Top questions about running or walking a 100 mile ultramarathon

The Rat Race crew have tested our Rat Race 100 ultramarathon routes and we asked you to give us your burning questions for them. The team has a wide range of paces ranging from 19.5 hours all the way up to 48 hours and are well placed to give you their first hand experience of completing a 100 miler.

1. Did you recommend using poles?

Most of our Test Pilots used poles at some point regardless of whether they were running or walking.

James finished in 19hrs: Poles are useful just to help counter the fatigue when your legs are the most exhausted they’ve ever been, and you may be nursing the onset of overuse injuries. The point is, even if you don’t use poles on a ‘normal run or hike’, remember, finding yourself 60 miles down with another 40 miles to go is not ‘normal’ for most people!

Dannii finished in 46 hours: When you're on your feet for such a long amount of time as a walker the attrition rate is high, your feet hurt just by existing. Poles help take some of the weight off them and allow you to get into a good rhythm and maintain a pace, alleviating pressure on your joints and also giving you something to lean into when you just need a pause. I cannot recommend how crucial poles are as a walker in my opinion.

2. I am planning to walk, should I plan to sleep?

There are differing opinions on this one and it is such a personal choice. We think it depends on how much the night effects you in terms of your well being and general mood.

Hannah finished in 48 hours: I really struggled to sleep on night 1 and only got about 1 hour of broken rest, if I did it again I would just push through and I wouldn't sleep at all. I didn't feel like it benefitted me.

Dannii: I slept for about 3 hours after a mental breakdown at 4am after being unable to eat through the night and generally finding the dark very difficult to deal with, this was exactly what I needed as it reset me and I was able to get food back onboard and I was lifted for the second half of the course.

3. What was your furthest you ran or walked in your training?

James: I did a 60km run as my furthest run at 'race pace'. I don't think there's any need to run further than this in training.

Dannii: I did a 44 mile walk and practised with all my kit on a route that had more elevation than the event to really stress test it and my nutrition plan.

Stephen: I didn't run over a marathon distance in training and concentrated on back to back long runs instead over a short space of time eg 20 miles Saturday, 20 miles Sunday.

Hannah: I did an 11.8 mile walk 10 months before the Test Pilot...maybe I'm not the best example!

4. Can you recommend a training plan for someone who has never done this kind of distance before?

   
   

James our resident running expert and UK Athletics qualified running coach has designed 3 plans for running 100 miles. 1 for people looking to go sub 24 hours, one for sub 30 and one for completion in 48 hours or under as a walker. You can view all of them here.

5. What is your top tip for running through the night?

Dannii: I personally struggle ALOT through the night, my body shuts down and I find it very difficult to take on food and water so to counter that I try to ensure I am packing calories in through the day, more than I usually would on a day time event to try and stock myself up. I then made sure I had something good to listen to at about 3am to distract me. Knowing the time of sunrise in advance was really helpful to countdown to, everything feels better once the sun comes up.

Alan finished sub 24 hours: It got very cold at night even though the day had been hot. When I stopped at the pitstop, I added a midlayer and took my Rat Race thermal jacket for the night stretch. As soon as I started “running” again I was too hot in the jacket and threw it in the bag, so make sure you have space to carry it. We got lucky with good weather. A good layering system is better than super bulky pieces, so I went with a lightweight midlayer, synthetic insulated jacket and shell layer over the top.

Stephen: If you're running slow your pace down to counter the lack of light so you don't spoon it and have to retire. Brush your teeth in the morning! It's such a good reset and mentally helps your reset for the second day.

6. What is the best thing you had in your drop bag?

   
   

Stephen: Lube. Lube everything and everywhere, armpits, thighs, groin, feet, basically each and every crack.

Alan: For me it was Huel, so I knew I could take some liquid calories on that were substantial.

Hannah: Change of socks, an instant pick me up.

Dannii: Paracetamol, my feet were so sore from just being on them for 40+ hours that I needed painkillers to take the edge off.

Bex: layers, being able to have the choice to put more on over and above the mandatory kit.

James: A change of shoes!

7. What shoes would you recommend for the Bamburgh to Edinburgh route?

   
   

Alan: I used an allrounder, the Inov8 TrailFly Ultra G 280, I did it in one pair of shoes and was absolutely fine. I wouldn’t use an aggressive trail shoe. A road shoe for the last section might have been nice. Other recommendations would be:

Inov-8 TrailFly Ultra

Hoka Speedgoat

Saucony Ride TR

Dannii: As a walker I used road shoes throughout, this was because it had been very dry in the run up to the event so I thought I would sacrifice the traction on the trail for comfort. If it had been wet I would have planned to have trail shoes on up until the 43 mile mark then probably switched, this would have got me through most of the trail sections and the most technically difficult bit on St Abb's head. I have wide feet so I swear by Altra's 1/2 a size up to allow for swelling. Make sure they are well worn in.

8. What would you change next time?

   
   

James: I would change my headtorch for a much better spec one, invest in something decent so I could concentrate on my footing instead of trying to see!

Bex: I did both 100 milers alone and I would definitely try and buddy up if I was doing it as an event! It was lonely out there solo which makes it mentally so much harder.

Dannii: I would eat even more during the day to push me through the night and I would have taken my poles out earlier (I took them out at 25 miles)

Alan: I would have my pacing goals written down and on my phone in notes so I could check it, I was often doing the mental maths between Pit Stops to make sure I was on track for my goal and that got harder after 18 hours of running!

To sign up to one of our 100 mile ultramarathons check out our Castle to Castle series.