Chiefly, it's the North Downs Way 50, as ever. Favourite race of the year and whilst I'm tiring of it a little bit, last year I went faster than I ever have for a 50 and finished just a sniff over 9 hours. Which means I could be in for chasing a sub-9 50 miler. And a hard 50 miler at that too.
An odd ball for this year is the Thames Path 100. An ultra that I've said on many occasions I'll never run. It's long, it's flat and it's probably boring. And I didn't even sign-up, or at least pay for it. I volunteered to be the route clearer and even said I wasn't looking for a place. But Nici sent the offer to have a place and I thought well why not. And so I can blame her, politely, if it all goes the way of the up-tit.
I have a few other staples in the calendar too. The Midsummer Munro is of course on the list. It's known as the hardest half in Britain and is always a hearty challenge. The Devon AONB marathon is also on the list too. Stunning views, loads of people to cheer you on and it never feels like it's a corporate event, even though a lot of people run the events. The second half is the hardest and the most technical. A new firm favourite having run it twice before.
The Wendover Woods Night 50k looks to be fun. It's short enough to be fast (ha!), but it's also a challenging route too. 3 laps is easier to swallow than 5 (having done the 50 in 12.5 hours) and should mean nice light packs and being able to enjoy the trail and hills without fearing that you've got many more loops to go. Looking forward to this one for sure.
The new entry for me is the Serpents 100k. Truth be told it's not an ultra I know much about, but I wanted to get the Garmin 100k badge and this event was the first that popped up in Google. Yes, I'm that shallow and that lazy. Fortunately, it looks to be a really good race and well organised.
Rounding out the year I'll be on the look out for a few shorter events. 50k events seem like a nice day out without demanding too much training.
Running events in 2020
- North Downs Way 50
- Thames Path 100
- Wendover Woods Night 50k
- Midsummer Munro
- Devon AONB marathon
- Serpent ultra 100k
