At Camino we are always in awe of anyone who dreams of completing a 100
That can be either a 100KM or 100 Miles - both Centurions in our eyes.
As a race events company we pride ourselves on being an entry-level local first org. Over the years we have hosted one mile (yes One Grateful Mile) events as well as 24 hours events but our most loved host distance is 50KM.
In both our annual London Lea Valley and Epping Forest 50KMs we have a high percentage of 'first time ultramarathon' runners.
So what do most of them do after completing their first 50KM.....
Well thankfully some of them love us enough to come back. Some look for the next logical stretch distance which is 50 miles but some go in search of a 100.
There aren't too many of these in the UK. If you go to the Search box on this website and add 100 you can find some previous blogs about 100s that other Camino Athletes have successfully taken part in. Camino Ultra will be hosting a brand new event on May 10th 2025 - London's first Central London 100 - Registration Details will be up shortly.
Over the past few weekends some of our current Camino Ultra Athlete squad have been taking part in their own 100s and we are grateful that Josh, Iain and Pete have shared some of their journey and Top Tips with us on their Swiss Alps 100, North Downs Way 100 and Lakeland 100 respectively.
If you are thinking about taking on your biggest ultra to date and want to have a chat with one of our Camino Ultra Coaches then do DM (info@caminoultra.com) - we currently have some spaces for new Squad members.
Over to the Camino Squad:
JOSH:
From Couch to 100km:
Just a year ago, I was a bonking beginner, vowing never to run a half marathon again. Today, I stand triumphant, having crossed the finish line of the Swiss Alps 100—a grueling 100km race with a staggering 6,400 meters of steep technical elevation gain and loss. As Sifan Hassan famously said, "Who the hell am I, thinking, I want to run an [ultra]marathon?".
Accept when you need help:
I gifted myself a professional coach for Christmas, finding Camino Ultra the perfect mix of a supportive community and accomplished winners. With the guidance of my coach, I transformed my training from daily zone 3/4 runs to a structured 7-month plan building in more recovery and expanding my toolkit. I immersed myself in the world of ultrarunning, devouring books and documentaries, determined to be ready physically and mentally for the challenge.
The 7 Ps: Proper Planning & Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance:
Meticulous planning was key all tested in training. I mapped out every detail, from kit to pacing to nutrition:
Pacing: Goal was sub-22 hr and I used UltraPacer.com to target sub-21 - bit of wiggle room!
Nutrition: 70g carb / hour via ~40 Precision gels plus Tailwind - only small solid bites at CPs!
Hydration: 1L of water and 750mg of sodium per hour - as it was hot!
All this detail was captured on laminated flashcards with my crew having duplicates. Each drop bag assumed the worst - different nutrition options, pain meds, new socks, vaseline and more. My crew had a full kit change ready at the 40km and 65km marks - and swapping shoes to carbon plated Hoka Tecton X2 gave me the needed wings to bounce to the end.
A blessing in disguise:
Life threw a curveball. A pre-race knee injury forced me to pivot my training for the final 6 weeks - swapping 100km weekly volume to gym only sessions focusing on strength and mobility. This unexpected setback turned out to be a blessing as I built much needed leg strength and significantly improved my climbing efficiency on incline treadmill sessions. Going forward my training will always include mobility, strength, and double sessions on the incline treadmill.
Breathtaking views and breathtaking difficulty:
The Swiss Alps 100 has incredible trails set in the alps running along the Aletsch glacier, across three suspension bridges, and up to picturesque summits that stop you in your tracks. Incredibly well organised while still having a homegrown feel - unlike the overcrowded mass UTMB events. A brutal test with relentless climbs, treacherous descents, and scorching heat pushed me to the brink. Out of the gates we climbed 1’500m over 10km - oouf. It is very difficult to train for steep technical downhills when you live in flat London. Each downhill trail increasingly turned my quads and knees to butter. Eventually the pain was too much - I struggled to imagine running another 40km so I was set on a DNF at the 65km aid station where my wife awaited.
It doesn’t always get worse:
Booming cheers echo through the valley as I approach the aid station. I look for my wife down in the village which causes me to slip off the trail and slide down a hill. A surge of adrenaline numbs both my pains and my urge to DNF. I remember the mantra to never quit in an aid station. New kit, new shoes, and a positive morale boost from my thrilled-to-see-me labrador, Bailey, give me renewed vigor. I found a second wind, and pushed through the next kilometers making up ground to competition - it doesn’t always get worse. But the pain returned for the final descent at 85km, but by this point I know I am too close to quit now - “only” 4 hours to go.
We become strong in the struggle:
Crossing the finish line brings a flood of emotion - I cannot believe I finished under my goal time and even qualified for the WSER lottery. The race was hard, but what was even more hard was 7-months of consistent training. I pinched myself at how privileged I was to be running one of the most beautiful ultramarathons in the world along the longest glacier in the Alps - able-bodied and mostly able-minded. As Robbie Balenger aptly said: “In long efforts, you eventually whittle yourself down to your essence, and upon finding this space is where growth happens. It’s where you get to explore your inner self and out the other side comes a different person”.
Full of love and gratitude:
I'm deeply grateful to my wife, family, coaches, and the Camino Ultra community who continually inspire me everyday. The reason I run is deeply personal related to the loss of my younger brother two years ago. There is no timeframe for grief - it remains with us, and we learn to carry it forward with us in life - even growing along the way. I channel that grief towards a passion that is positive and he loved doing - long epic treks in the Swiss Alps.
IAIN:
First half felt really good, was chatting with people and it felt like the pacing was ok in terms of not going too fast. From 60m onwards I started to feel sore.
