London to Brighton Trail Ultramarathon

Hi all, I'm going to be running the London to Brighton Ultramarathon 56 Mile trail race which is on Sunday, 30th September 2012. I have started a blog which is based on my training and conditioning leading up to the big event. Please take a look!

Also... Is anyone else running this event? Or have you run this event in the past? Please let me know.

Here's the link to my blog. http://londontobrightonandbeyond.blogspot.com/

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Comments

  • Something I forgot to mention is that I am running this race to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society. Here's my sponsorship page incase anyone would like to sponsor me! (Even if only £1, every penny counts) Thanks for your time.

    http://www.justgiving.com/mattygilly

  • For more information about this event please view the linke below.

    http://www.extremerunning.org/index.php?page=London%20to%20Brighton

    WELCOME TO THE FAMOUS EXTREME RUNNING LONDON TO BRIGHTON TRAIL RACE 

    The London to Brighton Run is a roughly 56 mile (90 kilometre) self navigating (maps supplied) ultra running event from Blackheath in London, starting at 6am,  on trails through the beautiful English countryside of the counties of Kent, Surrey and Sussex to the vibrant, cosmopolitan, coastal city of Brighton on the South Coast of England.

    Starting at dawn, overlooking London whilst she sleeps, the route begins on sacred ground where victims of the Great Plague were buried, leading you out of London on its way to the  spectacular countryside of the South-East of England. This trail run passes through the edge of North Kent on to the North Downs in the County of Surrey from which, weather permitting, you can see the distant hills of the South Downs that hide the English Channel just beyond and your final destination.

    From the North Downs, the paths and tracks of the route run through fields and lanes in a quiet and beautifully preserved part of England. The steam (Bluebell) railway at Horsted Keynes (at about the two-thirds stage) will be tempting at this point as the challenge of the South Downsawaits and can be seen in the distance as this incredible journey approaches its end phase.

    From Black Cap, a brief few miles will take you to the finish, all the way by trail, to our camp on the sea front, where other competitors, friends, family, onlookers and other supporters will greet you and help you to celebrate your success.

    We will be running some more navigation courses this year for people who need to brush up their skills ot who want a nice run out in the country with us for 10 or so miles over a couple of hours.

    For those of you who have completed the London to Brighton Road Race of old, this run, although not a direct substitute, will offer a new challenge and a different perspective of the country as viewed from the route. For newcomers to this type of  ultra running event, or experienced trail and endurance runners, one thing is certain, it will be a joy, we promise. However, don't under-estimate this - it is a very difficult running challenge indeed. This run is now an official qualifier for the Mont Blanc North Face Ultra.

  • Hi Matt,

    Have enteered the L2B as well.

    Have you managed to get hold of a copy of the map book?  I can't do any trial runs from up here in Scotland, so need to study the route rather thoroughly beforehand.

  • Hello Mark, yeah I have a copy, I'll reply your email and send it to you. What sort of training are you hoping to do for this race?
  • Hi Mark & Matt, I'm also pretty sure I'll go for this one, though haven't actually signed up to it yet. Haven't done an ultra before, so looking forward to it.

    Here's a link to the route I found on another thread from a previous competitor, though obviously the route may be changed slightly for this year's race (a couple of small wrong turns on it - from what I have read it seems that it's quite easy to go the wrong way in places).

    http://connect.garmin.com/activity/47787921

    As far as training goes, it looks like you need to get your long runs up to around 30 or 35 miles, and most programmes I can find seem to include back-to-back 30 mile runs or so. Does that sound in keeping with what you guys think? It also seems that finding out what to eat and drink is as important as running.

    As I say, this is my first ultra, so all / any advice very welcome!
  • Hey Klute, sadly I won't be running this event now so will be offering my place to someone else. If you want my place please let me know. It normally costs £100 but I'm offering my place for just £80 so you'll save a bit of money. Here's my email mjgill2311@yahoo.co.uk

    Matt
  • Hi has anyone got a copy of the map I could look at before the race if possible please xxx
  • Hi,

    Im running L2B this year,would appreciate a map too,if anyone has one..
  • Hey all, I've literally just entered it (30 seconds ago!). Will be my first ultra. I've had it in my targets ever since I decided to go ultra and finally decided to put my money where my mouth is!

