The Cheshire Ring Ultra 100 is a great mix of canal towpaths and trails, linking six waterways across the region, the Bridgewater, Ashton, Rochdale, Peak Forest, Trent & Mersey and Macclesfield Canals.
A huge well done to Ross for taking on this challenge!
Here’s Ross’s full report …
Well, this was my first 100-mile ultra, so I really didn’t know what to expect!
Training had gone okay, although most of it was done around the golf club as I’ve had a problematic big toe injury for the past six months.
My pre-race meal was a Nando’s with double mash — lovely! Hopefully that would set me up for the next day.
The first 35 miles went really well, covering marathon distance in 4:55. At 40 miles, the walking poles came out and I settled into a run/walk strategy until around 60 miles.
During this section, I managed to take a wrong turn on a temporary diversion and added another hour onto my race!
At the 60-mile mark, I decided to stick to walking and kept a consistent pace of around 15–17 minutes per mile right through to the finish.
I was also joined at this checkpoint by the legend that is Darren Powell from the club, who walked the final 40 miles with me. I think this was the longest distance he’d done for a few years, so I’m massively grateful for the company and support.
I then managed to get lost one last time, just a mile from the finish, with my tracker making it look like I’d jumped into the canal and given up! After about 10 minutes, I finally got myself back on track and made it to the finish.
And, somehow, I crossed the line thinking I could have had a little more in the tank!
I finished in 27:36, placing 91st overall and securing a top-100 finish. Even after losing an hour, I was delighted to receive a legendary golden buckle for finishing in the top 100!
A massive thank you to everyone for all the support and encouragement. Sorry I haven’t been at the club much recently, but I’ve had to adapt my training because my foot injury has been troublesome after running.
One thing that kept me going in the middle of the night was a quote from Matt and Nathan:
“When it gets tough, just keep moving forward.”
And that’s exactly what I did.
100 miles. Done.
Onto the next challenge, although my wife might kill me!
Ross was running in support of the Tuberous Sclerosis Association Sclerosis charity, which supports people living with the condition.
Many of you know that his youngest daughter, Sennen, has the condition, and she was a massive motivation when his legs felt like they were about to fall off!
If you’d like to sponsor Ross it would be massively appreciated.
