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Trails

The trails and races I’ve run, and the ones I’ve entered. The best views are in the most remote places, and the training is what gets me there.

8 done2 entered

Done 8

Newest first.

Ross giving two thumbs up on a mountain path near Pico do Areeiro during Ultra X Madeira 2026
Done · 2026

Ultra X Madeira

Madeira, Portugal110 km over two stages

Called off at the final checkpoint for weather.

ResultUnofficial 10th overall

Trained for it in Snowdonia, and with laps of Greenwich Park in full race kit.

Ross at the Dragon’s Back finish in Cardiff, 2025, holding a South African flag
Done · 2022 and 2025

Dragon’s Back Race

Wales, Conwy to Cardiff380 km over six days

First attempt 2022: didn’t finish. Back in 2025, and finished.

Result87th of 278 · 86:00:40Full results ↗ · 2022 results ↗

Bonkers hard, as the event director put it, and I still can’t quite believe I got through. In the end it came down to being in the moment and not looking at my watch. Knowing how far I’d come would have told me how far I still had to go, and that would have broken me.

Ross with friends at the Great Lakeland 3Day event camp in the Lake District
Done · 2022 to 2025

Great Lakeland 3Day

Lake District, EnglandA range of courses each day

Three days in the Lakeland fells. Each morning you choose your course from a range of distances, so every day is a choose-your-own-adventure. The event is taking a pause in 2026.

Entered 2

Soonest first.

Entered · 3 to 4 April 2027

Lakes Traverse

Lake District, England, St Bees to Shap100 km

Getting some quality time in the Lake District, and part of my preparation for Ultra X South Africa later in the year.

Entered · 2027

Ultra X South Africa, Max

Western Cape, South AfricaAbout 330 km over six stages

Entry asks for your race history. I put down the Dragon’s Back, and that was enough.

Saturday mornings 37

37 parkruns

parkrun

Thames Path, Woolwich, and Piggly Wiggly, South Africa5 km

Where I go for a small dose of competition, and to benchmark where I am in my training.

My last three
DateEventTimePlaceAge grade
24 Oct 2026Thames Path, Woolwich19:422nd of 25672.00%
29 Aug 2026Piggly Wiggly, South Africa22:211st of 16963.46%
22 Aug 2026Thames Path, Woolwich19:087th of 29774.13%
Thames Path best 18:53 · My Strava ↗All my parkrun results ↗

Road halves 4

4 halves

Road half marathons

Hilton, Luxembourg, Dublin and Brussels21.1 km

Three city halves in Europe in 2014 and 2015, then a long gap. I needed something really scary to train for, and that’s when I spotted the Dragon’s Back to get me back into serious training mileage.

Newest first
DateRaceTimeNote
11 Jan 2026Hilton Harriers Half, KZN1:37:2025th overall, undulating course
Aug 2015Rock ’n’ Roll DublinNot recordedTough on minimal training
30 May 2015ING Night Marathon Luxembourg (half)About 1:35Night race, minimal training
5 Oct 2014Belfius Brussels HalfAbout 1:31Top 1,000, just off a sub-90
Hilton is my watch time; the older ones are from memoryMy Strava ↗

Looking for your next challenge?

Ultra X is a great place to find inspiring and challenging events around the world.

Ultra X events ↗

Each one links to the organiser’s race page. Check the route, conditions and the mandatory kit list there before you go. Kit I use on the trails is on the Tools page.