After three and a half hours of hard graft on a mainly flat route incorporating the Castleman Trailway from Moors Valley Country Park, Ringwood to Hengistbury Head, Bournemouth, Adam Fieldhouse led the procession of endurance athletes across the finish line in the Run to the Sea Ultra Bournemouth on Saturday 14 October 2023.

In a time that most road marathon runners would be delighted with (3:31:44), the winner was three and a half minutes clear of his nearest rival Sam Davis (3:35:17) with Oliver Rant third in 3:43:39.

The top three women were home inside four and a half hours despite this ultra measuring 50K – an extra 8K on top of the full marathon distance. Emma O'Toole (4:16:10) led the way from W40 Julie Donovan (4:21:04) and Jess McNally (4:28:06).

Saturday was a glorious day for long-distance running, with a peak temperature of 14C, a moderate breeze, and plenty of blue skies and sunshine. Being mainly flat, apart from some soft sand and a few lumps in the closing stages, Run to the Sea Ultra Bournemouth is an ideal introduction to ultramarathons, as highlighted by many appreciative runners on social media.

Catherine Reid (9:25:50) left this five-star review on Facebook after making her ultra debut: "Five stars from me! My first ultra, the course is so beautiful, the signposting was brilliant. The Marshalls were incredible, cannot fault it in any way, the kilometre countdown from 5K to go was especially welcome."

Among the many first-timers was the group from Totton Running Club pictured above, who expressed their gratitude to the event organisers Ultra Violet on Facebook: "Thank you, Ultra Violet – first ultra for three of us and we loved it (and also feeling smug!)."

Ironically, the race organisers got soaked while setting up the course and feed stations on Friday the 13th (of course) but conditions improved massively for race day. There were 445 finishers in 9:25:50 and 62 runners beat the five-hour mark, representing an average pace better than 6:00min/km.

Previous results and report of this runABC South featured race at race listing here.

Photo courtesy Ultra Violet Run on Facebook