Last updated: 25-Oct-18
By Luke Jarmey
We’re pleased to announce our top reviews for May. So, congratulations to Roberto Ferrari
who will receive a pack of 33Shake Chia Energy Gels.
100km of Namib Desert – Namibia
Titled ‘Emotions to the Limit’, Roberto’s account of the 100km of Namib Desert, is a beautifully constructed and a well… emotional, retelling of the race’s previous edition.
‘The legs that move, the pulse that increases, the breath that is agitated … those are sensations that we all have when running anywhere but in Namibia you will feel them before you start.’
‘A race with a force so brutal that even if you complete it walking, and I guarantee you will walk, you will keep it in the memory as a treasure.’
There are too many quotes to list here, it is literally dripping with descriptive quality. But if you like the sound of the above, go and give the full review a read, it’s a corker!
In no particular order, here are the rest of our top reviews:
Wings for Life World Run – England, UK
The Wings for Life World Run is a very unique race, put on by Red Bull for a fantastic cause. John Ryan (@ultraventure ) describes the format well, before diving into his own account of the race. A fantastic review and a must read for anyone considering next year’s edition of the race.
Dukeries Ultra – England, UK
‘This was my first ever ultra and I chose the (Dukeries Ultra) 40 miler because I have completed several marathons now and although 50k (31 miles) seems a nice introduction to ultrarunning, for me it just didn’t seem to present that much of a challenge so I wanted something a bit more scary.’ We really like Michelle’s (@shellmoby) attitude and we like her review even more. Essentially a mini essay on ‘your first ultra’, she chronicles her experience of the race, as well as that of the ultra running community itself. We love these two quotes:
‘At 33 miles, a jam sandwich and a cup of tea taste absolutely divine.’
‘Never underestimate the restorative power of a bath full of Epsom salts afterwards.’
Hear, hear.
Pick Your Poison Trail Run – Canada
This really has been a month of incredibly high quality reviews and this technical, but well written, account of the Pick Your Poison Trail Run, is absolutely brilliant.
Patrick Voo (@pbfvoo) starts of his review with ‘It wasn’t until about 2.5k into the start of the race that I noticed that my shoelaces weren’t even actually tied. And so began my day traversing the hills of Horseshoe Valley.’
He then descends into a section by section analysis, with a post-race appraisal and key learnings. Now sometimes these kind of technical reviews can be a tad unengaging, certainly not this one though! Really well written and full of fantastic nuggets of information.
Tyne Trail Ultra – England, UK
Deborah Allum (@deblouallum) offers a detailed account of her 75km Tyne Trail Ultra experiences. This is the furthest she’s run and and states ‘Without doubt I will be back to try the South Tyne Trail and hopefully up the distance to the 150k.’ Good on you!
A Bridge to far – England, UK
Great organisation, makes a great race. And with his opening line, concerning the Bridge to Far race organisers; ‘The sun always shines for Punk Panther.’ Simon Bourke’s (@Simon_Bourke) would seem to agree. He follows up with a brilliant review of the event, which is brimming with information for the would be racer.
‘There are further check points at approximately five mile intervals, all with the requisite peanuts, jelly babies, flapjacks, Jaffa cakes, millionaire shortbreads, cola and water.’
Yum.
Highland Fling – Scotland, UK
As we’ve stated, perhaps a million times before, any review by Sarah Cooke (@SarahCrunning), is an absolute cracker. She certainly doesn’t disappoint with her fantastically thoughtful write up of the Highland Fling. As with all of Sarah’s reviews, if you’re considering running the event, you would be absolutely nuts not to read what she has to say and head her advice.
‘Everyone I spoke to was lovely. I managed to fall over three times and I never had to pick myself up from the ground!’
Now that makes us really proud to be part of the ultra running community, awesome to hear.
EcoTrail Oslo – Norway
Positive race reviews are great, but we also really like reading critical assessments. These can often have just as much value to a prospective runner and we’d hope that race organisers of the EcoTrail Oslo take note of what they can improve on for the next edition. We’d have to agree with Aude Le Gorec, that the principles of the EcoTrail sound simply fantastic, so it was surprising, but interesting to read her thoughts on what they could have done better. Thanks for the honesty Aude.
Marathon des Sables – Morocco
‘I came back, battered, bruised and blistered vowing never to do it again. That lasted 48 hours and I’m doing it again in 2018.’ Now ChrisV’s opening line probably sums up most people’s experience with the infamous Marathon des Sables. Type 2 fun at its uttermost finest.
‘…it was a brutal desolate place but at the same time stunningly beautiful.’
If that piques your interest, give his review a read and we challenge you not to be tempted to sign up.
Connemara Ultra Marathon – Ireland
We really like Richard Duffy’s (@richardpduffy) concise review of the Connemara Ultra Marathon. Opening up with ‘Wow is the first thing I would say.’ He then goes on to describe a chalk and cheese experience with this edition and the last.
