Britains lost ultra heritage

Yes, back then things were easier, there were no HSE hitlers to ruin honest fun and the police were quite happy to let you get on with things. I was fortunate enough to run London to Brighton before it died and the police just stopped the traffic for us at the start on Westminster bridge and around the one way system after we crossed the river. Can't see that happening nowdays without a big money backer?

I went to see the start of the very last London/Brighton road run.  From what I can remember there was a plea from the organisers to running clubs en route to provide marshals for the following year otherwise the event would fold.  Sadly this did not appear to be forthcoming and it did. 

I suspect that the ratio of marshals/runners on road ultras is now so high when compared with that of cross country events that the former are much harder to organise even without the dreaded 'elf'n'safety concerns.

Another good point and one that is sadly indicative of modern society. Too many people are focussed on themselves and not on helping others.

Maybe races should have a proviso that before you can enter you have to marshal the race. One marshaling donation, one race entry?

AndrewSmith wrote (see)

Maybe races should have a proviso that before you can enter you have to marshal the race. One marshaling donation, one race entry?

I thought the reason why so many of the ultra classics have gone was because the organisers were so old and kept dying. That and roads I assume.

Wouldn't it be awesome to close the necessary roads and have the London to Brighton race once again but with 10000 people like comrades? 

That is a good point. 

Sometimes the founders of an event simply get too old to run it, and nobody takes their place. 

The High Peak 40 is a popular event that sells out well in advance, but it is run by the same people who were doing it in the early 80s, and one day its future will depend on whether somebody else steps forward . 

Some of the oldest off-road Ultras were initially Scouting only 'challenge' events. The 4 Inns for instance is now well into its 50's and the Fellsman was 50 this year.

In the 60's the 4 Inns was nearly stopped because of fatailities on the moors and then Foot & Mouth but more recently these races almost died off from lack of interest within Scouting. Since they were opened up to non-scouting entrants both have seen a strong revival.  

Found this thread a bit late. I had thought we had NO road ultras left in the UK, so pleased to hear about Dartmoor Discovery and (tho' a bit long for me!) the Cotswold 100.

+1 on the WS100-style marshall-to-run thing. I would love to run a reborn L2B and would happily marshall it to earn that privilege.Of course these days it would be a lot of work to put it on. You wouldn't just need marshalls, you would probably have to have quite a lot of people just to take charge of arranging everything with the councils & cops along the route - five ten-mile race directors if you see what I mean. A lot of work but even these days, not impossible, and wouldn't it be great if it happened! Things do happen though - look at the resurgence in bigcity marathons in the UK, look at ParkRuns. So we can hope.

Although at the moment, having rather slacked off training and eaten a lot of buns since Comrades, I am so desperately unfit I find five miles pretty hard work . Running Abo this year so best train now!

see you at Abo fido2dogs

They cunningly hide it as a "team walk"!

+1 on requiring marshalling points to qualify for races. I think that's a great idea.

Of the seven events in the Scottish ultra series, this year I've run two and marshalled at three. Picked up loads of useful 'insider' info and really enjoyed helping out. Have already signed up again to marshal the ones I won't be running next year...

Fido2Dogs wrote (see)

+1 on the WS100-style marshall-to-run thing. I would love to run a reborn L2B and would happily marshall it to earn that privilege. 

The first race would have a pretty thin field

I do agree on the idea of completing a number of hours marshalling or performing other race day tasks (marking, sweeping, registration etc).

Well worth getting down to Dartmoor Discovery Fido if you have not done so before. Its a great race.