    Found this if it is of any use:

    http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=brlyxygvxmcvcfop

    If anyone is in the London area, let me know!
  • I‘m in London and thinking of entering this.  Mjgreen1981, where are you based?
  • Based in Ealing currently. Don't think Ruth, just take the plunge image
  • Hehe! Good idea and I probably will. Let me know if you fancy meeting to do any long runs together.. I don't fancy the idea of solo 30 mile training runs.. I'm up in Finsbury Park, so we're on same tube line, if at opposite ends of the city!
  • Well given we'll be running 30 miles, it's almost next door! I'd be up for some long runs together, it's a hell of a long time to be running alone! Probably be July / Aug time when I start the really long ones, just drop me a message!
  • Awesome, will do. If I do run this race! I intend to do it very slowly (I'm not a fast runner!!)
  • Me neither! Its part of the attraction to running ultras for me, less emphasis on 7 min miles (which I'm just never going to reach) and more on the challenge of completing. Especially as this will be my first ultra!
  • Yep, I am running this one as well. Will be a first ultra for me too...though I have done a 100K walk before.
    Training is not going as planned as I injured my foot about 2 months ago. Not giving up though.

    As quite of few here, I am based in London as well (Manor House, Ruth's neighbor as it were image).

    If somebody could send me a copy of the map book that would be great.I would like to start running parts of the course rather sooner than later.

  • Just entered this. A faint heart never won a fair lady image

  • Hello! I have also entered, and yes, it's my first ultra too! Is anyone going to the navigation training session on 26th May? Am based in Southampton. Am going to spend part of my training practising navigation skills! Would be good to chat to other runners!



    Carl
  • I wanted to but can't get time off work, big boo to tesco image xxx
  • I'm interested in the navigation session. Do we need to sign up somewhere for that and where does it take place? Okwhynot - great that you're in Manor House. Do you fancy training together?
  • Bad news... I'm having to skip L2B. My best mate has asked me to be godparent for his first child and the christening is on the Sunday of all days!

    It was a tough decision but at the end of the day I knew what I had to do. Anyway, if anyone is interested in buying my entry off me at a reduced rate (total entry was £104 with fees), drop me a message.

    I'm still planning on doing my first ultra around then, looking at the Caesars Camp 50 3 weeks later so will still be up for a bit of long distance trail training.

     

  • Did the Picnic (30 mile) marathon at the weekend.. now looking forward to running to Brighton. Can anyone recommend a Hotel in Brighton?

  • I've decided to run this now, hoping to get around in about 10 hours. (or less) Anyone else want's to tag along I'll be running roughly 9:45/10 min miles. Let me know!

    Matt

  • Wow, that's really fast! I'm planning to be a little slower and just hope I can complete before the cut off. What's your marathon time
  • Hi all i did this last year and am doing it again this year with a mate i will be doing recce runs ay the beginning of august first sat fron checkpiont 1 to checkpiont 3 then the fillowing week from 3 to falmer if anyone wants to tag along and its free image There is a thread on the ultra running section. Hope ya training is goinf well i'm off to do my first 100 miler tomorrow the L2B was my first ultra last year and am now hooked you've been warned image
  • @ Ruth, Marathon times roughly 3:20 to 3:40... 

    @ Lingster, I would have tagged along but I'm on holiday during those dates. 

  • @Matt - sounds pretty realistic then. How's training going for you? I'm just coming to the end of my first phase, which has been about doing lots of running and getting a lot of time out on the trials. The next phase will be higher mileage and include back to back long runs - bring it on! Looking forward to meeting some of you over summer, I hope. I need all the help I can get with navigation - this is my first self-navigation route and that aspect is worrying me far more than the mileage!!
  • Sounds like your training is going to plan Ruth. I was going to pull out of this ultra due to injury but now I'm back on my feet I'm going to hopefully push my training and stay injury free. As for navigation I'm not all that great so hoping to follow some more experienced runners to Brighton lol.
  • Hi Matt, Ruth, everyone,

    Hope training is going well, Ruth - it sounds like we're moving along similar lines, I'm just about to start trying these back-to-back runs - they sound awful to be honest!   We'll see....

    Seeing the comments above make me start worrying about navigation (again).   I've never tried a self-navigating run before - how tough are they?  If I'm honest, I haven't looked at a compass since I gave up geography at school (and that was a while ago).   Or is it more a case of coming to a fork in the woods and working out which one points roughly south, which I think I could cope with?

  • Klute, you're not on your own when it comes to navigation. I'n running the fairlands valley challenge ultra 50k on the 15th of this month which is also self navigation so hopefully this will give me good practise. We'll see lol... Come the London to Brighton I plan to follow the crowd so to speak and hopefully reserve the tender navigational parts of my brain close to the end of the run... This will probably backfire in my face but I am prepared to face the consequences. Good luck with your training both mental & physically.
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