Mendip Marauder
Saturday 31st August 2024
8:30 am start (50 miler)
10:30 am start (30 miler)
Elevation: - 5,516 ft. for 50 Miler/
4,161 ft. for 30 Miler
"The time and care you've put in to the whole event made it a truly enjoyable and unique experience.
Really appreciated the toilets, snacks, support and clear course marking and how personalised you've made it."
_Nendip Marauder runner 2023
"As a first time ultra runner I was made to feel welcome, being
particularly impressed with the volunteers at the aid stations who went above and beyond to make sure we were well looked after.
The legs have now stopped aching, leaving me with (mostly) pleasant memories and a silly grin of accomplishment on my face!"
_Mendip Marauder runner 2023
Ok, so 2023's race may always be remembered as the day that Danny Hawkins took down Wayne Van Rensburg's long-standing 30 Miler course record in spectacular fashion, but there were loads of awesome runs in oppressive heat and everyone did superbly.
In the 30 Michael Hughes and Ian Manners made up the rest of the mens' podium - at the final aid station Michael commented "Please could I have downhill all the way to the finish now?!"... although most of the biggest hills are over by that point he still had Bleadon Hill to contend with, and did it well. He, along with Ian, seemed in great spirits at the finish. Ian was around 9 minutes behind Michael, which really isn't a lot over this distance on this terrain - on another day the 2nd and 3rd place could easily have been the other way round. Ben Mogg was the 4th to run under 5 hours with Andrew Smith not far off in 5th place.
First female in the 30 was Rhiannon Trevallion, who ran strong throughout and was coherent enough to remember to remove her sunglasses for the finish line photo with her husband Louis, who was 12th male! Prolific marathon/ultra runner Sharon Daw (wearing number 24, which was rhyming slang for her name ) was 2nd female in another excellent performance, running the whole way with Jamie Bird. In 3rd were Allie Hearne and Katy Brown, who also ran all the way from Wells to Uphill together and surpassed their own expectations in getting a podium spot. Allie's proud mum was there to heap deserved praise on them at the finish
In the 50 miler there was a lead group of 4 at Wells (aid station 2) - Ashley Gingell, Matt Rogers, Oliver Tilling and Alex Hammond led the way - Oliver and Alex would go on to finish 1st and 2nd respectively. Dave had commented at the start that someone would have to win when nobody volunteered the fact they were trying to and Oliver, on home turf (he lives in Wells) was happy to oblige! Alex was running his first ultra and definitely has a great future in these kind of races if he chooses to run more of them. Amrit Bhatia wasn't far off the lead group at Wells and he ran a great consistent race to move up to take 3rd place, having narrowly avoided getting eaten by the Loch Ness monster the week before
In the womens' race Laura Spencer led the way early on, being in the top 10 overall right from the start, and she took a deserved win - she commented on feeling quite emotional when rounding the corner at Uphill Marina to see the spectacular rock formations against a backdrop of the setting sun. Brilliant running! Zoe Binnion took 2nd, saying she had faded quite a bit towards the end but it didn't seem to hold her back all that much. 3rd place was taken by Sian Meaney in her first 50 - Sian was in fantastic spirits at the start and it seemed to inspire her to run strong all day.
Words from Radio 2 Sports Presenter Vassos Alexander (7th in 50 miler, 2017)
"I suspect you may already know this if you live in Somerset, but Somerset is gorgeous. The glorious Ebbor and Cheddar Gorges, the punchy climb up to Crook's Peak, the views over the Somerset Levels to the circular Cheddar Reservoir, the tiny city of Wells with its bustling market and magnificent cathedral... The Mendip Marauder is a happy, low-key, scenic race through some surprisingly spectacular scenery
To be honest I chanced on the race. Six weeks out from attempting the Spartathlon, I wanted to see how my ankle stood up to running 50 hilly miles (having comprehensively trashed it in Snowdonia). It all worked out great!
The Mendip Way is endlessly surprising and rarely predictable - the South Downs Way’s more rural cousin. It leads you between high-rise corn fields, through stinging nettles, down muddy tracks, over grassy hills, and spits you out onto a lovely, sandy beach. I loved it
I would absolutely do the race again and highly recommend it"
The Mendip Way has to be one of the South-West's best kept secrets. Like the Cotswolds' slightly more streetwise, alternative cousin, the Mendip Way features the spectacular Ebbor and Cheddar Gorges, the brutal climb up Wavering Down through King's Wood, incredible views over the Somerset Levels and to the circular Cheddar Reservoir, and then England's smallest city, Wells, with its magnificent cathedral. Thanks to the ongoing work of the Mendip Hills Fund, this area has become better signposted but we do provide additional marking to help you stay on the right track
Starting at the Market Town of Frome (for the whole of the Mendip Way) or from Wells (for the West Mendip Way only) you will run through a real smorgasbord of Somerset scenery. If you like hills then you will find plenty to enjoy here, but either way you will be amply rewarded for climbing the hills with views to breathe life into tired legs and then a downhill cruise to help get your strength back. Some particularly scenic parts of the course are Cranmore Tower (the highest point on the whole route), the amazing panoramic views from Wavering Down, the quarries and forests of Black Rock Nature Reserve, Ebbor Gorge and the lush pine forests of Rowberrow, but this route is absolutely jam packed with stunning locations. There are many wonderfully scenic short runs but all in a sequence one after the other to create a kind of montage of trail running wonderment. Once you've run in the Mendip Hills you'll only have one question - "When can I come back?"
You will finish at the huge sandy expanses of the beach at Uphill, just outside Weston-Super-Mare; there will be a coach to take you from there to the race start in the morning. Here you can relax on the sand and enthuse about the Mendip Way with your fellow finishers until you're ready to move on
With over 5,000 ft. of ascent for the 50 miler, and over 4,000 for the 30 miler, this is certainly not a flat route and will provide a challenge, but with rolling hillside, pretty woodland, quarries, atmospheric villages and a whole lot more you will often be too busy enjoying the views to think too hard about how tired you are. This is quite a similar race to Ham & Lyme; if you enjoy one you are likely to enjoy the other
Cut-off times - 14 hours for 50 miler, 8 hours for 30 miler
PRICES: -
50 miler - £60
30 miler - £35
ENTRIES AVAILABLE VIA OUR ONLINE STORE. ENTRIES ONLY REFUNDABLE IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT THAT THE RACE HAS TO BE CANCELLED, BUT IF YOU ARE NO LONGER WISHING TO TAKE PART OR ARE UNABLE TO THEN IF THE RACE IS FULL WE WILL MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO FIND SOMEONE TO TAKE YOUR PLACE, AND THEIR ENTRY FEE WILL GO TO YOU. IF THE RACE HAS NOT REACHED CAPACITY THEN YOU ARE WELCOME TO TRANSFER YOUR PLACE TO SOMEBODY ELSE AS LONG AS YOU MAKE US FULLY AWARE BEFORE THE DAY. ENTRIES ARE LIMITED BUT WILL APPLY TO ENTIRE FIELD RATHER THAN INDIVIDUAL DISTANCES
A COACH IS AVAILABLE FROM THE FINISH TO THE START ON THE MORNING OF THE RACE FOR ANYONE WHO NEEDS IT
RACE NUMBERS ARE PICKED UP FROM REGISTRATION ON THE DAY
THERE ARE FIVE WELL-STOCKED AID STATIONS FOR THE 50 MILER, THREE FOR THE 30 MILER
FURTHER INFORMATION WILL BE POSTED AS THE EVENT GETS CLOSER BUT IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS IN THE MEANTIME PLEASE E-MAIL albionrunning@hotmail.com
