How to choose your first ultramarathon
Thinking about taking on your first ultra this year but unsure of which events are good options for first timers and which ones you should steer clear of?
Congratulations! If you are reading this, my guess is you are already halfway there and often taking the plunge and deciding to make the commitment is the hardest part, but I promise it is going to be so worth it.
The reality is the world of ultra running can be a confusing place for many, especially if you are just entering the space. And I won’t sugar coat things for you, finishing you first ultra marathon is going to require commitment and hard work, it’s a team effort but I do believe it should be a fun and enjoyable process.
You want to finish your first ultra in one piece feeling like you have given it everything you’ve got, whilst having heaps of fun along the way and more importantly eating plenty of snacks.
But how do you decide where to start?
Before we start - what is an ‘ultra marathon’?
An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance race, endurance race or ultra, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195 kilometres (26.219 mi). So technically, you could run 26.3 miles and call it an ultramarathon.
If you finished Brighton marathon in 2021, you’ll relate to this as the event organisers had to make an official adjustment to the course length meaning it was registered as 26.55 miles not the 26.2 you had originally set out to run.
The only problem is there are no shortage of ultra marathons out there now, it can be tricky to know where you should begin and what considerations you should make when choosing your first event.
There is what I’m here to help you with.
Here’s are my top tips when it comes to choosing your first ultramarathon.
Decide on your event distance
Ultramarathon race distances typically start at 50k and then jump up to some of the more classic distances of 50 miles, 100k and 100 miles. The world longest official ultramarathon is the Self-Transcendence 3100-mile race which takes place in New York from Sept and runs for 52 days.
If you already have a couple of marathons under your belt, stepping up to the 50k marker might not seem like too much of a challenge. What’s another few miles, right?
Whilst I don’t believe you need to run 100-mile weeks to train for your first ultra, they do require a minimum level of commitment to get you by safely.
The distance you choose might also be determined by your training history and the time you have available for training during the week around work and family commitments.
Naturally, the 50k or 50-mile distance is a great starting point to dip your toes into the world of ultra-running but there are no written rules to say you need to progressively work your way up each of the ultra distances.
Read this blog post to find out the best beginner ultra marathons near London in 2022.
How far are you prepared to travel?
Now that you’ve chosen, your distance, the next consideration you want to make is the location of your event.
Are you happy to stay close to home or are you prepared to travel? For many of my runners local is usually preferable as it is less of a logistically nightmare to balance around work and family commitments.
The perks of staying close to home, means you’ll have really easy access to the terrain throughout your training so you can be super specific and come race day there should be no surprises out on the course.
It also means you are more likely to persuade friends and family to come and cheer you on, on race day.
Don’t underestimate the power of seeing a friendly face en route that can help lift you out of those ultramarathon lows.
Alternatively, you might not have a bunch of work and family commitments taking a vacation to race somewhere where you have always been dying to go seems like a great idea right now.
Course and terrain specifics?
The location of your event usually dictates the type of terrain you will be running on, but this is also something to consider seperately.
Since this is your first ultramarathon, you want to give yourself the best possible chance of finishing with the least amount of pressure which means focusing on your strengths as an athlete.
If you are transiting from road marathons, you want to look for events that are relatively flat or have rolling hills.
Whilst most ultras are held on the trails you can still choose events that are on gravel tracks, National Trails, and river paths where you can actually get away with wearing road shoes.
But not all ultra marathons are created equally and if you are comfortable in the hills and are looking for more of a challenge, you might want to consider events with long steep climbs where you’ll be doing less running and more hiking.
Timing of your event
The final consideration I want you to think about is the time of year your event will take place. The ultra running season usually kicks off around April and runs until September, with the majority of events taking place in the late summer months. Obviously, there are events outside of these months but not for the faint hearted.
Deciding on the time of year of your event might quite simply boil down to which events are most suitable and have entries remaining.
Work commitments and family holidays at certain times of the year might interrupt training, so do think ahead to this.
If you event is early in the ultra running calendar, do keep in mind that you will most likely be training through the winter months. Whereas an event at the end of the calendar, means training will be a bit more pleasant.
One final thought - cut off times
If you are freaking out a bit about your pace and consider yourself more of a back of the pack runner, look for an event with generous cut off times, or none at all.
Thinking “am I quick enough to make the cut offs?” is not a sign you don’t deserve to be on that start line.
Let me serve you up a reminder that if you’re asking yourself this question, you’re totally normal.
The good news is there are more and more event organisers now that are making strides when it comes to being super assessable for first timers so it is worth spending time and doing the research to figure out.
Read this blog post to find out the best ultra event organisers who have generous cut off times or none at all.
Let me know what you think! Are these tips helpful? Ultrarunners: what was your first ultramarathon and why? Let me know in the comments or drop me a message on social media.
101 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOUR FIRST ULTRA MARATHON
When I finished my first ultra marathon back in 2014, I made a boatload of mistakes in getting to the start line.
With over 6 years of running ultras under my belt, I truly wish I'd known a few things sooner because it would have not only helped avoid getting injured.
It meant I would have got there so much quicker and more importantly had heaps more fun along the way.
Find out the 101 things you wish someone had told you before your first ultra marathon now?