The Ridgeway Challenge 86 Miles

Wellington Running Club member Chris Poole competed in the UK Trail Running Championships last weekend.

The Ridgeway Challenge 86 Miles (138km) is continuous running event that starts at Ivinghoe Beacon near Tring and ends at Avebury Stone Circle. The route is 86 miles along The Ridgeway National Trail, a 5000-year-old trackway through the Chiltern Hills and North Wessex Downs with over ten thousand foot of elevation.

185 Runners started the event at Mid-day Saturday. The conditions during the day sore temperatures over 30c along the exposed ridgeway, combine that with the difficult terrain and an eight-hour night section over 40% of the competitors had pulled out of the race before the finish.

Chris certainly didn’t have an easy run, races of 63 miles and other 50 mile training runs had taken their toll on his feet and Chris is continuing with a running streak meant it was far from the ideal lead into such a big event.

Final position was 34th out of the 185 starters in a time of 22:25. This year out of all the finishers most were over two behind the standard finish times and the event organises needed to extend finish cut of times to allow for the toughest condition the race has ever seen.

Well done Chris and a fantastic achievement.

Wellington Running Club meet Mondays and Fridays at 6.30pm in the co-op car park. All abilities are welcome to run for free with us.