Cheltenham Challenge 50m Ultra Marathon

Organised by Cheltenham Community Projects (CCP) the Cheltenham Challenge was a great fun race all around my home training ground of Cheltenham Racecourse and the surrounding fields and up over Cleeve Hill.  It was made even better because of the support I had on the day.  I ran the first 14 miles with Rach and we stuck to the pace plan perfectly.  I saw Ollie, mum, dad, Tim, Amanda and Hector as I crossed the Burgage in Prestbury towards the end of each lap (thanks for making it out of the Royal Oak to cheer Tim!) and I ran the last 9 miles with Nicki and her encouragement and pacing was awesome when my tired legs really wanted to stop for a rest!  I’m thrilled to have been able to keep my target pace going for 50miles, which gave me a time of 8:14hours and 5^th overall.  It was not too tricky to scoop the 1^st lady prize as it seems there was only one female in Cheltenham daft enough to enter!  This was a brilliant community event to have been a part of and I would recommend it to runners of all abilities.  Have a look at the report from the Gloucestershire Echo for details of results, charities and all of the different distances that are available.