This is the true definition of epic! I am absolutely blown away Ben. Massive, massive kudos to you bud. What a stunning place to race. Beautiful and brutal! 👌 Not sure it's a race I will do myself but certainly somewhere I would love to do some running. Massive well done to Carla too. You guys are a great team. 😎🤘
Thanks Ben 😃 It's a great place to run though although to be fair not a lot of running was done, more hiking and trying not to trip over rocks! I haven't been put off mountain races but I would like to do some that are less technical so I could enjoy the views more. Well done again on your 100, amazing. Had hoped to see you along the way but needed to come up to Scotland for family. Glad you got to enjoy the South Downs 🤓
Watching you conquer the Ultra Trail Snowdonia was absolutely incredible, Ben! The way you pushed through those brutal climbs and technical descents, all while managing to keep us entertained with your footage, is simply amazing. Loved hearing about the camaraderie on the trail, especially meeting those guys from Norway and Sweden. Congrats on finishing, and kudos to Carla too! Looking forward to your next adventure!
Thanks Mihai, it was great to try out some mountain racing and it's something I'd like to do a bit more of in the future for sure! The camaraderie can make sure a difference when it gets tough out there. Thanks for watching 🙏
Hi mate, this is Robin at 2:51 - 2:58 in your video, we shared a few miles in the second half too. Good to meet you and happy you had someone for the end of the race too, it really helped me as well. I'll follow you on socials now, well done mate!!
Hi Robin, great to share some miles with you and well done on a cracking race 👍 Really made a difference sharing the challenge with others, great to meet you out there
Superb performance, Ben. That video seemed to fly by. Result engrossing. I'm not surprised it took a few days to start getting your legs back! Well done 💪🏃♂️
Thanks Mark! Definitely the most beat up my legs have been after a race but they're fully recovered now which is good 😃 Such an amazing place to run/walk/climb
Another great video Ben, I will never complain about under foot conditions on the downs again, I am not actually sure how I would be over those conditions, I guess you get used to them. What an incredible race and experience, well done very inspiring 👍
Thanks Gareth 👍 Underfoot was tricky for sure, I got used to them over the course of the race but I definitely know for next time I'd want to get more practice on technical terrain before so it's less of a shock!
epic as always Ben! That looked proper tough but you got it done and in epic style. I hope you're really proud of yourself! :) it's so lovely to find people that you just click with to do parts of races with isn't it! Hope the body and mind have recovered now and you've got some slightly less brutal terrain events coming up?
Thanks Nic! Yes it really helps especially in those trickier moments if you find others to connect with. It was an adventure and all but yes planning on doing something less technical next 😃
Great video Ben! It really captures the complexity of those climbs around Snowdonia. It was lovely to bump into you en route & thank you for your words of encouragement. What are you planning for your next race?!
You too Geoffrey and congrats on your race 🎉 I'm doing a relay along the South Downs Way way next weekend but after that I'm not really sure, need to get some race plans together! What about you?
@@geoffreyhowellIRL I've heard the Chiltern Wonderland is a great one so good to have that booked in. It went well thanks, very different trying to run fast over the Downs, amazing day out
Thanks Stephen. That would be great to meet up at some point and run some trails. I'm actually up in Scotland at the moment but looking after my Mum has she's been in hospital. When I'm next up and she's fully better then let's meet up!
@timeonfeet ah sorry to hear this mate! Hope she gets better soon. Yeah let's do it mate. The drumgoyne route would be a great one to do. Taking in Earls seat and little Earl then down into Strathblane. It's just up by the drumgoyne distillery. 12 miles in total and plenty of ascent/decent with scrambling too.
What an achievement Ben! It's been really inspiring to follow your ultra running journey up to this point, taking on a really tough 100k. The first climb already looked brutal with very technical terrain. I imagine it's physically but also really mentally challenging to have to pay attention to the terrain at all times. When watching I was wondering what bits of kit you maybe regretted taking with you or wished you had, so I'm glad that you'll cover that in the next video!
