Race report - South West Coast 50km Ultramarathon 2025

5 hours and 45 minutes - 11th place out of 800 runners

I can now officially call myself an ultra runner! Last weekend I raced 50km with over 1,500 meters of vertical ascent over the hills of Exmoor and it was epic. If you read my blog in the build up to the event you'll know the struggles I've had with injuries and health which made this by far the most satisfying race I've ever completed.

Firstly, after a whole life of atheism, I'm now starting to think their might be a god! For the last 5 or 6 weeks before the race I had been training a lot and my legs had felt absolutely dreadful. To the extent where I was getting really worried about the race. But by a mix of good judgement and luck, I must have timed my taper perfectly as I went for a little jog a couple of days before the race and for the first time in ages my legs felt good. It was a miracle, game on!

Race day morning is always a stress. 4.45am alarm call after a really broken night's sleep due to the nerves wasn't ideal. Quick couple of coffees and some peanut butter toast and I was on the way to Dunster Castle. The atmosphere when I arrived at the start area was incredible. The sun was just coming up and the tunes were blaring out which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. My nervous energy was off the charts and I just wanted to get going.

Start line selfie!

6.45am and we were off. The first 4 miles were pancake flat along the coast. My plan was to do these at an easy pace of 9 minute/miles but in classic style I checked my watch and was cruising along at 8 min/miles so I had to check myself to slow down as it was going to be a long day. My pre race goal was to go under 6 hours and maybe get inside the top 20. I could roughly see early on I was somewhere between 15th-20th place which told me I was going the right pace.

We hit the first big hill, North Hill out of Minehead which takes you up onto Exmoor. I'd actually walked it as a recce the week before with my youngest daughter Minnie which was really helpful. I've been training so much in the Quantocks Hills and on the hill setting on my treadmill that hills are now my strength. I got up this one pretty comfortably and felt good. Aid station at the top for a quick refill of one of my water bottles and there was now a long section along the top of the hill before dropping back down to the coast to Bossington and Porlock. The views from up here were incredible and it made the whole experience spiritual.

I know from my Ironman days that when you do these longer races, something always goes wrong. Coming into Porlock I was getting ready for the aid station where I needed to refill all my drink bottles as the next section was the hardest of the race with a lot of hills including a climb up to Dunkery Beacon, the highest point on Exmoor. But I must have taken a wrong turn in Porlock as I somehow missed the aid station so I had to do this extremely difficult 2 hour section with no water! There was nothing I could do except get on with it. I was just coming through halfway at this stage, about 2 hours 45 mins in and my legs were starting to feel it. It was now just about finding a level of suffering I felt I could keep up for the next few hours. I've always been determined and my ability to suffer is pretty decent so this was time to get my head down and crack on.

I hadn't seen many other runners for a while but I gradually started to overtake the odd one which was really giving me confidence. I wasn't feeling great but I could tell I was doing better than they were! These next climbs back up onto Exmoor were brutal. I was sticking to my plan of walking the really steep bits but still trying to run the less steep hills which I was managing. All that hill training was paying off. But I was getting so thirsty and my fuelling strategy of a bag of jelly babies each hour was wearing thin and I was struggling to get them down now. But getting the calories in during an long endurance race is so important so I had to force them down. I'll have a rethink on this strategy next time. I was also popping electrolyte and caffeine tablets for fun and I think the caffeine gave me a good boost.

I kept telling myself just get to the top of Dunkery Beacon then I'm nearly at the next aid station, then there is only 1 more big hill before a final long flat/downhill stretch back to Dunster Castle. When I finally saw Dunkery Beacon it gave me such a mental boost that I'd broken the back of the race and I started to feel stronger. When the aid station arrived I've never been so grateful for a drink. I necked about 5 cups of coke in no time an filled up all my bottles. My pre race strategy was to spend as little time as possible at these aid stations and I nailed that. I came out of that aid station and there was an uphill drag, not steep but long. I overtook 3 guys up there who were all walking and I ran past them giving them all words of encouragement as I passed. Even though my legs were in a lot of pain I was feeling strong and I knew I had this. I could feel the blisters forming but that wasn't going to stop me, I could worry about them after the race.

I was going at a really decent pace along the last long flat/downhill section of about 7 miles back to Dunster. I could see the average minute/mile pace on my watch was now coming down and I was comfortably inside my 6 hour target. I overtook another few guys on this stretch which again spurred me on. I then came into Dunster and I could feel the emotion welling up. All the years of wanting to do an ultra and injuries stopping me and here I was finally doing it. I knew Lisa and 2 of the girls Dotty and Minnie would be waiting for me at the finish line which made the emotion even stronger. I just couldn't wait to get to the finish and see them. I crossed the line in 5 hours 45 mins in 11th place out of 800 runners. I was so pleased with this result. Decent effort for an old bloke with a dodgy back!

So what next. I've always loved running and ultra running still allows me to be competitive at my age. Given my injury history I don't want to rush things going for longer distances yet. Next year I want to do this race again as I know I can improve with a more consistent training period in the build up plus there are a couple of local trail marathons I'd like to do. Then if all goes well I've got my eye on a 100k race in the Cotswolds for 2027, and who knows, maybe a 100 miler in 2028.

As my friend and landlord at our local (he was an excellent runner in his day) told me, running is an honest sport and you only get out what you put in, which is why it is so satisfying having a race like this after putting in so much hard work in training. We are hosting our first runners retreat here at Old Rectory House 12-15th March 2026. Ge in touch if you're interested.