Chiltern Challenge Ultra Marathon
When: September 26th 2020
Start & Finish: The Henley Showground, Marlow Road, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 3AP
Distance: 50 km (31 miles)
Elevation Change: +/- 560m
Course: Figure of 8 with a western loop and an eastern loop intersecting at the Henley Showground Basecamp. Mix of Chiltern Way, Oxfordshire Way and Thames Path
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): Shakespeare’s Way, Chiltern Way, Oxfordshire Way, The Wokingham Way, Thames Path
Other routes touched (cycle): Chilterns Cycleway
Finish time: 6 hours 59 minutes
Links: Hambleden, Stonor, Bix Bottom,Middle Assendon, Henley-on-Thames, Bovingdon Green, Marlow, Hurley, Remenham
With most running events having been cancelled due to Covid this yet I’d pretty much written off doing my annual ultra. So, as soon as I saw that this one was on, and it was a local one, I signed up. Also, having not been well (not do to Covid) a few weeks’ before I still wasn’t sure if I was up to ultra fitness. I decided to take it slow and take advantage of the 2-loop course to give me the option of retiring after the first loop.
This was also my first Covid-secure event and the organisation on the day was really impressive. Ultras may be expensive, but this was great value considering the new protocols that had in place. The only down-side for me was that the hand-sanitizer they has was so slippery that my wedding ring slipped off somewhere between the start and the first rest stop. So far it’s not been found which is less than ideal. It sounds like I wasn’t the only participant to lose a ring so I strongly recommend runners on Covid-secure events to leave their rings at home.
Lost rings aside, the event was amazing. I am big fan of the Chilterns and this was a perfect day to do a big run there. It was sunny but not too warm and dry underfoot too. I also liked the combination of woods and hills in the north and the flat sections of the Thames Path to the south.
In the end it was a good test of my fitness as I completed the course in a good time (for me) and without any signs of my sickness a few weeks ago. Fingers crossed the postponed Race to the Castle, my original 2020 ultra pick will be back on in 2021.