Thanks Chloe! You're spot on, I remember feeling quite mentally drained about 5 hours in after having to focus so hard on every rock especially on the downhills to avoid falling over 😅 Pretty amazing experience out there, tough but such epic scenery. Thanks for watching 🙏
Great work mate! I live in the Swiss Alps, and this region in Wales is way more technical to where I train, so you did amazing to conquer this terrain and mountain range.
love this ultra run report. you were lucky with the weather. very strange about the boggy areas,I would not expect that. I would be quite interested to hear about your fueling🌱another time. Thanks for sharing your amazing achievement !⛰
Thanks so much. Definitely lucky with the weather, although it was hot you'd take that over storms and bad visibility any time! I can put some things about fuelling in future videos for sure 👍
Gosh you've come a LONG WAY since you started your youtube channel Ben, seems like such a short time ago!!! Back in 2021, you were still dreaming of such feats!! 6400m in 22hrs!!! WOW!!!!👏👏 And such an awesome video to commemorate such an awesome race too!! Sounds like you're gonna do it again, next year?? I'm lying on my bed watching with throbbing feet after completing a trail marathon this morning with 1160m of gain... an elevation PB for me in a single run, so though it's still early days for me, I'm definitely slowly getting up there!! I remember asking you for a bit of advice back when I still hadn't even achieved 1000m in a week!!🤣🤣You and Carla definitely inspired me to start packing on the elevation!🙋♀
Well done on your elevation PB Bev, great stuff! It's always rewarding when you do your longest distance, time, elevation. Hope the recovery is going well. I'm certainly not rushing to sign up again to UTS as it does take a lot out of you though it was an amazing experience. I'd definitely do another mountain race though, got some good hiking practice now!
@@timeonfeet THANKS!! Yeah more runnable mountains perhaps!! I just got myself my first pair of poles so will head to the Alpes this summer to get in some good practice!! ⛰️🏃🏻♀️⛰️ My ultimate dream is to do the Lavaredo 50 in the Dolomites!!!
@@bev9708 oh nice, what poles did you get? The Alps sounds great, I've never run there myself before but would love to go at some point. That sounds like a great race
@@timeonfeet I lived in the Dolomites for one year, though before I started running! Last year I watched Marius Prigge’s video Cortina Trail 2023: Conquering the Dolomites, and every fiber of my body said “I wanna do that!!” I’m sure you know the feeling!!😂
Thanks Tim. It's definitely a lot of hiking, did more of this than running for sure! Odd feeling when even the downhills in many cases are unrunnable. Pleased to be back to the South Downs 😅
Awesome performance Ben and massive congratulations. I am doing the Snowdon trail marathon in July and I found your video very instructive. Regarding nutrition, i experimented with carrying more water - 2 litres - at last weekend's Uk ultra South Downs 50k. Aim to repeat this at Snowdon as could be hot and exposed. It will be my first mountain marathon and i fully expect also to be taking on more food than usual. I note how technical the Pyg track is. Later in my marathon we go up there to the finger post so i expect to walk that! Have been doing hill repeats accumulating a lot of gain over a short distance to try and prepare for Snowdon. We come down the Llanberis path which looks easier though steep at the top. Thanks for the tip about how wet some of the terrain could be. I will take spare socks! Excellent video and well done Ben.
Glad you found the video useful and all the best for the Snowdon marathon next month! The top of the Pyg track had some pretty technical bits and was quite busy, Llanberis path less technical on the way down though there is a bit near the top that has scree which can be tricky if it's wet. Good to take a lot of water with you out there as it can be pretty hot and exposed. Enjoy it out there!
Very jealous of your white desert cap! I was COOKING in my dark cap & black shirt 🤣 Those infinity bogs were brutal wearnt they 🤣 Cracking effort Ben 🔥👏🏽
Thanks, a very respectable time. I have just entered….thinks it will take a bit longer…but then i will 69. Fortunately I live in the Highlands, so looked easy going to me! I feel very sorry for those who don’t have big hills to train on…those long descents kill your quads.
