On Sunday the 24th of February Challenge Running ran the first St Peters Way Ultra.
The St Peters Way is a meandering 45 mile historic route through mid Essex and out to the East coast to the acient chapel on the wall dating back to 793AD. Which we had managed to get permission to use as the finish line and venue.
The route starts in Chipping Ongar an ancient market town behind the Library and the remains of an ancient castle mound. The route is mostly off road on footpaths and bridleways with a few small sections of road and some pure XC over fields. There is a degree of navigation where runners have to follow a written route descrition and have a laminated map for back up. Runners also have the option of downloading the .gpx files for GPS devices. The route is scenic and passes many historic site such as old churches and at one stage through a victorian tunnel. Its a twisting route and runners need to concentrate on navigation.
The route is waymarke by the SPW marker posts.
I got up early at 5am after a restless night stressing over the details and trying to remember if I had forgot anything. Myself and my 10 year old Laura went ahead with the trailer to start setting up the race start which was 40 mins away. we set up the registration table in the back of the trailer and the start banner. It was set to be a very cold but dry day which should make the course fast as the mud will be firm and there will be less sliding around. slowly the runners started turning up and going through registration including a kit check of essentail items such as headtorch, waterproof jacket and spare baselayer for when it gets cold.
I ran through a few details and rules in the briefing at 07:45 and after a bit of a gathering Laura my 10 year old set off the runners at 8am prompt.
The first checkpoint was at just under 8 miles and the first group of fast runners made it there not long over the hour maek and it was clear that the course was fast today and there was a race on with the fastest runners really pushing it on and woring hard. The course is hilly(for Essex) in the first leg and a bit but flattens out then the only real test is the underfoot conditions and the navigating. At CP2 the same group of fast runners came through and most were still there and pushing hard to stay with the pack, the speed was still close to 8mm and all the runners through were still smiling and seemed to be enjoying it. At CP3 the group started to break up with Richard and Toby out if front though seperated by a bit and the German Pascal was third after a navigation error and a cut on his nose from some foliage. Nick greene came through her in good shape apart from being blind due to a contact getting knocked out by a branch. He conitued but with reduced vision. It was getting really cold now and slightly windier which was lowering the temprature which was probbably well below freezing with the windchill.
At CP 4 there was only 8 miles to go and the CP was in a bleak spot so runners did not hang around. The last leg is very exposed to the weather though and with it starting to lose the light the runners were really feeeling the cold now. The finish was all set up at the end of the sea wall at the chapel, the runners had 2.7 miles of being able to see the finish and running into a chilling headwind and having to turn right away from the destination on the seawall to do a final horseshoe loop out and back to the finish ,( laughs in an evil manner and strokes cat).
Off the sea wall come two runners pushing hard running side by side and just as they come off the sea wall one of the runners breaks into a sprint then they both are sprinting and the winner crosses the line only 9 seconds ahead of second place. Richard Ashton wins in a great finish with a time of 6:02:38 which is a cracking time. I present him with his medal and trophy and a pair of Nike “Drymax” sock from our sponsors www.ULTRAmarathonRunningStore.com
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| Richard Ashton 1st overall
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Steadily the runners start to come in at regular intervals and then the first lady crosses the line in 7:34:23 and picks up her prizes and another pair of Nike “Drymax” socks from the www.ULTRAmarathonRunningStore.com
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| Sally Ford 1st Female |
It was really great to see all the runners come in and finish the event and have smiles on their faces(maybe relief?) such as these two below!
Considering the cold weather and tough conditions we only had 3 DNF’s and only one was due to getting lost and being unable to get back to the CP on time and the others were injuries on the day. 41 finishers out of 44 starters and I am really pleased that the race ran so well.
A special mention must go to Rita Williams who was the last to finish and ran most of the race as our tail gunner and as such was running in the coldest weather and in the darkness for longer than everyone else and recieved a spot prize of a pair of Dirty Girl Gaiters. A fantastic effort well done.
A few thanks are in order and the race would not have been the success without my team of amazing volunteers:
Mark Cockbain
Alex Wilson
Fiona McNellis
Ian Brazier & son
Karren Webber
Timea Szekley
and of course my great Fiancee Sue and my daughter Laura who did a great job at the start and finish as well as checkpoints. Plus my Daughter Becky who helped packed all the kit and T-Shirts on Saturday.
We look forward to running the event again next year and meeting some of the runners again at other events we are planning this year. Including an 82 mile Ultra, 24/12 hour race and the second running of our Stort30 race.Full details on
www.challenge-running.co.ukLindley Chambers
Race Director – Challenge Running
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