Into Ultra – Making Ultra running Inclusive and Accessible to Everyone
Running is cheap they say. Just a pair of shoes and you get out of the door. True for bit of road running. Not so true if you suddenly find yourself interested in trail running and worse ultra running. One minute you are chasing 5km PBs, the next you are scrolling RunUltra and similar websites searching for your first ultra. You watch from the sidelines, the news and exploits of the likes of Jasmin Paris, Tom Evans, Courtney Dauwalter, Jack Scott and Damian Hall. Your Youtube and Instagram starts popping up videos and photos of epic trails and events. From fast and friendly local 50kms to 200 mile races across the country. Skyrunning, loops around mountains, races along the coast, laps through a tunnel. Races across the whole width of the country. Races over 6 days with camps overnight. Races where you do loops every hour. It’s a slippery slope into a smorgasbord of adventures. You dip your toes, maybe even get yourself a pair of trail shoes and venture onto your local trails. It’s incredible. It’s fun. It’s playful hopping over tree roots and avoiding puddles. Heck you might even run through the puddle or stop to take a photo for that epic view! It seems most in the trail and ultra running world are not obsessed about splits, pace or PBs. It draws you in. It pulls you towards a world of incredible adventures.
Why Ultra running Isn’t Accessible to Everyone
Except … it’s not that cheap. Before you even sign up for your first 50km and your first encounter with the ‘mandatory kit list’ you realise you need a pack. You need lightweight waterproofs. The longer you want to run, the more stuff you are going to need. You also have to pay to travel and may be accommodation. And then you look at races. Mandatory kit lists, minimum 20,000 HH waterproofs, headtorch (sometimes two), insulation jacket, survival bag, poles coz you decided to run in the mountains, waterproof socks, a second base layer! And how much is the race entry? £150? £200? Some races are well over £600!! You join a club. It’s free. Everyone talks running. Great! But everyone is also doing one event or another! And ultra runners do love to get others to join them. How much can you resist the temptation … that poor credit card. How can the cost be justified.
What is into ultra?
3 years ago, in the Italian Alps, three white, middle aged, middle class men were doing an expensive Alpine race. They had earnt the right to be there. They had spent years training for it. They had spent years working hard to afford it. One even had a chance of winning it. But somewhere in those mountains, they had a chat and reflected. Why are the start lines of these big races dominated by white, middle class males (like them!). It made them feel uneasy. There were already organisations and charities working hard to bring more gender and ethnic diversity to the race start lines (SheRACES and Black Trail Runners) but they figured one other major barrier for people to make the start line is affordability. They were nice people and wanted to do something useful. There was no organisation offering financial help so they set up one. I got invited to join the team! Into ultra was born.
Into ultra started with in 2023 and then registered as a charity in August 2024. It aims to help those can’t afford ultra running by providing runners with race entries, courses, coaching, kit and beyond. Over the last three years some 130 race companies, coaches and brands have partnered with Into Ultra to make the sport more accessible to more people. Races have offered Into Ultra free or discounted entries. Coaches offer free or heavily discounted blocks of coaching. Workshops on navigation or trail running skills have been offered for free to our runners at various stages. To date Into Ultra has supported over 150 runners with free support. We’re really pleased that over 50% are female and over 10% non-white. In addition, we have created a lively and supportive community with monthly social zooms, a closed FB group and monthly webinars with experts on topics such as nutrition, mindset, and female performance (as well as regular runners telling their inspirational stories). This community is also open to those who are not looking for financial support. We are proud to have Jasmin Paris, Renee McGregor, Allie Bailey and Claire Maxted as our ambassadors and continue exploring partnership and ways to help runners across the country. After a successful test run in 2025, we offered four Stronger Together courses where 4 coaches across the country are coaching and preparing a group of novice runners towards their first ultra.
Sue Lord, A100 Finisher
Our runners often come from difficult backgrounds which has led them to be on low income. From addiction to drugs and alcohol to experiences of domestic abuse, from debilitating physical and mental illnesses to just really tough personal lives, cancer, grief, loss, Parkinson’s, visual impairment and other disabilities. From single parents making ends meet, to couples holding it together under the weight of tough economic circumstances. Students, social carers, teaching assistants who don’t have much of disposable income. We have been able to bring hope to some by simply enabling their life long dreams. Our runners range from those who are working towards their first ultra, their first 100 miles, 200 miles to those taking on FKTs and DIY adventures. They love to wear our badge and talk about what we do coz without the love and generosity of the community and the industry we would have not been able to do what we have done so far and we would love their stories and our impact to reach more people.
How can you help?
We think that there are many more people who into ultra could help to achieve their dreams (even those who think running 50km is their worst nightmare!). There are several ways that you could help. Spread the word (we are on FB and Instagram) or get in touch if you have something you can offer us that might be help our runners (physio, coaching, courses, race entries, run clubs). If you have kit you want to donate, reach out the fantastic Kitsquad or Preloved Sports who work with us. And finally if you have spare cash, you could donate to our charity (or fundraise for us) and help us make more dreams come true.
