Fun Before Fifty Diaries: Manchester to Liverpool Ultra 2024

Posted on by

Seven months since 5 September 2023 is a long time between updates. Fortunately, nearly eight hours of running on Good Friday was ample time to reflect on the contents of a long overdue post! Unsurprisingly, this quick hello will focus on that eight hours and a wonderful 50 miles covered between Manchester and Liverpool in the 2024 Manchester to Liverpool Ultra.

At the start line – a biblical deluge overnight had given way to a chilly, sunlit morning

The Context

Back in July 2023, there were many things on which I hadn’t planned. It doesn’t mean that many things don’t happen!

So when my alarm clock chimed at 4am on Friday 29 March 2024 to the beautiful sound of Booker T. & the M.G.’s, I crawled out of my Premier Inn bed having completed 40 marathons in 259 days and, more appropriate to the target at hand, I’d completed 40 in 37 weeks (on the road to 52 in 52 weeks).

52 in 52 weeks was definitely not in the plan when I turned up at Walton-on-Thames on 14 July last year. I was, at that point, embarking upon a “weekend” of 3 marathons in 3 days. That, of course, became an accidental Ten in Ten Days (or TiT), and the rest has been a relentless (and fun) march towards two big hairy goals:

  1. Running my 100th marathon on 1 June 2024, my 50th birthday
  2. Completing 52 marathons in 52 weeks

As I walked the short distance from the hotel to the start line at the Piazza, before morning had broken on Good Friday, I had reached 93 in total and, as outlined above, 40 in 37 weeks.

This Means More

Few people will have been to this website previously without knowing that Liverpool Football Club is a lifelong love and passion. The phrase “this means more” has been synonymous with their social media in recent years and it really was very apt for me in this event. This Manchester to Liverpool Ultra meant more than any other of my previous 93 marathons to this point.

Trigger Warning – content contains references to suicide

Less than a mile away from the start line, in Salford Quays, I left my place of work on the evening of Friday 6 January, 2006. I had no intention of waking up on Saturday 7 January. That I did is down to God’s grace and the incredible work of the North West Ambulance Service (I write about this here and you can also listen to multiple pieces of content via the Media & Podcasts page).

Whilst I have been in Manchester on a few occasions since, this was the first time I’d been close to Salford Quays. This was my redemption, this was closing perhaps the very last page on a chapter.

It was, instead of running away as I had so many times during the dark days of mental illness, running with awareness and no fear of the rearview mirror, but with my eyes focused on the destination at the end of 50 miles, the city of Liverpool.

Long Train Running

Well…. maybe not a train, but eight hours is a long time for a human to run. It was a truly enjoyable eight hours (or actually 7 hours 47 minutes and 4 seconds to be precise).

Ultramarathons aren’t meant to be easy – the body is not built to run 50 miles. However, with experience comes the ability to know one’s own body – as Kenny Rogers used to sing…

You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run

In any endurance race that means listening to what your body is telling you, knowing when to really dig deep and when to ease off. My mantra is that you ALWAYS keep moving forward – there were brief moments when that meant walking – but you never stand still.

Conditions on the day were good, certainly for the part I was out there! It was mild enough not to be cold but cool enough not to be warm, there was a breeze but not a gale, and a lot of puddle dodging on the Trans Pennine Trail but largely firm underfoot.

Moreover, the race support and organisation was first class. This was my first event with GB Ultras and it won’t be my last. Everything from registration through to route marking, from marshals through to aid stations, the full race package was first-class, outstanding.

You should have some nerves going into an event of 50 miles and I had certainly elevated the event to a status of huge significance. It was a joy, therefore, to be able to simply focus on enjoying the run and not, for a single moment, be worried about logistics.

Pushing Through

I would say that my toughest stretch was between checkpoints 4 and 5 – that was between the 32 and 38 mile points. 32 miles is a long way and around 5 hours is a long time to have been moving! 18 miles is still a long way to go. Mentally it challenges you and my body was definitely feeling it.

That was when I did walk briefly on a few occasions to catch my breath and to take in some Kendal Mint Cake (pure sugar!!). The main thing was, as I said earlier, to always be moving, to be getting closer to that end goal, and I managed to do that.

By the time I navigated the “least attractive” and “most urban” part of the Manchester to Liverpool Ultra route, around Speke on the outskirts of Liverpool, I was mentally back in charge and counting down into the last 10 miles. Once back on the Trans Pennine Trail, I felt strong in that last push for home.

The Final Furlong

Just as I wasn’t a train in the earlier analogy, I definitely wasn’t a horse in the above title! However, the Manchester to Liverpool Ultra finish line, in the shadow of the famous Aintree Racecourse, merits a poor horse joke!

In more seriousness, the feeling of elation as that finish line came into view was quite something. Much of the last ten miles had been done in relative isolation (great for this introvert!) but there was something very special about hearing the cheers of the crowd in that last quarter of a mile or so.

I have run further (3 times I’ve completed 100km) but the last of those was back in 2017. 50 miles is a long way so the joy should always be palpable. That I’d run well and exceeded my own expectations was also very special.

Above all, however, was the surety that there was nothing further to see in the rearview mirror metaphorically. The book was closed and a new chapter was starting in the city which will always hold an elevated place in my life.

In his song, “This Place”, Jamie Webster sings of his city, his people and his heart, and that is so reflective of my feelings for this city. My favourite lyrics in that song is:

And when they tried to knock us down, and we stood up tall
This city will forever be me saving grace
So no matter where I am
I’ll raise a glass to this place

Jamie Webster, This Place

18 years ago, I couldn’t face the next day. On Good Friday, however, I arrived in Liverpool standing tall. Mental illness couldn’t knock me down terminally in 2006, 50 miles of running absolutely didn’t knock me down in 2024. Finishing the Manchester to Liverpool Ultra in Liverpool left me with the biggest smile on my face and ready to raise a glass to this place.

Photo by Dan Bentley Photography

Good Friday

It was a very Good Friday personally and, much more importantly, an opportunity to be so thankful for God’s grace and mercy. It could so easily have been so different. I might be a statistic, the source of a grieving family, a life lost to the stigma of mental ill health and toxic masculinity.

However, I am very much here and alive and God is with me on every step of the journey. His love endures forever, way beyond my endurance of 50 miles.

The Final Numbers

As I type this some two days later on 31 March 2024, I have now completed 94 marathons and, in doing so, have run 41 in 261 days. This leaves me in good shape to run my 100th on 1 June after which I will still have 41 days in which to complete an additional 5 for 52 in 52 weeks. The route to 100 is revealed here!

As for Friday, I was elated with a 36th place finish out of close to 500, in that time of 7:47:04.

The Manchester to Liverpool ultra will definitely not be my last event with the great team at GB Ultras.

Fundraising

In 2024, I am fundraising for James’ Place. The tagline of “preventing suicide, providing hope” speaks for itself. There is no obligation but all donations would be welcome on my JustGiving page.

Latest posts by Ro Kallicharan (see all)