best route and trying to follow it is all part of the challenge, whether it’s on foot, bike or in a kayak.

Seasonal events. There are more than 1000 adventure races held worldwide every year, so there are plenty for you to choose from. These range from especially challenging ones that are modelled on the original Raid Gauloises in which racers compete 24 hours a day for up to seven days, to shorter races that you can complete in just a few hours. The adventure race season takes place in the spring and summer months in the UK, but there are some winter events that are starting to appear on the calendar and if you are prepared to travel there are endless international option’s.