Sunday the 23rd saw the 13th St Peters Way Ultra take place.
This is a scenic but muddy at times 42 mile Ultra Marathon across Essex from the small town of Chipping Ongar to the remote Chapel at Bradwell on Sea. its a mixture of fields, bridleways and footpaths with the occasional short section of country lane. Its a historic Pilgrimage route joining up churches and Pubs dating back to the 7th century!
Runners started arriving at the Budworth Hall where registration took place. This was the first time we had used an indoor venue and it worked really well with a dry space and ample toilets. It adds some cost to the event but we will continue with it as it really worked well.
This is also the first time we added GPS tracking to the event and did not employ sweepers, this also meant we removed the route description and did not provide maps. Most people use watches or phones to navigate now and with the gps live tracking page this meant they could always see where they were in relation to the route. We have very few instances of anyone getting lost. Thanks to Open Tracking, easily the best tracking in the UK. The event tracking page is here https://live.opentracking.co.uk/petersway25/
We did have a report of some guys in a small group cutting across a horse field and through a farm not following the route properly, they then left a gate they had unlocked open and two foals got out. Luckily the foals were not hurt and the two riders in the arena who were thrown by horses that the foals spooked were also not hurt. This is disappointing and if we can work out who this was we will DQ retrospectively and ban from our events unless they come forward to own up to it.
We had 3 medics at the event this year, myself, Maxine and a roving medic Bruce. This is thankfully a rarely used resource but we feel better having that support available for the runners despite the obvious extra cost.
Another 1st at St Peters was the use of wooden medals, wooden medals can be a little Marmite. They have little weight so don’t feel substantial and are much harder to make colourful or interesting. We worked with our designer for all things Mark from Wingman Design to try to come up with a design that was good enough and then with help from Sustainable Medals we were able to produce one that looked decent. We can reduce our carbon footprint by only producing the number we actually need (as the production and shipping time is less) and by not shipping them from China on a boat, locally produced from renewable materials including the ribbons helps. We think these look decent.
The weather was kind to us, not too cold and the rain held off just about. This meant a muddy but fast course compared to some years. This was demonstrated by the winner having the second fastest time ever.
Full results are here https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=381475
It was clear we had a few fast guys planning on going out hard, Matt Jordan and Russ Welch being regular contenders joined by Joshua Woods, Tom Sheffle and Jonathan Hughes all capable of sub 6 hours. Ladies wise we had Christine Sutcliffe who was the clear favourite on paper but new to the event.
The race started bang on 8:30am with the expected 4 going out hard from the start, the first through CP 1 Joshua Woods closely followed by the small group of expected males a few minutes behind. Christine Sutcliffe and Debbie Hughes came into CP1 first for the ladies.
As the race progressed it was clear Joshua was on for a flyer and in danger of getting close to the current record of 5:12:59. Christina was likewise pulling away from Debbie and clearly on for a good run leading from the front.
Joshua continued to open his lead as did Christina as they stormed their way to the finish. All along the course many runners were battling the mud and freshly ploughed fields on some sections.
I was at the finish now and setting up the chapel, we are lucky to get permission from the Church to use such a great venue as the finish. Built in 653AD its one of the earliest sites of Christianity in the UK and steeped in history.
We had a bit of luxury this year at the finish, Fairy lights, a heater and generator for power so we could run a hot water boiler for drinks. Spoiling the runners! I must be going soft in my old age!
First across the line was Joshua Woods in a cracking time of 5:29:47, the second fastest run ever.
Second was Russ Welch a serial St Peters Runner in 6:12:35
Then Tom Sheffle in 3rd in a time of 6:19:00
1st Lady and 17th overall was Christine Sutcliffe in 7:29:49
Second and Third Ladies came across the line together and amicably decided who got 3rd and who got the second place trophies. Officially Kelly Whareham came in in 8:08:40 and Laura Parish in 8:08:41.
Over the next 4 hours the remaining competitors crossed the finish line and received their medals. A total of 57 finishers from 59 starters with Only two DNF. The last few crossing the line in the dark.
Including this lovely lady Barbro Julin who very nearly did not race as she turned up to registration only to realise she left her kit back at home in London! Luckily we managed to cobble together a full set of mandatory kit and spares including a headtorch and set of waterproofs so she could run.
A great day out and apart from a few spots here and there the forecasted rain stayed away.
Entries are already open for the 2026 event and we are offering a discount price of £50 until the end of March before it rises to next years full price of £60. The price rise reflects the cost of tracking and added indoor venues and increased medical support, we still think £60 for a fully supported and tracked event is great value.
As always we must thank a great number of people who make this event what it is.
Me – Obviously I am awesome!
Maxine who helps me prepare a few days before and purchases food and packs all the CP boxes.
Sara Fabien my admin assistant and Volunteer Manager who books venues and deals with the volunteers.
Bruce Saunders the event medic
The event volunteers, in no particular order.
Anne and Graham Purdham, Cyril Patureau, Joe Fischer, Chloe Fleming, David Casey, Jason and Sara Fabien, Adam Wright, Becky Clark, Fiona Pratt and Debbie.
They did a cracking job of looking after everyone.
Finally thanks to those venues that we hire or give us permission to set up CP’s outside.
Budworth Hall at the start, The Purleigh Bell (CP3), The Star (CP4) and St Peters Chapel who we support by donating money to their repair fund for roof and building repairs.
See you next year?
Lindley
Excellent event! Well organised and great support all along the way. Thanks to Lindley and all the team!