Thanks Marks, it's a great race this, you'll love it. And even more so if you've got the Highlands to train it, less of a shock to the system I imagine! Hope the training goes well
Loved it. Thanks for sharing and can't begin to imagine how tough that was on reality. I've decided to go back and finish the 50k. Thoughts on whether you'd do it again?
Thanks Carl. Great to hear you going back to finish some unfinished business with the 50k. I'm still not sure if I'd do it again. Maybe it hasn't been long enough yet for me to consider it 😅
Really well-crafted video. Although we know little about this type of running you made every aspect fascinating. Massive achievement on completing it without the luxury of readily available mountains to run on. Have you ever considered the Bob Graham Round? A couple of runners in our club have completed it recently. I guess it's too far for all the reccying?
Thanks both. Yes I would love to do the Bob Graham round at some point. I've never run in the Lake District before but it's on the list and the beauty of the BGR is that you do it with others who've completed it before as pacers so you can do it without knowing the route too well or recceing it a lot. It's on the bucket list!
Thanks James, certainly was! It was stunning but not sure I want to go back and do it again 😅 Yes at some point I think I'll go in for the UTMB lottery, just a bit tricky as it tends to clash with work but hoping to do it sometime
Great to hear you're signed up for next year Andy, it's an amazing race! The Speedgoats were great for me on the day with the weather we had. I chose them as they were my most comfortable shoe and on the hard terrain of Snowdonia I wanted a decent amount of cushioning. They may not be the best shoe if it's really wet though as they can slip a bit on wet rock. It depends what kind of shoe you like but I know some others prefer less stack so they feel more connected to the ground and more stable. I run in wide fit though and the base of the Speedgoat is fairly wide generally so I found this OK. Hope this helps and best of luck with your race prep 👍⛰️
Second time lucky finishing the 50k this year, and have to keep reminding myself.. don’t enter the 100k yet! At least do a normal one first 😂 well done finishing this.. the videos are making it look way too do-able.. but like you, that 5 hour trip to anything mountain like is the tough bit. I just have to remember don’t enter the 100k yet.. others to do first 😂
Congrats on your race and going back to finish some unfinished business! You've got a really good sense of the terrain for the 100k then with the races you've done, very good prep indeed 👍 Hope you get out there and take on the 100 at some point!
Fantastic video Ben! It was a pleasure running with you it made all the difference to my race. Great memories.
Cheers Rob! Great to run with you and be able to share the woes of yet another climb 😅 Hope to see you at the SDW100 maybe for pacing duties
This is the true definition of epic! I am absolutely blown away Ben. Massive, massive kudos to you bud. What a stunning place to race. Beautiful and brutal! 👌 Not sure it's a race I will do myself but certainly somewhere I would love to do some running. Massive well done to Carla too. You guys are a great team. 😎🤘
Thanks Ben 😃 It's a great place to run though although to be fair not a lot of running was done, more hiking and trying not to trip over rocks! I haven't been put off mountain races but I would like to do some that are less technical so I could enjoy the views more. Well done again on your 100, amazing. Had hoped to see you along the way but needed to come up to Scotland for family. Glad you got to enjoy the South Downs 🤓
Watching you conquer the Ultra Trail Snowdonia was absolutely incredible, Ben! The way you pushed through those brutal climbs and technical descents, all while managing to keep us entertained with your footage, is simply amazing. Loved hearing about the camaraderie on the trail, especially meeting those guys from Norway and Sweden. Congrats on finishing, and kudos to Carla too! Looking forward to your next adventure!
Thanks Mihai, it was great to try out some mountain racing and it's something I'd like to do a bit more of in the future for sure! The camaraderie can make sure a difference when it gets tough out there. Thanks for watching 🙏
Great Video! Great Scenery but a tough course. Well done on finishing and on recording this video as you went round.
Thanks Phil, a tough course this one but pleased to get round and to enjoy the amazing scenery.
Hi mate, this is Robin at 2:51 - 2:58 in your video, we shared a few miles in the second half too. Good to meet you and happy you had someone for the end of the race too, it really helped me as well. I'll follow you on socials now, well done mate!!