Knees/achilles/feet which became progressively worse and I was walking with small periods of shuffling which wasn't much faster from about 77m onwards
The highs and the lows Highs - getting to halfway in 10hrs and realising that it was nearly 1hr faster than when I did NDW50 in 2021 even though I was pacing for 100 now. Was a good reminder of progress over a longer context.
Making it to the finish line and not DNFing was a big high (even though the prior 8hrs was a low)
Lows - At around 77m I missed a turn when I'd just got into a good groove of running for the 5/10mins prior to that. Had to stop and try to load the gpx on my watch, which then turned itself off, so retraced my steps until I found a crew on the road who told me how to get down from the road to the trail. It only cost me 5-10mins but was a blow mentally and the time spent slowing moving trying to figure out where I was etc. removed some momentum. - The realisation of how long it would take me to finish when I was doing the maths on my pace at around the 90m mark. - each time I had to stop to pee during the night section, which was around every 10mins at one point!
Top 3 take away learnings - Hydration strategy/impact. This is something I've never nailed in a race, I usually end up dehydrated and this time it went too far to the other end of the scale. - Strength is still my weakest area.
While I didn't have IT band injury like I have in previous races (I put this down to the strengthening work I have done), my legs and feet still failed me in the second half. I need to prioritise this if I want to succeed in long races in the future. I also feel it might be worth trying some higher volume training to see if that increases my robustness - I did have the mental strength to push through and get it finished! Need to remember that next time I'm having doubts during a race.
Kit - all good, everything well prepared and make good use of the 2 drop bags. Didn't repeat mistakes from A100 e.g. having headtorch on full power and it dying after 2hrs! Very glad I had my poles in the halfway drop bag as I would have struggled even more on the inclines/declines from 60m onwards without them
Fuel - Took a mix of Huma & Maurten gels, chews, crisps and sweets with me, and then supplemented with marmite sandwiches and watermelon at the aid stations. Stuck to water in bottles and then cups of coke/tailwind/coffee at aid stations. Got a good boost from some pasta at halfway and 2 slices of warm lemon drizzle cake at 82m was incredible!"
PETER:
Last year I did my first 100-mile races (Centurion’s South Downs Way and Autumn 100) and so the goal for 2025 was to get a result in something with more elevation and varied terrain.
The Lakeland 100 looked like the perfect event with a great community vibe, 105 miles of Lake District scenery and about 22,000 feet of ascent.
I arrived off the back of a good training block, with consistent volume and more hill and gym work compared to previous years. Throw in a marathon PB earlier in the year and I’d been feeling confident until the final weeks when I became convinced I had an ankle injury. I almost went nuts worrying and used up half the world’s reserves of tiger balm in the process.
Right up to the starting gun I was fighting the fear that my ankle would stop me before I even got going. Spoiler alert, it was all in my head but it did set the scene for the most mentally challenging I have found a race.
The 6pm start in Coniston was the best of any an ultra I’ve experienced. Including a live rendition of Nessum Dorma, fells looming high in the sky and 700 other 100 mile competitors, this blew away any nerves as we set off into the first ascent. The course is a big loop, going up and down many of the Lake District’s passes, with 14 checkpoints. The first half has the most technical and steepest trails but I made good progress and was on my target pace throughout the evening and that night. The path was mainly hard trail with large loose rocks but there were also lots of very boggy sections, a river crossing needing a rope line and some descents which I needed to use my hands and bum to get down.
The energy was great though with unreal views before the sunset and even better around Ullswater at dawn. This got to the main checkpoint, where we could collect drop bags, at Dalemain (60 miles) by 8.30am, bang on schedule. The last 45 miles are in theory much more runnable but by mile 70, not long after feeling so strong and despite my best effort to preserve my quads, I really started to struggle with anything downhill. I kept my fuelling good and forced myself to change my targets from ‘get to the next checkpoint’ to ‘just run to that tree/gate/corner’ but even so, knowing I still had 35 miles and about 8 hours to go, this was the lowest I’ve felt in a big run to date. Thankfully, I could still run on the flats and felt good going uphill so with a lot of maniacal talking out loud to myself, buddying up with other runners and lots of painful plodding I eventually got the job done. I had dropped off my target time of 26 hours 30 mins but finally got back home in 27 hour 43 mins, just before a second nightfall and was overall pretty chuffed.
This race is amazing. The atmosphere at all the checkpoints and villages on route was out of this world. The scenery is fantastic and the course is a fun series of different problems to solve with lots of elevation profiles, underfoot conditions, lack of sleep and more. The field is generally pretty experienced, but they’ve still never had more than 65% finish. Brutal but brilliant.
If you do go for it, below are some things I learned, in no particular order, that might be helpful. Go for it and good luck!
1. Do more work on your quads – if you lack opportunities to practice long descents please get in the gym more than you think. This was the difference between a good and a great result for me.
2. Your feet will get wet, 100%. Most runners wore Innov8 or La Sportiva. I was in relatively new Akasha IIs and these did the trick.
3.Poles a life-saver. Some people didn’t have them but not many, I don’t know how they survived (or if they did).
4. Fuelling. They don’t do gels or sports mix (like tailwind) at the checkpoints, just real food. Some tailwind sachets a few gels for the low moments were a great investment for me.
5.Hydration generally not a struggle. Checkpoints were about every 90 – 120 mins and nearly always before a climb. It wasn’t the hottest day but I never needed more than 1L of water on leaving each station.
6. Use the dawn and the views when it’s getting tough. The sun rising does amazing things to your energy levels and just stopping and appreciating the scenery helped shake the demons when I was at my worst.
7. Get a good coat – mine was on and off constantly!
8. The route isn’t marked and it’s not always obvious. You’re given an OPS map and route handbook but I was completely reliant on my watch for navigation, make sure yours has battery to last.
All 3, truly inspirational stuff!