Meet the people running ultra marathons during coronavirus

Ultra-marathon runners tell Sadie Whitelocks the highs and lows of running during the pandemic

Nick Wishart has been running ultra marathons for eight years (Nick Wishart)

Ultra-running has exploded in popularity over recent years. In fact, a study by RunRepeat and World Athletics released this year revealed that long-distance races have grown 345 per cent from 34,401 participants in 1996 to 611,098 in 2018.  

While Covid-19 has forced many of this year’s races to be cancelled, it appears that ultra-runners haven’t let the pandemic stop them in their tracks. Indeed, the extra time has spurred many of them to improve their endurance.

Aaron Maclaughlin, from Leicestershire, says he's "more motivated than ever".

In August, the 38-year-old participated in the Dig Deep Trail Ultra 60 race, which takes athletes on a “brutal” tour of the Peak District, with the route covering around 60 miles of trails and 3,222 metres of ascent.

This was one of the few races in the UK that went ahead as planned.

Maclaughlin, who teaches business studies at a secondary school, said: "I managed to finish the brutal course in 12 hours and 9 minutes and came sixth out of 30 entrants. It was tough with all of the climbing but great fun.

"It was the longest race I’ve completed so far and three friends came to support me during the race; either running sections or keeping me supplied with food and water."

While the pandemic hasn’t dampened his spirits, Maclaughlin admits that the atmosphere is different at the events that have started up again. Pre-race briefings have been scrapped to stop runners gathering en mass and the number of entrants have been slashed.

He added: "There is no grabbing a drink and discussing the challenges of the day (or days) with fellow racers. When you’ve finished, it’s just grabbing a goodie bag, medal and heading to the safety of the car."

Training has changed too. When lockdown hit the UK, Maclaughlin went from running as part of a group with his local athletics club to running alone.

Some of his training routes became busier, with more people out walking due to gym closures, so he had to find new trails to avoid the crowds. But Maclaughlin thinks long-distance running has actually helped him endure the lockdown.

“There were aspects of the spring and summer lockdown that were a bit monotonous. People joked about forgetting what day it was and with so many restrictions on life, having an outlet for stress I think is important,” he explained.

"For years running has been a great stress release for me and during the lockdown, this then became a great tool to have.

"I also found that training and seeing my conditioning improve has been a very welcome distraction from everything going on in the world."

Like Maclaughlin, Carla Molinaro, 36, found ultra-running has helped her cope mentally with the lockdown.

The team GB ultra-runner from Buckinghamshire broke the women’s record running the length of Britain in July, with the 874-mile journey route from Lands’s End to John O’Groats taking her 12 days, 30 minutes and 40 seconds.

Molinaro said: "Having the Lands’s End to John O’Groats ultra-run to train for gave me a focus and something to look forward to completing.

"Long-distance running is something you do alone, so I was grateful to have a hobby that I could do throughout lockdown."

When the coronavirus initially hit, Molinaro, who coaches athletes and runners for a living, was in South Africa and she was not allowed to leave her house for five weeks. In a bid to keep in shape, she ran up and down her driveway every day.

Then, when things eased a little, she was allowed to get out and run between 6 am and 9 am.

"It was a tight time-frame to work with but it was enough time to get a decent run in," she explained.

"Once I got back to the UK, I found the restrictions far more relaxed and I could run all day if I wanted!"

Ronnie Staton, from Lincoln, coaches ultra-runners for a living. He says that athletes like Molinaro have better potential for coping with tough situations because "to run extreme distances you have to be physically fit and mentally resilient".

Staton explained: "An ultra-runner voluntarily places themselves in challenging situations, for whatever reason that may be. Everyone has different reasons for pushing their body in such a way.

"In essence, to keep finishing ultras suggests to me you have learned to endure, more specifically you have learned to endure suffering and keep going.

"I’m not condoning beating yourself up, I’m merely suggesting that if you want to run a long way sooner or later it will beat you up, it’s just the nature of the sport."

The 39-year-old trainer recently hosted the Robin Hood 100, which meanders through Nottinghamshire’s Sherwood Forest, with 120 runners taking part.

He was worried he would have to cancel the race, but with the restrictions eased, he was able to run it as planned.

One of the biggest changes was the fact that the support crew couldn't help the athletes in the same way that they could pre-Covid-19.

"The volunteers at ultras usually treat the runners like royalty," he explained.

"They will fill your water bottles, make you a sandwich and go well beyond the line of duty to attend to your manky feet if necessary. I’ve even witnessed a volunteer holding a female runner's hair out of the way whilst stroking her back in reassurance as she vomited in the bushes. Now that’s service!

"At the moment, they cannot do that. They must maintain social distance and watch the runner battle with jerry cans as they self-refill their hydration packs."

Another big difference is the atmosphere at the beginning and the end of the races.

He said: "Now there isn’t opportunity to slump down in a village hall chair with a cup of soup and chew the fat with whoever happens to be near you. It’s just not the same."

Nick Wishart, 55, who has been running ultras for eight years, had hoped to complete three ultras consecutively in May, June and July, but all of the events were cancelled.

Instead, the Cheshire-based father-of-two set himself the challenge of running a non-stop 135-mile lap of Anglesey, which he did in just under 47 hours. He also took part in a virtual race where he completed 105 miles in 6 days, alongside about 2,000 other participants spread across the country.

Wishart feels fortunate to have a hobby that he has been able to continue during the pandemic.  

He said: "Looking back on March to May, I think I trained more comprehensively than I ever have before.

"My usual weekly mileage of around 45 miles jumped up to around 75. I sought out as many hills as Cheshire could offer and my elevation gain averaged 10,000ft per week.

"This daily routine was an enormous release from the tensions that gripped the country and filled the news constantly.

"A perk of my new schedule, where many people gained weight and lost fitness during the lockdown, my weight came down to the lowest I have weighed in 30 years!’

Wishart decided to work as a volunteer at a 100-mile ultra-race in Snowdonia in September.

He said: "I was meant to do the race but I have deferred my place to next year and instead I will help mark the course.

"I feel like it’s my turn to give something back to ultra running so these brutally tough events can keep on going. There are fewer people and the atmosphere is different but runners are just glad to be out racing again."