Hi Robin, great to share some miles with you and well done on a cracking race 👍 Really made a difference sharing the challenge with others, great to meet you out there
Superb performance, Ben. That video seemed to fly by. Result engrossing. I'm not surprised it took a few days to start getting your legs back!
Well done 💪🏃♂️
Thanks Mark! Definitely the most beat up my legs have been after a race but they're fully recovered now which is good 😃 Such an amazing place to run/walk/climb
Great watch mate. You absolutely crushed it. The toughest UK 100KM.
Thanks mate 🙏
Another great video Ben, I will never complain about under foot conditions on the downs again, I am not actually sure how I would be over those conditions, I guess you get used to them. What an incredible race and experience, well done very inspiring 👍
Thanks Gareth 👍 Underfoot was tricky for sure, I got used to them over the course of the race but I definitely know for next time I'd want to get more practice on technical terrain before so it's less of a shock!
epic as always Ben! That looked proper tough but you got it done and in epic style. I hope you're really proud of yourself! :) it's so lovely to find people that you just click with to do parts of races with isn't it! Hope the body and mind have recovered now and you've got some slightly less brutal terrain events coming up?
Thanks Nic! Yes it really helps especially in those trickier moments if you find others to connect with. It was an adventure and all but yes planning on doing something less technical next 😃
Well done, Ben! That looked absolutely epic. Fairly sure you'll be watching this in years to come and reminiscing!
Thanks Ian! Pleased to get this one done and yes this will be one I certainly look back on 😃
Great video Ben! It really captures the complexity of those climbs around Snowdonia. It was lovely to bump into you en route & thank you for your words of encouragement. What are you planning for your next race?!
You too Geoffrey and congrats on your race 🎉 I'm doing a relay along the South Downs Way way next weekend but after that I'm not really sure, need to get some race plans together! What about you?
@@timeonfeetthat would be great! I actually signed up to the Chiltern Wonderland 50 today. Check it out!
That would be great! How was the South Downs Way? I have signed up to the Chiltern Wonderland 50 later this year. Check it out!
@@geoffreyhowellIRL I've heard the Chiltern Wonderland is a great one so good to have that booked in. It went well thanks, very different trying to run fast over the Downs, amazing day out
Fantastic achievement Ben. I'll hopefully get you up some hills in Scotland the next time you are here. Thanks again for sharing.
Thanks Stephen. That would be great to meet up at some point and run some trails. I'm actually up in Scotland at the moment but looking after my Mum has she's been in hospital. When I'm next up and she's fully better then let's meet up!
@timeonfeet ah sorry to hear this mate! Hope she gets better soon. Yeah let's do it mate. The drumgoyne route would be a great one to do. Taking in Earls seat and little Earl then down into Strathblane. It's just up by the drumgoyne distillery. 12 miles in total and plenty of ascent/decent with scrambling too.
@@runningwithstephen Thanks mate, that sounds a great route to do. Will drop you a message when I'm next up and we can get a run/hike/scramble in 😃
What an achievement Ben! It's been really inspiring to follow your ultra running journey up to this point, taking on a really tough 100k. The first climb already looked brutal with very technical terrain. I imagine it's physically but also really mentally challenging to have to pay attention to the terrain at all times. When watching I was wondering what bits of kit you maybe regretted taking with you or wished you had, so I'm glad that you'll cover that in the next video!
Thanks Chloe! You're spot on, I remember feeling quite mentally drained about 5 hours in after having to focus so hard on every rock especially on the downhills to avoid falling over 😅 Pretty amazing experience out there, tough but such epic scenery. Thanks for watching 🙏
Thanks for sharing - great run in that heat!
Thanks Graham and congrats to you too 🎉
Great work mate! I live in the Swiss Alps, and this region in Wales is way more technical to where I train, so you did amazing to conquer this terrain and mountain range.
Thanks so much Benny, good to hear there are mountains out there that are a bit less technical! This felt like quite the baptism of fire 😅
love this ultra run report. you were lucky with the weather. very strange about the boggy areas,I would not expect that.
