Running 44@60 - tips, ideas and advice for your first ultra marathon or marathon

To celebrate a landmark birthday in 2024 Rachel Thomson tackled a series of running events throughout the year whilst raising money for St Petrocs, the Cornwall Homeless Charity. The website provides information on how you can donate - including all those running hoodies you never wear.

So how did all go?

We catch up on the four events that became five when Rachel added the November Cornish Marathon to her challenges. 

Rachel’s fundraising finishes at the start of 2025 so you still have time to support her via her Local Giving page.

The five challenges Rachel undertook:

April 21st - London Marathon - Rachel wore a bright yellow St Petrocs top and had a fabulous day out.

June 14th - Scilly 60% - 38 km over four of the Isles of Scilly: St Martins, Tresco, Bryher, St Agnes - if you miss the cut off on any stage you literally miss the boat to the next stage. Did Rachel make the cut offs?

Aug 2nd 7pm start  - The BOYD (Bring Out Your Dead) - 24 hours of running a 5 mile loop which includes 500 steps. If you stop at any point for more than 10 minutes you're out! Rachel tells how a rogue piece of wood with nails didn't help.

Sept 14th - The Woods - 12 hours of a 4 mile loop in Tehidy Woods. One of Rachel's favourites. 

Nov 3rd - The Cornish Marathon - 26.2 miles through mid/east Cornwall 

To get in touch with this podcast drop an email to [email protected] or at the top of these notes press ‘Send us a Text Message’ - if you use that method please include your name otherwise I won't know who you are and I can’t reply to text messages. 

You can access and download the previous 162 episodes of this show via your usual podcast app or on the Running 44@60 podcast page. 

I ran my first, and so far only, ultra marathon in 2021 - the 44 mile Classic Quarter - to celebrate a landmark birthday which was a few weeks before the run. 

This podcast started as a way of me learning how to do that - hence why it’s called Running 44@60. 

The adventure then turned into a book and as a business consultant it became both a business and running book and is available on Amazon via this link: 12 Business Lessons from Running an Ultra Marathon. 

My run raised over £7000 for Childrens Hospice South West Music Therapy programme and every book bought on Amazon generates another £5 for the programme. 

Send us Fan Mail

The Running 44@60 podcast began as a learning / motivational tool for host Trevor Lee in his quest to run a first ever ultra - the Classic Quarter in 2021 - here's the story of Running 44@60

The first episode was broadcast in August 2019. The final episode - number 173 - went out on January 31st 2025.

Trevor wrote a book on the back of the Classic Quarter: 12 Business Lessons from  Running an Ultra Marathon - all proceeds go to the Children's Hospice South West 

On the run recording of the Arc 50 Hayle to Godrevy section condensed into about 30 minutes of run time. 

Taking you through the Dunes - often referred to as the 'Dunes of Doom' - well lets hope not! I've been through here several tie including twice last winter in the dark with my good friend Tracy Waite. I took some photos on this and previous run which you can find on my Arc Training Website section. You can also photos from my previous podcast episode which covered the Zennor to St Ives section. Next up I'll be looking to cover Pendeen to Zennor. 

I've broken the ARC 50 down into 9 sections:

1. Minack to Lands End 
2. Lands End to Cape Cornwall
3. Cape Cornwall to Pendeen
4. Pendeen to Zennor
5. Zennor to St Ives
6. St Ives to Hayle
7. Hayle to Godrevy
8. Godrevy to Portreath 
9. Portreath to Porthtowan

This episode covers section 7
The previous one covers section 5
And I'm planning to cover section 4

For me these are the crucial sections as I'll be chasing cut off times at St Ives and then Godrevy.

If you are taking part in the ARC 50 and want to a share top tip or two then drop an email to [email protected] or at the top of these notes press ‘Send us a Text Message’ - if you use that method please include your name otherwise I won't know who you are and I can’t reply to text messages. 

You can access and download the previous 160episodes of this show via your usual podcast app or on the Running 44@60 podcast page. 

I ran my first, and so far only, ultra marathon in 2021 - the 44 mile Classic Quarter - to celebrate a landmark birthday which was a few weeks before the run. 

This podcast started as a way of me learning how to do that - hence why it’s called Running 44@60. The adventure then turned into a book and as a business consultant it became both a business and running book and is available on Amazon via this link: 12 Business Lessons from Running an Ultra Marathon. 

