My Unconventional Road to Ultra – Melanie Campbell

WHY an ultra? Someone says to me.

That is a very good question, why am I going to run an ultra? Do I think that I am an amazing runner and have reached the pinnacle of every distance below an ultra? No, (laughing a little to myself at that prospect) not at all. Do I think I am a ‘good’ runner, in the traditional sense and that this is the natural next step? No.

The fact is that I just love running. If being ‘good’ at running means getting fast times, then no, I’m not very good at it. The last London Marathon I ran (actually in London) in 2017, they were packing the course away when I finished the race in just under eight hours! I did the Virtual London Marathon last year in six hours, forty-eight minutes, which is better, but still not setting the world alight 😉

The truth is that I have signed up for my first ultra in June this year (Greensands Country Trail 50km, Runaway Racing) because my relationship with running has changed. Fundamentally changed.

I showed some promise at running when I was eleven, even though I was by far the smallest height girl in the school. I had just joined senior school (Bournemouth School For Girls) when I shocked my two P.E. teachers by running around ‘the block’ (around 2.5 km) pretty fast, faster than anyone else by some margin. When asked if I had been training at running, my reply was, “no, but I DO dance a lot”. I went on to come third in cross-country running at town sports (showing my age now) and then competed for the county, where I believe I came eleventh. My focus on running soon waivered, but I do have an overriding memory at that age of watching the London Marathon on TV and deciding that I would run it one day.