Last weekend, a number of Newport & District Running Club members took on the Millennium Way Ultra, a 41-mile ultramarathon which starts in Newport and ends in Burton-on-Trent, taking in the entirety of the Millennium Way path. Louise Patterson was one of those runners taking on the challenge, and it was her first time taking on an ultramarathon distance. Afterwards, she was kind enough to send us this report:
“Having worked my way up the distances, initially starting with a “Couch to 5K” app as a solo runner, and progressing from 5K to 10K to half marathon to marathon and pretty much every distance in between, I eventually felt compelled to at least try one ultra-marathon.
As a devout road runner, the Millennium Way seemed the safer bet for my introduction, as only 9 miles of it is very much off road and it’s meant to be very flat. Unfortunately, a canal towpath closure this year saw the introduction of a very steep hill as we entered the grounds of the Shugborough Estate at about 17 miles; however, it was sharp but short (relatively speaking) before returning to a flat profile.
A great sense of camaraderie is felt during an ultra, more so than any other race I’ve entered, and the friendly faces at the checkpoints, along with the sweet and savoury snacks, kept us going until the end. When I signed up all I wanted to do was finish within the 12-hour cut off, and that was achieved with plenty of time to spare in 11 hours 8 minutes 22 seconds along with my partner in crime Annabel Bolton, a returner to the race. I’m now going to enjoy a relaxed rest of the running year as this was my big running achievement for 2023.”
Alongside Louise and Annabel were a number of other participants from NDRC, including Sheryl Gray, who took the prize for first female finisher overall, in a time of 7:15:57, smashing her target of sub-8 hours. John Taylor finished alongside Sheryl to take 20th place in the race, whilst Richard Bennett took 45th spot in a time of 8:20:12 and Ellen Deighton finished in 9:31:08 to finish 71st overall.
Photos taken by our photographer in Gnosall during the race can be found at https://photos.app.goo.gl/eaJCJsVZsb45qegL8 (free downloads)
Newport & District Running Club 