Race Review: The Gower Ultra 50 Miles

Diogenes the Cynic, on being advised that, because he was old, he should take things easy, replied, “What, if I were running in the stadium, ought I to slacken my pace when approaching the goal?”

I ran my first marathon at the age of 62, and have since completed eight more, including two 50k ultras. The idea of a complete circumnavigation of the Gower peninsula had long attracted me, but could I run what was roughly the equivalent of two marathons in one session at my age of 68? I decided it was now or never, and finally signed up for the run on the last minute, after getting my training distance up to 26 miles.

On the big day I was up at 3:50am in order to be organised and out by 4:45am for the drive to the Mumbles Cricket Club and registration at 6:00am. Then there was the usual pre-race briefing with all our safety instructions, culminating in, “Just one more thing, it says here, don’t forget to enjoy it”.

And at 7:00am we were off, on the much- anticipated day itself. It was pitch dark, most of the 105 runners were wearing head torches, there was a chill in the air, the atmosphere was one of excitement and uncertainty, and the moment had finally arrived.

We followed the coastal path for about 3 miles along the seafront, before crossing the road and heading inland on the cycle path through Clyne Woods and the first checkpoint at mile 7. From there the route passed through Gowerton, gradually curving round to the west where it led us along the north coast of the peninsula with the salt marsh on our right.