I would be quite interested to hear about your fueling🌱another time. Thanks for sharing your amazing achievement !⛰
Thanks so much. Definitely lucky with the weather, although it was hot you'd take that over storms and bad visibility any time! I can put some things about fuelling in future videos for sure 👍
Gosh you've come a LONG WAY since you started your youtube channel Ben, seems like such a short time ago!!! Back in 2021, you were still dreaming of such feats!! 6400m in 22hrs!!! WOW!!!!👏👏 And such an awesome video to commemorate such an awesome race too!! Sounds like you're gonna do it again, next year?? I'm lying on my bed watching with throbbing feet after completing a trail marathon this morning with 1160m of gain... an elevation PB for me in a single run, so though it's still early days for me, I'm definitely slowly getting up there!! I remember asking you for a bit of advice back when I still hadn't even achieved 1000m in a week!!🤣🤣You and Carla definitely inspired me to start packing on the elevation!🙋♀
Well done on your elevation PB Bev, great stuff! It's always rewarding when you do your longest distance, time, elevation. Hope the recovery is going well. I'm certainly not rushing to sign up again to UTS as it does take a lot out of you though it was an amazing experience. I'd definitely do another mountain race though, got some good hiking practice now!
@@timeonfeet THANKS!! Yeah more runnable mountains perhaps!! I just got myself my first pair of poles so will head to the Alpes this summer to get in some good practice!! ⛰️🏃🏻♀️⛰️ My ultimate dream is to do the Lavaredo 50 in the Dolomites!!!
@@bev9708 oh nice, what poles did you get? The Alps sounds great, I've never run there myself before but would love to go at some point. That sounds like a great race
@@timeonfeet Leki Micro Trail Vario, Carbon !😁🥰
@@timeonfeet I lived in the Dolomites for one year, though before I started running! Last year I watched Marius Prigge’s video Cortina Trail 2023: Conquering the Dolomites, and every fiber of my body said “I wanna do that!!” I’m sure you know the feeling!!😂
Absolute fantastic effort Ben, many congratulations, that terrain is not to be taken lightly👏
Thanks Paul, yes there's definitely a few rocks out there 😅
Great film. That looked soooo tough. Mountain running seems to be at least 70% hiking. Congratulations on finishing it and again loved the film
Thanks Tim. It's definitely a lot of hiking, did more of this than running for sure! Odd feeling when even the downhills in many cases are unrunnable. Pleased to be back to the South Downs 😅
Congratulations on a cracking race, but also a very useful race report!👏
Thanks, glad you found it useful 🙏
Awesome performance Ben and massive congratulations. I am doing the Snowdon trail marathon in July and I found your video very instructive. Regarding nutrition, i experimented with carrying more water - 2 litres - at last weekend's Uk ultra South Downs 50k. Aim to repeat this at Snowdon as could be hot and exposed. It will be my first mountain marathon and i fully expect also to be taking on more food than usual. I note how technical the Pyg track is. Later in my marathon we go up there to the finger post so i expect to walk that! Have been doing hill repeats accumulating a lot of gain over a short distance to try and prepare for Snowdon. We come down the Llanberis path which looks easier though steep at the top. Thanks for the tip about how wet some of the terrain could be. I will take spare socks!
Excellent video and well done Ben.
Glad you found the video useful and all the best for the Snowdon marathon next month! The top of the Pyg track had some pretty technical bits and was quite busy, Llanberis path less technical on the way down though there is a bit near the top that has scree which can be tricky if it's wet. Good to take a lot of water with you out there as it can be pretty hot and exposed. Enjoy it out there!
Was looking forward to this one, congrats! and another great video
Thanks Ben, hope all's good with you
Amazing Ben well done! 🙌
Thanks 😃
Brilliant work Ben
Thanks James 👍
Nice one Ben 🙌 Thanks for sharing your insights into your race. Always great videos 🎥 👏
Thanks Aaron 🤓 Congrats on your race. Tough going out in them mountains!