My run raised over £7000 for Childrens Hospice South West Music Therapy programme and every book bought on Amazon generates another £5 for the programme. 

Send us Fan Mail

The Running 44@60 podcast began as a learning / motivational tool for host Trevor Lee in his quest to run a first ever ultra - the Classic Quarter in 2021 - here's the story of Running 44@60

The first episode was broadcast in August 2019. The final episode - number 173 - went out on January 31st 2025.

Trevor wrote a book on the back of the Classic Quarter: 12 Business Lessons from  Running an Ultra Marathon - all proceeds go to the Children's Hospice South West 

On the run recording of the Zennor to St Ives route condensed into about 20 minutes of run time. 

Picking out all the various landmarks, gates, big rocks, styles, signposts along the way. 

I've broken the ARC 50 down into 9 sections:

1. Minack to Lands End 
2. Lands End to Cape Cornwall
3. Cape Cornwall to Pendeen
4. Pendeen to Zennor
5. Zennor to St Ives
6. St Ives to Hayle
7. Hayle to Godrevy
8. Godrevy to Portreath 
9. Portreath to Porthtowan

This episode covers section 5
The next one covers section 7
And I'm planning to cover section 4

For me these are the crucial sections as I'll be chasing cut off times at St Ives and then Godrevy.

If you are taking part in the ARC 50 and want to a share top tip or two then drop an email to [email protected] or at the top of these notes press ‘Send us a Text Message’ - if you use that method please include your name otherwise I won't know who you are and I can’t reply to text messages. 

You can access and download the previous 160episodes of this show via your usual podcast app or on the Running 44@60 podcast page. 

I ran my first, and so far only, ultra marathon in 2021 - the 44 mile Classic Quarter - to celebrate a landmark birthday which was a few weeks before the run. 

This podcast started as a way of me learning how to do that - hence why it’s called Running 44@60. The adventure then turned into a book and as a business consultant it became both a business and running book and is available on Amazon via this link: 12 Business Lessons from Running an Ultra Marathon. 

My run raised over £7000 for Childrens Hospice South West Music Therapy programme and every book bought on Amazon generates another £5 for the programme. 

Send us Fan Mail

The Running 44@60 podcast began as a learning / motivational tool for host Trevor Lee in his quest to run a first ever ultra - the Classic Quarter in 2021 - here's the story of Running 44@60

The first episode was broadcast in August 2019. The final episode - number 173 - went out on January 31st 2025.

Trevor wrote a book on the back of the Classic Quarter: 12 Business Lessons from  Running an Ultra Marathon - all proceeds go to the Children's Hospice South West 

I had this idea to bring together a couple of ARC 50 2025 runners to talk about plans, thoughts, kit, etc…

That ‘couple’ quickly turned into six!

So a big thank to Richard, Anya, Himani, Tom, Nicky and Matt for contributing to this episode.

We talk about where we are with our training and plans - we recorded On Thursday Nov 8th so 78 days from the ARC 50.

Five of the group are running the Lighthouse Marathon on Saturday November 9th which is on the ARC 50 course starting at Pendeen.

We are meeting again on December 12th where we will catch on what has happened in the previous 5 weeks and will talk about mandatory kit, rules and regulations and our eating / drinking plans. 

If you are taking part in the ARC 50 and want to a share top tip or two then drop an email to [email protected] or at the top of these notes press ‘Send us a Text Message’ - if you use that method please include your name otherwise I won't know who you are and I can’t reply to text messages. 

You can access and download the previous 159 episodes of this show via your usual podcast app or on the Running 44@60 podcast page. 

I ran my first, and so far only, ultra marathon in 2021 - the 44 mile Classic Quarter - to celebrate a landmark birthday which was a few weeks before the run. 

This podcast started as a way of me learning how to do that - hence why it’s called Running 44@60. The adventure then turned into a book and as a business consultant it became both a business and running book and is available on Amazon via this link: 12 Business Lessons from Running an Ultra Marathon. 

My run raised over £7000 for Childrens Hospice South West Music Therapy programme and every book bought on Amazon generates another £5 for the programme. 

