Midday on Saturday signalled the start of this years’ championships which were held in Victoria Pk, Belfast. Over 400 of the worlds best Ultra runners from 42 countries took on the task of covering as much ground as physically possible within the 24 hour period.
Sean Nickell and Donald Smith took on the run and were ably encouraged throughout the race by the support crew of Cara Jeffrey, Colin Walker, Philip Mulligan and others who not only supported our two runners, but all the athletes taking on such an epic task.
Sean managed to clock up 109 laps which totalled 111.89 miles and Donald made it round 97 circuits which gave him an agonising total of 99.57 miles. The winning world championship total was from a Japanese runner who racked up an amazing 166 miles, 161 laps – the equivalent of 53 park runs!
Well done to Sean and Donald on such a massive event and to the support crew who made it so much more bearable for the runners with their encouragement, music, dancing and banter.