Taking the lead from the start, the 2:29 marathoner ran a world record 3:07:20 and was followed home by her compatriot Helen Davies in 3:09:16. It was an impressive display of front running from Dixon, who entered the event in fine form.

Beating Frith Van de Merwe’s 3:08:39 from 1989 (set as a split in the 56km Two Oceans race in South Africa) by over one minute, it’s an exciting start to a hopefully long ultra-marathon career for the Sunderland Stroller. The British record of 3:15:43, set by Sue Harrison in 2010, was also smashed by both Dixon and Davies.

In warm conditions, topping out at 24 degrees, Dixon made her recent stint at altitude in Font Romeu really count. The pace set meant the north-east marathoner would have gone through her usual 42.2km distance in around 2:37.

There as also a team gold for the British team to add to the two individual medals.

Dan Nash was third in the men’s race in an excellent time of 2:49:01, which was a new British record beating the old mark of 2:53.21 set by the superb Jeff Norman back in 1985. Nash led the men’s team to a bronze medal in a competitive event with the South African and German trios ahead of the British runners.

Strong British teams

With British Athletics managing to get such high calibre athletes into the squad, medals were expected, but the women’s team securing a 1-2 and Julie Briscoe completing the team standings in a fine ninth position, was enough for team gold. Briscoe ran 3:22:57, Hannah Oldroyd 3:26:00 for 12th and Dani Nimmock 3:30:22 for 20th place after a difficult last couple of laps.

The men’s team, led home by Nash, were also high up into rankings. In a race won by Iraitz Arrospide of Spain in 2:47:42, there was only six seconds separating the top 13 runners at halfway.

Paul Martelletti was 14th in 2:55:39 and Alex Milne 15th in 2:56:20 to complete the scoring three and secured a team medal of bronze.

Brighton based Kevin Rojas was the next Brit in 3:01:22 (20th) and Lee Grantham isn’t listed in the results so hopefully is alright.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Aly Dixon is World 50km Champion & new world record holder appeared first on Fast Running.

The coaching team I work with at Centurion Running are some of the most experienced ultra coaches in the UK and between them have coached athletes to complete just about any ultra race you can think of.

Ultra running itself is more than just one race, but often a journey into a whole new sport that requires patience and plenty of self-reflection. For those starting out on their adventure we asked the Centurion Running coaches for their best beginner advice.

Even if you’re a salty old ultra running sea-dog (I know that makes no sense) there might be some gems in there to make your next 100 miler a little bit easier too. 

Make a plan

“Make a plan and share it with your family,” says England international and Sports Science & Education graduate Edwina Sutton. “Like all things in life, being organised and thinking through where you want to go and how you are going to get there is key to long term success.”

Be it just for the training ahead or your long term goals, putting it down in writing and making yourself accountable to others is proven to help with motivation, focus and drive. We’ve already discussed setting SMART goals here.

“I have found having a plan with scheduled workouts, recovery runs, long runs, races and weekends off (shock horror!) is a great way to stick to your training,” continues the ex pro-triathlete and coach. “After all consistency is the key to ultra success, so allow yourself a healthy blend of life and training.”

It’s important to plan for all eventualities in an ultra. Photo: Robbie Britton

The C word

It keeps coming up with my own athletes, but consistency is the key to endurance training. It’s a trial of miles that you just keep adding to over years and years and includes all the ups and downs. There is no one “killer session” that will equal ultra marathon success, but a much bigger jigsaw you must put together over time.

“Moderating your long runs to ensure you are always feeling pretty recovered within a couple of days is crucial to achieving consistency,” says Centurion race director and UKA coach James Elson. “Scale it back if recovery is taking longer than that.”

No long run will make your performance on race day, but one could certainly break it. Having a series of good long runs, with weeks of lower mileage when needed, can ensure you focus on consistency over the one big blast.

