The Croydon Ultra

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Kitch Apr 2013 6:09pm, 10 Apr 2013 First-time poster!!	0 Kitch I'm looking around for a bit of challenge this Summer. I've done some marathons (some flat, some not) and wondered about dipping a toe into the murky waters of an ultra. The shortest I can find (I'm not stupid) is a 30 miler - the Croydon Ultra on July 7. Far away enough to seem not that scary, and a couple of weeks before the other Summer excursion the Dunwich Dynamo - 120 miles on a bike from Hackney to the Suffolk coast overnight - and the best night of the year bar none. I checked out some of the Ultra route by bike on Sunday, discovering to my surprise, I'm a Sarf Lunnener after all, that the loop from Croydon to Catford was nowhere near as grim as I was expecting using as it does the Waterlink Way lewisham.gov.uk So, if any of you nice people have any advice on ultras (albeit a small one) - preparation, strategy, training distances and the like - I'd be chuffed to hear it. Thanks.
Sombrero Apr 2013 6:12pm, 10 Apr 2013 5,542 posts	0 Sombrero Hello Kitch, welcome to fetch. There's some proper ultra runners on here. I've done a couple and my advice is to walk all the hills and take it easy. Oh, and bring some savoury food - you'll get bored of sweet food after several hours on your feet. I used to live in Catford. It's a beautiful part of the world.
touche turtle Apr 2013 6:52pm, 10 Apr 2013 353 posts	0 touche turtle Hi Kitch, welcome to Fetch The Croydon Ultra is organised by a guy from Striders of Croydon who is a very experienced ultra runner. His email for info on the event is ipcconsultantslimited@gmail.com and his name is Ian Campbell, sure he would be happy to give you details/advice to help you make up your mind on this one.
Kitch Apr 2013 9:31am, 11 Apr 2013 2 posts	0 Kitch Ta for the welcome. Sombrero - I really don't get on with gels so I quite like the idea of a nice pastie at the 15 mile mark. In the two Davos runs I've done they serve the most amazing chicken bouillon - very welcome at 2700 meters I can tell you. TT - Thanks for that. I've scoured his site and read some accounts of the previous events. On the recce trip last Sunday I got to the start/finish point and found myself at the tail end of a half-marathon being run by the Striders I think. Most people seemed like they were having a good time, despite the hilly course, so that augurs well. I think I'm beginning to convince myself.
ultrapaulo Apr 2013 9:48am, 11 Apr 2013 619 posts	0 ultrapaulo Kitch - Probably best to pop into the Ultra Marathons thread. You may find the answers you are after already being discussed, if not you are prbably more likely to get them in there. http://www.fetcheveryone.com/viewtopic.php?id=10360
Kitch Apr 2013 6:16pm, 11 Apr 2013 3 posts	0 Kitch Ultrapaulo, Ta. Tons of useful stuff there and the blog, of course. That'll give me something to ponder as the miles rack up. And a target or two if I can get this first one under my belt. I wonder where these daft ideas actually come from?