Kelsey Price - British 100KM Champ

Camino: Sometimes Big Dreams are several years in the making.

Camino friend, Camino Coach and Camino Superstar Kelsey has been winning epic ultramarathons ever since we met but in more recent times the real dream was to represent her country.

As a team we focused on the 24 hour and Kelsey went on to win her first outing in 2022 (overall) with a 205KM distance on a blisteringly hot day in Gloucester. In 2024, fully armed with a new set of skills and focus on what to do in the unique 24 hour format Kelsey slammed a 231.8 KM at the famous Crawley (the 10th Best performance by a British woman in history in 24 hour format).

It's been a while playing the waiting game but Kelsey's performance has rightly given her a place on Team GB at the World Champs in Albi in October. All of Camino will be going and it promises to be one to remember. In the process of looking for suitable races in this World Champs year we looked at the annual Anglo Celtic Plate champs and thankfully the universe swept in and picked Kelsey to represent Team England there.

We are truly grateful that Coach has written this piece on her race - in her true beautiful style. If you wish to hear more then listen here to Kelsey's podcast appearance on Ed's Feet First edition.

Over to our No. 1 x

KELSEY: Anglo Celtic Plate 2025

The race where I ran for England. Just writing that feels surreal. It is now 8 days on, and it has sure been a whirlwind week. I went straight from the Anglo Celtic Plate to a full-on week at work, then my partner Ben ran his first 100k yesterday (the incredible London 100!) with his 30th birthday celebrations in the mix.

It has taken me until now for my nervous system to regulate, have the space to get things down on paper and actually process everything.

With the build up, the race, the emotions, the people, the birthday, I have been riding on a funky mix of fatigue and adrenaline. Now to let it sink in and have a moment of reflection as I write this whilst on the plane to Sardinia for some serious R&R. It is a real honour to have had this experience and be able to share it. I want to hold on to every last memory, so here goes…

The build up....

I first heard of the Anglo Celtic Plate as it was the debut ultra of coaches David and Darren (DaznBone), and they had amazing stories of them naively signing up and eating pizza on the way round.

Although I didn’t know at this point if I would make the World Champs 24 hour team in October 2025, I had actually ran a qualifying race at Crawley in 2024, so the ACP seemed a great fitting builder race on the off chance I was selected for Worlds. As well as teams for England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, there is an open race.

This is what I had signed up for – England had never even crossed my mind as the 100k runners are rapid! I got a message from Robbie saying ‘have you thought about applying for the England team?’, I was shocked he even asked this question, slow little old me, no chance! But I took his advice and applied, and months later got a call to say id been selected. I genuinely couldn’t believe it and it took a little while to process. What I did know was that I wanted to give my absolute all to an opportunity I may never get again.

The training block was great.

Thank you to Camino David and Paula, who give endless support to me that I am very grateful for. We have also added a few extra layers to the training this year. I am working with a fantastic strength coach, Leah Dunthorne and have nutrition support from the incredible Renee McGregor.

For several years I have been only racing once a year on the side of caution following a series of stress fractures in 2020 and 2021, and hormones which felt quite difficult to keep in healthy ranges. This year I had fully prepared for things to look a bit different, a couple more races and a more competitive nature. However, after four years injury free, I didn’t want my luck to run out. Camino have fully encouraged and supported a full wrap around approach – more than just the running.

As for the running though, Camino Winter Track series set off the block very nicely. There is something special about speed sessions on the track with friends. We made our way around most of London’s finest tracks bright and breezy on Fridays mornings. I have also done so much running with friends over this year so far, so it doesn’t even really feel like ‘training’. There have also been hard, long, solo sessions of course. But even them, I think I am learning to enjoy. 

The week of....

This was a different sort of race week.