“I think most people come into ultras because they enjoy running so much they want it to last even longer, so make sure you keep enjoying it.” says GB international Sophie Grant. ‘A sign that you’re not recovering can be that training becomes a slog and at this point, it’s worth just dialling it back a little.”

“Its better to come into a race 10% undercooked than 1% overcooked,” says super experienced Neil Bryant. “ultra running isn’t about being in your fastest shape on the startline, but a block of consistent training, not necessarily certain big sessions, is going to make those race day miles easier.”

Variety is the spice of life

“Diversity is key,” states Edwina Sutton. “Just because your actual racing might be over a long distance, and thus run at a relative slow speed, don’t neglect all of your running gears. On a very basic level, the faster you can run a 5k race, the faster your ‘jogging’ pace becomes.”

Looking at the demands of ultra running, physiological fitness is still a key component, although not the only one. The best way to develop your physiological fitness as a whole involves working across a range of speeds and effort levels.

Mix it up & don’t be afraid of a bit of tempo running.

For marathon training the closer you get to race day the more specific your training becomes to that marathon, but you still don’t neglect the faster speeds. It’s all got a time and a place.

You might work on your speed endurance or higher end threshold training further out from your event and go through marathon pace work and get closer to race pace as the event gets closer. At any one time you can keep the faster work involved, variation is key to physiological improvements, but you wouldn’t want to be doing your 800m reps two weeks out from your first 100 miler. 

Not just about the heart and lungs

It’s not just the speed and effort you can make specific. GB24hr international Elson points out that you should “focus your training as you get closer to race day so that you can closely match terrain, environmental conditions and footwear/ kit/ nutrition to that which you’ll have or face on race day.”

As mentioned above, your physiological fitness is just one factor and the longer the race, the more other aspects will impact your result.

“Practice everything, especially eating, as you can’t ask your body to do these long events without giving it fuel,” is the golden rule from UKA coach Grant. “If you want your best result, then the biggest area for improvement for 99% of ultra runners is improving your race nutrition.”

Whilst you might have heard of the ‘marginal gains’ from running on empty and increasing your fat-burning ability, for all beginners the improvements will pale in significance to the ‘maximal gains’ you can get from a successful nutrition strategy.

No amount of stubbornness or marathon fitness will keep you moving well in the latter stages of an ultra if you haven’t got the fuel inside. Take that drive and energy you might put into your final long rep or getting to that next checkpoint and put it into eating a sandwich. You’ll make everything easier. 

Photo: Sophie Grant at UTMB by Zoe Salt.

All about relentless forward progress

The chances are you won’t run every step of your first ultra. Even the top elites are still walking sections of the steeper races and many incorporate hike breaks into all their racing.

“Expect to walk/hike” says Sophie. “Sometimes you’ll move faster doing this compared to running so practice this too.”

“Practise your hiking. Being able to hike at a good effort level, with purpose, but comfortable, is a huge weapon in your ultra armour,” continues Alps based Sutton. “This can incorporated into recovery sessions or hilly routes, get comfortable dropping down to a hike and then going back into a run and vice versa.”

We all work on different speeds in training and race pace is key to many distances. Ultra running is no different, but it might feel a little slow to do a workout at “100 mile pace” but keeping it easy for your recovery and easy running can help improve your efficiency at the pace you’ll likely move on race day. Especially in the second half.

Be a part of the community

The ultra running community is a wonderful group of people so be a part of it. From keeping a “leave no trace” attitude, to sharing miles with a whole host of eccentric and varied people, try to be a positive part of ultra running.

If you do want a head start into the world of ultra marathon then it’s always worth talking to others, either in the community, on the trail or working with a coach. We know a few good ones.

The Centurion Running Coaching team consists of James Elson, Robbie Britton, Edwina Sutton, Neil Bryant and Sophie Grant.

As qualified coaches, together with a vast wealth of personal experience of marathons and ultras across every type of format, terrain and environment, we are able to drive your running forward enabling you to reach your highest potential.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Centurion Running tips for your first (and next) ultra appeared first on Fast Running.

