On Saturday 13th May, Newport & District Running Club’s Ellen Deighton took on the Back in 10 Mynds ultramarathon. This event ran for the first time in 2022, and was back on the race calendar this year. 

Starting and finishing in Church Stretton, runners climb up Carding Mill Valley first, then work their way around the Long Mynd over a series of 10 different ascents and descents, finishing by coming back down through Carding Mill Valley again. The race covers most of the Long Mynd, which is about 7 miles long and 3 miles wide, and runners travel 42 miles over the course of the event, with about 2,700m of elevation, making for a tough day on the hills!

Ellen Deighton at the “Back in 10 Mynds” ultramarathon

Although there was some cloud cover in the early morning, this quickly disappeared and the sun made the route even more challenging. Despite the heat, Ellen was really pleased to complete the course over an hour quicker than she did last year, finishing in a time of 13 hours and 28 minutes.