Send us Fan Mail

The Running 44@60 podcast began as a learning / motivational tool for host Trevor Lee in his quest to run a first ever ultra - the Classic Quarter in 2021 - here's the story of Running 44@60

The first episode was broadcast in August 2019. The final episode - number 173 - went out on January 31st 2025.

Trevor wrote a book on the back of the Classic Quarter: 12 Business Lessons from  Running an Ultra Marathon - all proceeds go to the Children's Hospice South West 

I made a big thing about saying that I would never run the Cornish Marathon and there I was on November 3rd 2024 on the start line.

So yes I did run the Cornish Marathon, or rather I 'Jeffed' the Cornish Marathon so four minutes running one minute walking using the same strategy I used at the Brighton Marathon earlier in the year.

Was a great day and I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Lots of fantastic people and some amazing views from the middle of nowhere.

Loads of great volunteers out on the course - just a tremendous day. I'm so glad that I did do it.

This is an on the run recording picking up snippets as I go which I hope you'll enjoy and I hope will give you a flavour for the Cornish Marathon if you decide to do it in 2025.

If you do think about that here's the link to the East Cornwall Harriers website page featuring the Cornish Marathon.

You can access and download the previous 158 episodes of this show via your usual podcast app or on the Running 44@60 podcast page. 

I ran my first, and so far only, ultra marathon in 2021 - the 44 mile Classic Quarter - to celebrate a landmark birthday which was a few weeks before the run. 

This podcast started as a way of me learning how to do that - hence why it’s called Running 44@60. The adventure then turned into a book and as a business consultant it became both a business and running book and is available on Amazon via this link: 12 Business Lessons from Running an Ultra Marathon. 

My run raised over £7000 for Childrens Hospice South West Music Therapy programme and every book bought on Amazon generates another £5 for the programme. 

Send us Fan Mail

The Running 44@60 podcast began as a learning / motivational tool for host Trevor Lee in his quest to run a first ever ultra - the Classic Quarter in 2021 - here's the story of Running 44@60

The first episode was broadcast in August 2019. The final episode - number 173 - went out on January 31st 2025.

Trevor wrote a book on the back of the Classic Quarter: 12 Business Lessons from  Running an Ultra Marathon - all proceeds go to the Children's Hospice South West 

I met Brendan Fletcher when we were both earlier this year on the England Athletics Coach in Running Fitness course.

Brendan is a fully qualified tour guide and has run several ultra marathons most of which I've never heard of including:

TestWay Ultra
Dragon Coastal Ultra 100
Run with No Witty Name
Clarendon Marathon

We also talk about Brendan's new running tour around Stonehenge based on his amazing local knowledge of the area – he lives just 1 mile from Stonehenge in combination with his sheer enthusiasm for running and his seven year experience as a tour guide.

For the Stonehenge Running Tour Brendan specialises in working with groups of four people, who book with him as a group and then he will take them on a run anywhere between five and 13 miles at all times of the year. Brendan even offers as part of the service to pick people up to come on the tour from anywhere as far away from Stonehenge as Bristol in one direction and London in another direction.

Brendan is a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable tour guide and I'm convinced that anyone going on one of his tours will have a great time and learn absolutely tons. Be ready though with your phone camera because you are going to go places that only Brendan will be able to take you.

Brendan also tries to, regardless of the time of year, start each run around sunrise so you get the best views of the Stonehenge area.

Brendan's non-running tours can be found at Chalkland Tours Ltd

You can access and download the previous 157 episodes of this show via your usual podcast app or on the Running 44@60 podcast page. 

I ran my first, and so far only, ultra marathon in 2021 - the 44 mile Classic Quarter - to celebrate a landmark birthday which was a few weeks before the run. 

This podcast started as a way of me learning how to do that - hence why it’s called Running 44@60. The adventure then turned into a book and as a business consultant it became both a business and running book and is available on Amazon via this link: 12 Business Lessons from Running an Ultra Marathon. 

My run raised over £7000 for Childrens Hospice South West Music Therapy programme and every book bought on Amazon generates another £5 for the programme. 

Send us Fan Mail

The Running 44@60 podcast began as a learning / motivational tool for host Trevor Lee in his quest to run a first ever ultra - the Classic Quarter in 2021 - here's the story of Running 44@60

The first episode was broadcast in August 2019. The final episode - number 173 - went out on January 31st 2025.