The experienced mountain man, a four time finisher of the gruelling Tor des Geants in Italy, had a fantastic trip. Not just seeing the major resort areas that most confine themselves to, the race and the Tenerife No Limits and Anaga Experience showed the welshman a whole lot more of this island paradise.

Every race comes with lessons, especially in ultra running. Below are the most valuable things that Philippe took away from the heat, altitude, volcano running and entire spectacle that is the Tenerife Blue Trail.

Don’t go wild from the gun

The start is actually pretty flat and, as with many European races, it’s an electric pace. After about three kilometres it enters a river bed and the single track doesn’t allow for easy overtaking in the next two kilometres.

The temptation therefore is to fly off to get a good position at the start, but as my coach Robbie Britton always says “There’s plenty of time to overtake later on”. Yes, it might get a little frustrating to be behind a slower runner for a while, especially if they’re blocking the way past with their poles, but it’s an ultra marathon, not a sprint.

Most of the overtaking in these races is actually done at the checkpoints (CP) and the final stages. You jump up positions every time you pass through a CP as many drop out here, especially in the heat and altitude. Save those legs for the final sprint.

Photo: Tenerife Blue Trail

Know your course

It wasn’t until around 70km that I realised I’d been taking it a bit too easy on some of the runnable sections. The heat and altitude play tricks on your mind and I had walked along a relatively flat section that I could have at least run/walked.

The altitude, heat and excitement of summiting the volcano had distracted me from how tight the deadlines were. I suddenly surged in panic and hit the 72km food stop with only 23 minutes left before the timeout. I stared at the race profile poster that was stuck to the wall. My mind churned the numbers but it is always best to have a clear idea of these at the start, rather than letting a sleep and sugar deprived mind try to do complicated calculus (well, it seemed like that) in the middle of a race.

You don’t have to know every detail, but having a good idea of the profile, the water stops and what’s expected of you can really help with planning and managing a race.

Spot the runners? Photo: Tenerife Blue Trail – ilovetheworld.es

Take the time to enjoy the island

As racers we often see a lot more than most of anywhere we visit. Be it an ultra marathon or a city marathon, you can find yourself heading down streets or trails that you’d otherwise never have seen.

It’s tempting to organise your trip to fly in and out of a destination as quick as possible, trying to just get the job done. But is that what’s best for the place you’re visiting? A responsible traveller knows that they have an impact on the communities of any place that relies heavily on tourism and seeing a path less traveled is not only satisfying, but good for the whole island too.

The Anaga Experience helped me do just that and it was a great way to help bring a bit of recovery to the legs post race by visiting a few more beautiful locations in the biosphere reserve on the island.

Photo: Promocion 365

Future plans

The Tenerife Blue Trail Ultra a race for keeps. It has made it firmly into my top three events of this distance and I definitely am aiming to return. Not only to better that close call at the finish line but to see more of a fantastic island. Family are also interested. Plans are already afoot, perhaps next year, for a Roberts family visit to Anaga. Some scenic training and fun family excursions await.

Philippe is a four time Tor des Geants finisher who just keeps going back for more. The 330km mountain race circumnavigates the Aosta Valley in the Italian Alps and goes up and down a lot of hills. 

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

Thanks to:

Tenerife Bluetrail – what a race!

https://www.tenerifebluetrail.com/en

Tenerife No Limits – for helping to organise the trip and for their athlete centred approach to Tenerife tourism

https://www.webtenerife.co.uk/tenerifenolimits/

Anaga Experience – for showing us the north of the island and sharing their vision for helping to invest in small communities – www.anagaexperience.com

Hotel Silken Atlántida, Santa Cruz – for a runner friendly base for the race (12mins walk from the race expo)

https://www.hoteles-silken.com/en/hotel-atlantida-santa-cruz-tenerife/

The post Tenerife Blue Trail: More than just a race appeared first on Fast Running.