After a long slog of training in the autumn and winter, I finally lined up ready to start my first Ultra Marathon on Sunday. I’m running a bunch of races for Amnesty this year, but this was the one I was looking forward to the most! It’s 50km across London, following part of the Capital Ring walking route. I was dreading getting lost, but it was well signposted if you kept alert. I was definitely not feeling rested enough, after a disturbed night at a Travelodge near the finish…lots of drunks noisily finding their rooms in the small hours…but I caught up on some rest on the hour coach ride to the start. I was feeling strong until about 7km from the finish, when I needed to walk-run-walk for a couple of kms to give some relief to my legs. With a strong final few kms I came in at under 5 hours (which was way better than my target), pos 81st and was 4th woman.
Really pleased with my result…already thinking about what to aim for next year!
Alex Portwine
