which race to chose?

having DNFd in July, I have unfinished business with the ultra distance. I'm definitely going back to that course next year to have another go at that one.

Question is, the next race, in November.

I have a choice of a marathon around Rutland Water, a very large lake, fairly flat, mixed trail/hard path or an ultra of about 38 miles following a cross country footpath. The course of the ultra is run as a relay, but single entrants also allowed as a separate race.

The main pro for the ultra is that the course goes literally past my door. The problem with it is that there is a time limit which could be very challenging. It's 7 hours, which I think is for the whole thing, but I need to confirm if its only to the last aid station. If it's the whole thing, i'm not sure I'll make it based on my last ultra managing 40 miles in 8 hours.

Thoughts, advice?
 
november is a few months away. i would do some maf method for a few months and then do speed work or something the month prior. you should be able to make the ultra cut off that way.

oh, what's the cost of the two?? i think that would be a big factor.
 
Hey ElyDave - can you contact the race director? Often times RDs here in the northeast will let people start an hour or two early if they would like to participate but are afraid of making the cutoff.

should be able to, that's what I was thinking of doing as well, just to see how strict they are with it.
 
I agree that 7 hours for 38 miles sounds odd, too. I would expect a cutoff of around 10 hours for a 38 mile race.

Is this a new race? So, funny story - there's a new 50 mile race that started up this year in my area. It's a "hard" course. The RD set the cutoff at 13 hours when he initially started advertising. I ran an easy 50 miler in 12 hours; now, while I'm absolutely certain I could knock an hour off of that with better tactics rather than harder training or borrowing someone else's body, 13 for a hard 50 is sketchy for me. I guess a lot of people were put off, because there is some discussion of flexible cutoffs on the facebook page. Aannd.... as of now, only 10 people are signed up and the race is in 1 month.
 
Do the ultra course, on your own if need be, but I suspect that you'd finish the event well within time assuming the conditions were less "interesting" than they were in July.
 
Thanks guys,
Silly, I agree that is a bit of an odd cut off, I suspect that it may be 7 hours to the last relay check point, but remember it will be November so getting dark here around 4-4:30pm, which may be one of their considerations.

Chris, it's November in England, and in a similar location to the other one I did, conditions could even be worse, two years ago we had a hard winter and it was minus 8-10C at that time of year:eek:
 
Thanks guys,
Chris, it's November in England, and in a similar location to the other one I did, conditions could even be worse, two years ago we had a hard winter and it was minus 8-10C at that time of year:eek:
At least you'd not be worrying about mud and rain in those temperatures :cool:
 
Thanks guys,
Silly, I agree that is a bit of an odd cut off, I suspect that it may be 7 hours to the last relay check point, but remember it will be November so getting dark here around 4-4:30pm, which may be one of their considerations.

Yep - it might be! But 7 hours is still pretty short. I did a November race a couple of years ago, and there were headlamp checkpoints. The race started an hour before sunrise, and you had to have a headlamp to start. Then, if you started out on a loop after 3PM, you also had to take a headlamp out with you.
 
Do the ultra, man! You know you can do it and, in your shoes, I would choose to run my own ultra distance rather than the marathon.
 
Race director's come back to me, 7 hours for the whole race. I can have half an hour head start if I want.

They are a bit worried about people running in the dark off road. Surely the whole point of running an ultra is that you are acepting at least some risk? Seems a bit mollycoddling.

My thoughts are now transforming towards going back to Grimsthorpe next year and complete the 70-miler, ditch this one. Over the autumn, I might look for some local 10k races instead and try and build up to a PB attempt at my "home" 10k in my village on New Year's Eve.
 
They are a bit worried about people running in the dark off road. Surely the whole point of running an ultra is that you are acepting at least some risk? Seems a bit mollycoddling.

1. One would think if you are willing/able to run 38 miles, you would be willing/able to handle a bit of running in the dark, along with the associated risks.
2. mollycoddling: fantastic word. Made my morning.
 
1. One would think if you are willing/able to run 38 miles, you would be willing/able to handle a bit of running in the dark, along with the associated risks.
2. mollycoddling: fantastic word. Made my morning.

It's usually the darkness that is a concern. They (race directors) assume the back-of-the-packers are the least experienced, least likely to carry necessary gear for night running (flashlight), and least likely to be able to navigate through the wilderness in the dark. Search and rescue/recovery is expensive and time-consuming.

Regarding which race- good rule of thumb: Always sign up for the longest distance you're considering. :)
 
yeah, only problem with the whole running in the dark thing is that the race follows a defined path, signposted and the bit that would be in the dark is the bit running literally right past my door.

TBH, I really can't be arsed with the bureaucracy.
 
Plan is now
13th Oct - cycling club inter clubs hill climb, about half a mile at 6% gradient, three minutes of sheer agony
11th November - off road duathlon, 5km run-16km MTB - 3km run, should be fun and I'll have a fast transition as I'll do the bike in running gear and wearing my Trail Gloves
31st December - annual 10km road race, this will be my 5th year in a row

Feb 2013 possible 25 mile cycle TT
March 2013 possible off road duathlon, 5k/20k/5k

Then we get back into training for Grimsthorpe 2013 in August