The White Horse Ultra 50k

The White Horse Ultra has always captured my attention. It is one of the the events organised by the wonderful race organisers Beyond Marathon. I knew there was a 100 mile option and that has always tugged at my ‘race entry purse-strings’, but with this being a return to long distance after 12 months it was not the right time to attempt that.

The White Horse Trail

Having largely rested and had time away from very long distance running since completing my back to back Comrades marathon last year in 2023, it felt like time for a new challenge. After a few health problems in the last 12-18 months, I have now been given the all clear which has given me confidence to tackle a new challenge.

Trying to be sensible, I resisted the urge to jump straight in at one of the much longer distance options. There are three distances available in the White Horse Ultra, the 50k, the 50 mile and the 100 mile event. So I entered the 50k.

Without my partner in crime this time, I would run this one solo. Simon and I have run most of our ultra marathons together, the exceptions being Comrades (Simon does not like road running) and the Jurassic Coast Ultra (I took a shorter race option on the day as it was just a week after another ultra). Simon had recently broken his foot and this race was just too soon to be able to safely run that distance.

The location of the race the race start was great for us, we had a good drive down the evening before as it was over two hours away, but with a Premier Inn within easy walking distance from the start, and a large Tesco superstore right there too it couldn’t have worked out better for getting a good night’s sleep and picking up any last minute supplies.

On the day I got up nice and leisurely having found the best route to the start on the previous day (I’m a planner!) and had a quick pastry based breakfast in the hotel room before walking to the start.

Everything was so well organised, I have come to expect this from Richard’s events, having previously completed a fair few of them. I picked up the number bib, ankle chip and tracker and joined the others waiting for the start. A quick race brief from Richard and we were off, nice and steady in a friendly pack for the first few miles.

The thing about ultra’s and trail races in general is that people chat a whole lot more. Even after the start for the first few miles we were very grouped together and the chatter was nice to join in or just listen to as those first few miles jogged by.

Single file at about 2 miles into the route

Between mile 3 and 4 we came upon some horses exercising, the parallels to the photo above cannot be missed.  

I felt very confident about the route. Simon and I had been down to the area some three weeks before and the only part that I had not run on that recce visit was the first and last three miles (essentially the out and back tail on a looped course). There were no race markers, we were to follow the course that had been sent to us in the weeks leading up to the race. Richard had also produced a video description of each route which we could watch and re-watch as we wanted, I think I watched it at least four times (did I say I was a planner?). I have the route on a GPX file and as I love a paper map I was also carrying the OS map of the area (I did not need to use this even once, but it still felt nice to have it).

There were a couple of places on route were there were alternatives to the planned course, a tricky footpath where we could take the road option for instance. Having checked out the course previously I took the route that was most efficient for me based on what I’d learned of the route a few weeks before. I was also aware of and prepared for any hidden stiles or turns where it would have been easy to go past before realising I’d overshot, so this was great on the day. I was able to point one or two others in the right direction as I knew the route so well.

Choosing the route carefully... It was more efficient to take the road on this short section.

We were still well grouped at the first check-point, lots of people around either ahead or behind. It was after that really when the field started to string out more. I was also well aware that with three distances in this event, anyone around me could have been doing the 50 mile or the 100 mile option, I imagined that most of the 50k runners had shot off ahead.
Before checkpoint two I started to spend a lot more time running solo, this doesn’t bother me at all, I am very happy with my own thoughts, planning away. A lot of the time as I entered a field I could see people ahead or as I was coming out of a field if I turned I could see people behind. Sometimes a small group would come along and I’d stay with them for a while and then let them go, I’d prefer to continue at my own pace, everyone has different strengths at different points in a race, so running to someone else’s pace is not often how I approach things.

Part of the White Horse route

The rain the night before and the heavy mist had turned some patches to a sticky mud.

The section between the second and third checkpoint (Avebury Stone Circles). I can remember thing that I felt really happy to doing this, after the rainfall of the previous day, the weather had been kind, no more rain expected until 3pm. I had come up over the hill at Cherbury White Horse where the monument stood as a kind of personal checkpoint for me, the chalk path was much more slippery than it had been in my previous visit, the morning had been misty and seemed to have left a film over the chalk which had somehow appeared to have absorbed the rain from yesterday.

The Monument at Cherbury Hill

From the monument onward I caught up with a couple of male runners who were also on the 50k event. One was from South Africa, he had seen my Comrades cap and was asking whether I done the up or the down year, we had a good chat about it. They were a little unsure of the way and there was a split coming up, so as I’d gone a little ahead at this point I was able to shout back and point out the turning. They kept me very much in their sights and came into the third checkpoint at Avebury just moments after me. I had a very quick turnaround, keeping time at checkpoints to an absolute minimum and moved out after grabbing a refill of my bottles and a cheese sandwich. Even the photographer (Dave Murch) exclaimed ‘that was quick’ as I came back out of the checkpoint and past his chosen spot.

Avebury Checkpoint

On the final stretch to the finish I knew that there were two people behind me, the two I had spoken to, but I was convinced that everyone else on the 50k route had passed. However, I was happy with my day, I had completely nailed the navigation, in that I knew exactly where I was, where I needed to be, and made no mistakes at all. I felt pretty good and hadn’t over cooked things at the start.

Coming into the finish was the only part I was unsure about about. I have not checked the route back into Marlborough and was relying solely in the GPS file, I could see no-one in front at all. It was purely the last two miles, maybe even less where I had a slight feeling that I wasn’t sure, but I trusted the map on my watch and soon saw the entrance to the park where the finish was and jogged it in. Very happy to finish. It wasn’t until Simon pointed out that actually there were quite a few yet to come in that I checked the live results to find that I have finished in the top half of the field, I had genuinely no idea. It’s not about places or times, this event for me was very much about making a come-back to longer distance running, so this was an unexpected bonus and bit of a confidence boost.

For anyone thinking of going into ultra running or just trying it once, I would really recommend looking at Beyond Marathon Events. Other events I have done with them are: The Millennium Way Ultra (41 miles Newport to Burton-one Trent along the Millennium Way), Metropolis (A unique immersive ultra marathon experience across London through the night), Escape from Meriden (24 hours to get as far from Meriden as possible, measured as the crow flies), Day Release (during Covid times, run from home as far out as you dare, but you must get back within 24 hours).