I think the more things you tune into beyond ‘just the running’, it feels like the more there is to perfectly tee up. I have never been nervous about getting ill before, but I am a bit embarrassed to say I avoided London public transport for the weeks before. I was also thinking about how much sleep I was getting, which sure has its pros and cons! The race was also different because normally it is just me and my crew, the crew who know me so well (Ben, my Dad and Evan). This time, I wasn’t just accountable to myself, there was a whole England team of incredibly talented runners to try and do proud. It was all very different – we had a team meal the night before, we shared a room with a team mate (I was with lovely Steph), for the first ever time I had a written out nutrition plan, and Robbie was going to be passing me water and gels. 

My little brain had lots to process but genuinely as soon as I had got there, I relaxed and soaked it all in. The team (Jen, Belinda, Katie, Steph, Marius, Rob, Matt, Dan and Shaun and coaches  Aly, Matt, Niamh and Robbie) all were incredibly welcoming, kind and humble. And I felt very present, in fact I don’t think I properly checked my phone all weekend. I wanted to soak up every moment. 

The race....

I think this is the race where I played with fire more than I ever have before. I really don’t like to lead a race early on in the race. I think mentally, playing it safer at the start and then moving up the field makes me feel much more relaxed. I didn’t plan to run so quickly at the start but I started off running with the other girls in the team who were in a flowy pace of about 7’10-7’20 per mile - quicker than I thought I would be running so early on in the race. But I went with it, and it wasn’t long until I had the conversation with myself ‘right, this is it then, guess I just need to sit here, hang tight, and see how long I can hold on for’…

The course was actually pretty tough, several hairpin turns and about 3,000 feet of elevation. For somebody like me who runs in flat London and is more used to ultramarathons on the track, this hills soon began to feel like mountains. I had family and friends who were there from the start, which gave me lots of comfort, but as the race went on there were more and more of them, a serious cheer squad screaming on every lap. I looked forward to seeing them every three miles. It really was a case of ‘just one more lap’ again, and again. It was a local race to where I grew up, in Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Infact, the team hotel was strangely 1 mile from my childhood home. I think that also played a big part in doing this race proud and giving it my all. 

There is always a weird part of a race where you’ve ran a long way and still have a long way to go. This is probably the third quarter, and I was feeling it about 40 ish miles in. There was a very small gap between myself and Belinda. The last 10 miles, although they were hard, I felt like I could just about hang in there. 

Crossing the finish line was the biggest high. It almost felt like an out of body experience, as if I wasn’t really me. But it was very cool. There were lots of hugs, a couple of tears and a nice big chair waiting for me to sit on. I ran the race in 7 hours and 44 minutes. My goal has been 8 hours, so I was really happy with this. What is super cool is that I get to look after a huge shield for a year, with all the winners on it since Hilary Walker winning in 1985. Might need to re-arrange things on the mantle piece for this one.  

And to top it off, the womens team won Gold and the mens team Silver. So a great day for team England! We celebrated that evening with a team meal and it was very lovely to be with everyone in a much more relaxed setting to cheers to our achievements.

What next...

Bring on a week or so of rest. Just like I love a taper, I do love the downtime post run. I feel like at times, running, especially as my goals have evolved, sometimes takes priority over other things. I often hold a lot of guilt over that, so the most important thing for me after a race is being able to give back and be present. I am looking forward to doing more with family, friends and the wonderful Camino Community.

Yesterday I got to see 100k from the other side as I supported Ben in his first 100k. This was pretty special. Being a coach also means I get to experience racing from the other side and there are some pretty cool races coming up for my athletes, including UTS next weekend, Birmingham to Bristol and Battersea 24 hour. 

I am sure it won’t be long until I am getting back into training properly. And I will definitely need to, as I am unbelievably honoured to share that I have been selected to run for Great Britain at the 24 hour World Championships in Albi in October. This has been a dream which I almost haven’t even dared to properly dream of as if I didn’t think I was good enough. But it is happening and it is real. In October, I will join a team of incredible men and women to compete against the other countries. I look forward to sharing more on this journey xxx