Trevor wrote a book on the back of the Classic Quarter: 12 Business Lessons from  Running an Ultra Marathon - all proceeds go to the Children's Hospice South West 

One of the things I'm always trying to do on this podcast is have people on it who have completed running challenges that we've not covered before and indeed many of the listeners might not have heard of.

I first met Martin Elcoate at the Cornwall Running Show in 2023 when he was one of the volunteers on The Green Runners stand.

And then earlier this year Martin appeared in a whole page article in Runners World featuring the amazing challenge he had undertaken starting at the beginning of 2024 involving a bespoke Ordinance Survey map and the 400 km² that surrounded where he lived.

Essentially Martin's plan was to run through every one of the 400 squares all of which are 1km x 1km.

Martin's dairy can be found on Instagram @martinelcoate

Martin shares details of the challenge and also gives us an update on what's happening with The Green Runners including a crowdfunding campaign they have launched to enable them to employ a couple of people to help them massively expand their work.

You can access and download the previous 156 episodes of this show via your usual podcast app or on the Running 44@60 podcast page. 

I ran my first, and so far only, ultra marathon in 2021 - the 44 mile Classic Quarter - to celebrate a landmark birthday which was a few weeks before the run. 

This podcast started as a way of me learning how to do that - hence why it’s called Running 44@60. The adventure then turned into a book and as a business consultant it became both a business and running book and is available on Amazon via this link: 12 Business Lessons from Running an Ultra Marathon. 

My run raised over £7000 for Childrens Hospice South West Music Therapy programme and every book bought on Amazon generates another £5 for the programme. 
   

Send us Fan Mail

The Running 44@60 podcast began as a learning / motivational tool for host Trevor Lee in his quest to run a first ever ultra - the Classic Quarter in 2021 - here's the story of Running 44@60

The first episode was broadcast in August 2019. The final episode - number 173 - went out on January 31st 2025.

Trevor wrote a book on the back of the Classic Quarter: 12 Business Lessons from  Running an Ultra Marathon - all proceeds go to the Children's Hospice South West 

The Woods is an event organised Bys Vyken Events and I took part in it on September 14th 2024 tackling the 12 hour version of the four and a bit mile loop in Tehidy Woods in the middle of Cornwall.

It was a great day and an event that I would definitely recommend. 

I didn't record on the way around with the exception of a few snippets on my phone on my last lap which I share at the end of a few minutes of introducing the event and mentioning a few people who I met on the day.

A couple of events I mentioned on the episode that depending on when you read these notes you might still be able to enter:

Run Mawnan

Tywarnhayle 10k 

To celebrate reaching the 5 year marker of the podcast I'm giving away a few copies of 12 Business Lessons from Running an Ultra Marathon. 

Simple leave a rating / review for the show and then use the 'send us a text message' link at the top of these notes to say you've left a review, that you would like a copy of the book and where you want it sending. 

You can access and download the previous 155 episodes via your usual podcast app or on the Running 44@60 podcast page. 

I ran my first, and so far only, ultra marathon in 2021 - the 44 mile Classic Quarter - to celebrate a landmark birthday which was a few weeks before the run. 

This podcast started as a way of me learning how to do that - hence why it’s called Running 44@60. The adventure then turned into a book and as a business consultant it became both a business and running book and is available on Amazon via this link: 12 Business Lessons from Running an Ultra Marathon. 

My run raised over £7000 for Childrens Hospice South West Music Therapy programme and every book bought on Amazon generates another £5 for the programme.
   
 My big running goal remains the Arc of Attrition 50 in January 2025. 

Send us Fan Mail

The Running 44@60 podcast began as a learning / motivational tool for host Trevor Lee in his quest to run a first ever ultra - the Classic Quarter in 2021 - here's the story of Running 44@60

The first episode was broadcast in August 2019. The final episode - number 173 - went out on January 31st 2025.

Trevor wrote a book on the back of the Classic Quarter: 12 Business Lessons from  Running an Ultra Marathon - all proceeds go to the Children's Hospice South West 

Annie Vernon is the daughter of a Cornish farmer who became a double world champion and an Olympic Silver medalist in that toughest of all sports - rowing.

