RACE REPORT
2022 Black Mountains
Marathon and 50 Mile Ultra Marathon
Saturday 11th June
Let’s take a second to reflect on last year!
Thanks to our friendly Covid virus we had to hold two events on the same day! The team and entrants played their part to ensure we pulled this feat off without a hitch.
Being our first year, we were excited to see how the event would be reviewed by some certainly elite runners. Whether we would need to make adjustments, improvements etc.
It’s always a testing time - until the first few runners come in and report we have no idea about initial reactions.
“Gruelling…brutal… beautiful…killer hills….” - you name it, we had it.
They loved it, even though many said that it was the hardest event that they had ever taken on!
So good news for this year, only a few tweaks necessary, and here we were on June 11th 2022.
And guess what - some staff and support went down with Covid in the days before the event!! 😧
Despite this set-back, with some fantastic teamwork, we managed to pull off another incredible feat.
Stu headed up at HQ/finish, Ian ran the times/tracking from his motorhome parked in the campsite, and Ellen was seemingly everywhere from cooking, collecting runners, and at checkpoint areas, before finally taking over the back-running for the final 14 miles of the 50 Ultra over the Sugar Loaf during the night.
Magical and rewarding.
We love getting out and about on the course seeing and supporting runners, and helping to locate ones that had just been beaten by either fatigue, injury or just not feeling it on the day.
Our amazing medics, photographer, and checkpoint staff were remarkable. We even had two runners who had to defer, offer their support. Ben & Georgia – exceptional.
The weather threw everything at them from severe heat to nearly gale force winds and rain on the summits. Many highs and lows whilst trying to navigate pathways through the summer ferns, and taking the odd detour, before finishing with huge smiles of relief.
The event was a great success once again
Some runners were lucky enough to have our physio Danni at the finish to help with recovery. Most went off after a small banquet to feast on, full bellies making the drive home that much easier, whilst some had showers and even beds to rest up in. The best part for the later runners was the beacon of a huge fire pit along with our legendary cowbells as a well-earned welcome home finish.
The results show it all. We have some new records. Alex Johl, local lad and a seasoned LT back runner blasted the Marathon.
We had our returning elite runner Holly Rush (now Stables) @rushbynature win the women’s marathon, chased by her friend Gary House @garyhouse_ .
Holly’s post on Instagram was lovely to read:
“Thanks to the wonderful @limitlesstrails for putting on such a tough race with a top notch finish (basically a full on banquet, massage, beds and bonfire 🔥)
If you are looking for a friendly mountain race take a look at their website.”
You can read this, and more kind feedback we have received from all our races, on our Testimonials page - https://www.limitlesstrails.co.uk/testimonials .
We also saw some more local winners in the Ultra section.
Sam Weale
Here are the top 3 winners and times – the full results and photos are all on the website for you to enjoy.
50 mile Ultra
Male
1. Sam Weale 10.41.17
2. Chris Nottingham 11.13.54
3. Richard Kelly 12.00.30
Female
1. Una Miles 11.38.32
2. Caroline Upton 14.43.15
3. Janet Payne 16.56.53
Marathon
Male
1. Alex Johl 4.36.28
2. Nick Jurd 5.06.08
3. Gary House 5.21.56
Female
1. Holly Rush 5.16.47
2. Ceri Merwood 5.45.01
3. Catherina Rennie 6.23.56
We love this event. We would like to thank everyone for supporting us, for the commitment by our support team, and for the dedication shown by everyone involved in ensuring that we continue our pledge to keep that blanket of safety well and truly in place at each event.
See you at our next event, the Tenacious Ten Hour Endurance Challenge on Sat 9th July!
Elle, Stu and the team at LT