On Sunday 1st November 2020 Steven Mitchell and Katie Clements from the City of Salisbury Athletics and Running Club completed their first Ultra Marathon, the Dorset Hillfort Ultra which was 35 miles writes Lisa Phaure
The Dorset Hillfort Ultra run starts and finishes in Cattistock, Dorchester and the aim is to self-navigate running from one Hillfort to another in a circular route, it is a hilly scenic route with 4478 feet of elevation in total.
Steven Mitchell said “We are extremely grateful to the organisers and volunteers for putting on an enjoyable Covid secure event, maybe the last event for a while.
I am also really pleased I have accomplished my first Ultra Marathon and I hope to do another one in 2021.”
Katie Clements added “This was a great challenge and I really enjoyed the event, we did actually end up running 36 miles due to a navigational error. I am glad we finished without injury and am looking forward to a rest.”
Fortunately for Steven and Katie the weather was not as bad as the forecast with a mix of terrain that was already very boggy in places, they were lucky it only rained on for the last 6 miles, though they did have to battle the wind that kept changing direction and it was foggy so they could not see the top of the hills they were ascending.
Steven Mitchell’s finishing time was 7:56:42 and Katie Clements was 8:00:40.