Dragon Slayer Ultra

I've always thought that running events come in three varieties. The first are very casual. Turn up, grab your number, run, go home. The second persuasion of event is the sweet spot, enough of a challenge that you need to prepare, but there's a reasonable chance that, if things go well, you'll finish strong with a good time. The final category contains those races or times that are fanciful, frightening, and "not for the likes of me".

12 months ago, the Dragon Slayer Ultra would have sat firmly in that 3rd category - "not a chance".

In 2016 I ran a trail marathon in Switzerland, followed by a half marathon PB in 2017. Both of these achievements meant a lot to me. I'm not a quick runner, but both were outcomes of significant work over several years and, for that, they held some personal significance.

Following that though, running gradually declined. Life was busy and, with a couple of health issues (at that time unknown) I ended up taking a 6 year hiatus.

In January this year, things finally aligned such that a return to running was possible. I started with "Run Every Day" January, a habit that lasted in to early April, ran the Cloud 9 Hill Race in March, and then, feeling good, started to stretch the distance on training runs.

This is when a 55 km run in the Wye Valley started to look a lot more like a type 2 event (possible but challenging) rather than a type 3 event (hahaha, no). I'm very lucky to have a better half who also loves trail running, and a good friend who was also up for the challenge.

The three of us entered in May, leaving us around three months to build for the event. Training went mostly well and, on Sunday 6th August, we arrived at the start line ready.

The route was a natural one following the Wye Valley Walk for most of the outbound leg, skirting the Southern tip of Monmouth, and then returning to Chepstow along the Offa's Dyke footpath to finish in front of the castle.

We took things steady, walking most of the hills and trying to just keep moving. As Ultramarathons go, this was a baby one, however 55 km is still plenty for the uninitiated with amble opportunity for things to go wrong.

The weather was kind and, though I struggled a little with nutrition towards the end, we had a very successful day with a finish time of just over 7 hrs and 30 mins.