On Saturday 28 November, trail runners young and old will complete either 55K or 100K in a three week timescale, testing themselves against a field that includes some of the countries top fell/hill runners. They have a choice of the Lake District or their home town or city for their runs at the Virtual Lakeland Trails Ultra and there is a selection of prizes to be won. 

Twice winner of the live Lakeland Trails Ultra 55K Damian Hall (pictured) is amongst a stellar line-up ready to take part in the virtual version of this popular event. Joining him is 2019 Mountain Running World Cup Champion Sarah McCormack, GB international trail runner Ben Mounsey, 214 Wainwright’s record holder Paul Tierney and Smog Graham (a circumnavigation of all each of the peaks in the 32 London boroughs over a 300km route) record holder Alison Walker. This who’s who of off-road running will be producing training blogs and answering questions from participants via a private Facebook page. Participants can ask for advice and/or share their running journey with fellow competitors in this private group. 

Once a distance (55K or 100K) has been chosen the next question is this: do you run in a single session or break it down into manageable chunks and complete them over three weeks? A run/walk technique as used in real life ultras is fine and progress can be tracked on a virtual map of the course. 

Prizes are always an incentive to enter and this event includes inov-8 vouchers, trips to the inov-8 HQ and free entry to 2021 Lakeland Trails events. A bespoke Lakeland Trails T-shirt in Black, Electric Orange and Sapphire Blue is the reward. This event is fundraising for foodbanks in Barrow, the North Lakes and Windermere, all of which are experiencing tough times as a result of the pandemic. 

For more information and to enter, visit the Lakeland Trails website.  

Image courtesy of Dave MacFarlane