Event: North Downs Ultra 50 Challenge
Date: 27th July 2024
Prequel: “Happy Birthday Marit, for your birthday present I will sign us up for an ultra, 100km trail run/walk,” meet my friend Emma. After some negotiations, I managed to get the distance down to 50km and we were good to go! Fast forward a few months, and some very good long hikes in the Surrey hills, we went from planning to run/walk to walking the whole 50km.
How it started: Purchased parking in advance so it was super easy to just park up, register, get a coffee and wait for my friends to turn up. After a few jumping jacks and some other warmup routines, we were off for a long day of waking.
During: The course was well marked and with our plan to walk the whole route we had plenty of time to take in the beautiful North Downs Way. First feed station on top of Newlands Corner came fairly quickly and with the sun shining, everyone was in good spirits. Next stop, the halfway mark.
By the time we got to 25km, we were overtaking some other walkers and being overtaken by other runners and walkers but our group was still smiling. After a picnic, 15/20min break to eat and refill water bottles, we were off again.
The next 15km were going to be tough and as I had the most endurance training under my belt, I took on the role of a DJ and village idiot, playing music while trying to keep motivation and energy levels up. My rendition of “I would walk five hundred miles” didn’t go down that well but I did find some other tune we all sang along to.
The last feed station was 45km, we stocked up on pick ’n’ mix and with sore feet, we knew the last 10km was going to be tough but stopping was never an option.
How it finished: Walking together and singing to Ellie Goulding’s ‘Burn’ as we walked under the finish banner. With a medal around my neck, a cup of Prosecco in my hand and tucking into some food, I just couldn’t stop thinking, I would like to try run/walk a 50km.
To sum it up, well organised event by Action Challenge and it was an enjoyable/challenging day out with friends!
