Ultra_Tales_Issue_13

EVENT REPORTCHILTERN WAY ULTRAPHOTOGRAPH | DAN CONNORSCHILTERN CHALLENGEBYMELISSA ARKINSTALLThis has to be by far, the biggest medal that I'veever received in all my years of running andtriathlon....I think that it's bigger than an Olympicmedal! "You're going to have to earn one of thesethe hard way"... said Lindley Chambers, RaceDirector at Challenge Running (www.challengerunning.co.uk).Hey, he's not kidding, but I smiledall the way through the task.This is the first year that the Chiltern Way Ultrashave taken place. There are two distances, 100k and214k, both following the National Trail known as theChiltern Way. The full route goes from HemelHempstead, Chalfont St Giles, the edge of Marlow,Hambleden, Bix Bottom, Ewelme, the Ridgeway,Stokenchurch, Great Hampden, Aldbury, theDunstable Downs, Sharpenhoe Clappers toHarpenden and back to Hemel Hempstead; with the100km race starting in Little Hamden windingclockwise back to Hemel Hempstead.So, what is the route like? Well, you are runningthrough an AONB for the majority of the race, sowith the exception of a couple of streets aroundMelissaArkinstallChiltern Way Ultra ResultFinish Time5hrs 58minsFinish PositionJoint 1st/6 Finishers (2 DNF)Dunstable and Luton, this is proper trail runningturf. The scenery is stunning, rolling fields, farms,woodland and a stunning loop over the DunstableDowns, all punctuated by quintessential Englishvillages (willpower required to resist a pub155 ULTRA TALES | OCTOBER 2014Sponsored by thehttp://