Annie then wrote an award winning book Mind Games - subtitled determination, doubt and lucky socks: an inside his guide to the psychology of elite athletes. You can buy Mind Games from your local independent bookshop or via Bookshop which is an online shop supporting independent book shops if you want to buy the book online. 
 
During the episode Annie shares those mindset insights which the club runners and elite runners who listen to this podcast can apply when they are running, including the traits of determination, confidence, resilience and competitiveness.

It is a fascinating episode as we get a peek into the world of the elite athlete and all that entails in terms of mindset and how that alone can often make the difference between being great and being good. 

This is episode 155 of the Running 44@60 podcast and it is also the fifth anniversary of the podcast since we first launched on August 21st 2019

To celebrate reaching the 5 year marker I'm giving away 3 copies of 12 Business Lessons from Running an Ultra Marathon. 

Simply leave a rating / review for the show and then use the 'send us a text message' link at the top of these notes to say you've left a review, that you would like a copy of the book and where you want it sending. 

You can access and download the previous 154 episodes via your usual podcast app or on the Running 44@60 podcast page. 

I ran my first, and so far only, ultra marathon in 2021 - the 44 mile Classic Quarter - to celebrate a landmark birthday which was a few weeks before the run. 

This podcast started as a way of me learning how to do that - hence why it’s called Running 44@60. The adventure then turned into a book and as a business consultant it became both a business and running book and is available on Amazon via this link: 12 Business Lessons from Running an Ultra Marathon. 

My run raised over £7000 for Childrens Hospice South West Music Therapy programme and every book bought on Amazon generates another £5 for the programme.
   
 My big running goal remains the Arc of Attrition 50 in January 2025. 

Send us Fan Mail

The Running 44@60 podcast began as a learning / motivational tool for host Trevor Lee in his quest to run a first ever ultra - the Classic Quarter in 2021 - here's the story of Running 44@60

The first episode was broadcast in August 2019. The final episode - number 173 - went out on January 31st 2025.

Trevor wrote a book on the back of the Classic Quarter: 12 Business Lessons from  Running an Ultra Marathon - all proceeds go to the Children's Hospice South West 

I’ve recently, along with 11 others, passed the England Athletics Coach in Running Fitness Course

This involved an initial weekend in Taunton followed by a couple of Zoom lead sessions before returning to Taunton almost 3 months later for a final assessment.

In between the first and last session we had to work with an athlete on an eight week programme (known as a mesocycle) to help them reach a particular running goal. 

So I've handed over this episode to six newly qualified coaches who were on the same course as me to share with you their top tips to help you with your running.

You're going to hear from Drew, Lorna, Tom, Ryan, Anita and Brendan

A big thanks to them for their contribution not just to this episode but to helping you with your running and being great colleagues on the course. 

If you enjoy the episode then please do share it with your Running colleagues and it would be great if you left a review

This is episode 154 of the Running 44@60 podcast and to celebrate reaching the 150 episode marker I'm offering listeners the chance to win one of six copies of 12 Business Lessons from Running an Ultra Marathon. 

Simple leave a rating / review for the show and then use the 'send us a text message' link at the top of these notes to say you've left a review, that you would like a copy of the book and where you want it sending. 

You can access and download the previous 153 episodes via your usual podcast app or on the Running 44@60 podcast page. 

I ran my first, and so far only, ultra marathon in 2021 - the 44 mile Classic Quarter - to celebrate a landmark birthday which was a few weeks before the run. 

This podcast started as a way of me learning how to do that - hence why it’s called Running 44@60. The adventure then turned into a book and as a business consultant it became both a business and running book and is available on Amazon via this link: 12 Business Lessons from Running an Ultra Marathon. 

My run raised over £7000 for Childrens Hospice South West Music Therapy programme and every book bought on Amazon generates another £5 for the programme.
 
 My big running goal remains the Arc of Attrition 50 in January 2025. 

Send us Fan Mail

The Running 44@60 podcast began as a learning / motivational tool for host Trevor Lee in his quest to run a first ever ultra - the Classic Quarter in 2021 - here's the story of Running 44@60

The first episode was broadcast in August 2019. The final episode - number 173 - went out on January 31st 2025.

Trevor wrote a book on the back of the Classic Quarter: 12 Business Lessons from  Running an Ultra Marathon - all proceeds go to the Children's Hospice South West