of ultrarunners. Rory Coleman, the race director, was characteristically neither peaceful nor nervous. “First of all, welcome to the first-ever Children With Leukaemia Marathon of Britain! For 12 months, this has been my dream – now I want it to be your dream!” He

Training for a marathon is tough and time-consuming enough, but at least you're not short of advice on training schedules. But the increasingly popular ultra marathon is quite another matter, as one reader has found. If you've got experience

, September's six-day, 175-mile Marathon of Britain is an off-road tour of hidden parts of England that most of us have only ever sped through on the motorway. It's organised by one of the friendliest, most charismatic people on the planet, and it's already a

Photos: Sarah Belton«BR»Issue date: «BR»Keywords:«BR»Type: -->TC feeding MickaelDay 1 – Paris Marathon + Paris to Colombes, 30.7 milesGreat start to the challenge! Arrived in Paris on Saturday afternoon on our Easyjet flight and headed straight over

night, a true ultra-runners dream!When we finally reached London, it felt like a dream come true. We arrived in Blackheath on the Saturday afternoon, knowing that only a marathon stood in the way of us completing the challenge. However, the prospect

At just 17.5K, the final stage of the 26th Marathon des Sables was the shortest by far but still proved to be challenging. It was another hot day - although once the temperature rises above 40C it's hard to differentiate between simply hot

should be feeling good and able to do anything.Run an ultra race? Are you serious? If another marathon doesn't excite you, how about something a little longer? If you've ever wondered what ultras are like, you have the perfect training base to find out

Q. In my time as a runner, I’ve run seven marathons, and now I want to train for an ultra-distance trail run of 50K (just over 30 miles). How should I modify my marathon training to prepare for the longer race?A Assuming that your seven marathons

Time: 4:29Highlight - Mile 18 - Huge cheer by all forumites, chilled champagne courtesy of Ultra Meerkat, Jaffa Cake, but best of all the hugs from Ultra Meerkat and Flipper. Finally a huge cheer from everyone as I left.Lowpoint - being so cold

© Getty Images If 26.2 miles just isn't enough, an ultra could be the race for you. Races longer than a marathon, ultras range from 30 miles to hundreds of miles and take place in hundreds of beautiful locations from Sussex to the Sahara