Thanks for sharing Ben, really inspirational! Well done on completing this challenge and I look forward to hearing about your next one!
Thanks Taline! Glad to make it round this one, will definitely get more practice on technical terrain for the next mountain race 🤓
Amazing!! Great video. Thanks for sharing. 👍131
Thanks for watching 🙏
Incredible achievement in what looks like an incredible location! Congrats!
Thanks for watching 👍 Scenery was amazing out there, definitely want to do back at some point
Well done, excellent effort :)
Thanks Paula 😃
Loved this! What a day out!
Thanks Dan 🙏
Fantastic Ben. Well done 👏👏👍
Thanks Ben 😃
Infinity Bogs are a great band!
The best! Perfect soundtrack to any ultra 😃
Very jealous of your white desert cap! I was COOKING in my dark cap & black shirt 🤣 Those infinity bogs were brutal wearnt they 🤣 Cracking effort Ben 🔥👏🏽
Thanks, you too! It may look overkill the desert hat but it does do the job 😅 Hope your recovery has gone well
Yeh I was the same cooking in my black cap 🤣 #rookieerror
Thanks, a very respectable time.
I have just entered….thinks it will take a bit longer…but then i will 69.
Fortunately I live in the Highlands, so looked easy going to me!
I feel very sorry for those who don’t have big hills to train on…those long descents kill your quads.
Thanks Marks, it's a great race this, you'll love it. And even more so if you've got the Highlands to train it, less of a shock to the system I imagine! Hope the training goes well
Loved it. Thanks for sharing and can't begin to imagine how tough that was on reality. I've decided to go back and finish the 50k. Thoughts on whether you'd do it again?
Thanks Carl. Great to hear you going back to finish some unfinished business with the 50k. I'm still not sure if I'd do it again. Maybe it hasn't been long enough yet for me to consider it 😅
Well done, lad.
Thanks 👍
Really well-crafted video. Although we know little about this type of running you made every aspect fascinating. Massive achievement on completing it without the luxury of readily available mountains to run on.
Have you ever considered the Bob Graham Round? A couple of runners in our club have completed it recently. I guess it's too far for all the reccying?
Thanks both. Yes I would love to do the Bob Graham round at some point. I've never run in the Lake District before but it's on the list and the beauty of the BGR is that you do it with others who've completed it before as pacers so you can do it without knowing the route too well or recceing it a lot. It's on the bucket list!
Amazing! Well done Ben. Looks like a beast of a race! Looking forward to seeing what's next! Any chance of a UTMB entry?
Thanks James, certainly was! It was stunning but not sure I want to go back and do it again 😅 Yes at some point I think I'll go in for the UTMB lottery, just a bit tricky as it tends to clash with work but hoping to do it sometime
Hey Ben thanks for this really helpful video! I'm in for next year. How did the Speedgoats get on, would you use them again?
Great to hear you're signed up for next year Andy, it's an amazing race! The Speedgoats were great for me on the day with the weather we had. I chose them as they were my most comfortable shoe and on the hard terrain of Snowdonia I wanted a decent amount of cushioning. They may not be the best shoe if it's really wet though as they can slip a bit on wet rock. It depends what kind of shoe you like but I know some others prefer less stack so they feel more connected to the ground and more stable. I run in wide fit though and the base of the Speedgoat is fairly wide generally so I found this OK. Hope this helps and best of luck with your race prep 👍⛰️
Second time lucky finishing the 50k this year, and have to keep reminding myself.. don’t enter the 100k yet! At least do a normal one first 😂 well done finishing this.. the videos are making it look way too do-able.. but like you, that 5 hour trip to anything mountain like is the tough bit. I just have to remember don’t enter the 100k yet.. others to do first 😂
Congrats on your race and going back to finish some unfinished business! You've got a really good sense of the terrain for the 100k then with the races you've done, very good prep indeed 👍 Hope you get out there and take on the 100 at some point!
Great video Ben. Fine work all the way round 🫡🫡 🫡
Thanks Paul 😃