2023 R86 Race Report

The 2023 Ridgeway 86 marked the twentieth anniversary of this classic British Ultra, coinciding wonderfully with the fiftieth anniversary of the Ridgeway National Trail. As organisers it was great to engage with Sarah Wright the trail officer and help promote the trail and it’s incredible offering to as many people as possible.

The race was also once again the British Trail Championships Ultra Distance and some fast men and women gathered on the start line at Ivinghoe Beacon, ready to tackle the historic route. The weather was set fair, with no rain and a light wind throughout, temperatures did climb into the mid 20s during the afternoon which with the humidity made things feel warm on the more exposed sections but most handled that period well and persevered through to the cooler, somewhat magical overnight section.

In the womens race, Zoe Salt ran superbly and crossed the line in 15:20 for a huge margin of victory in what was the fifth fastest womens time on this course, ever. Second place went to Jessica Stueber in 17:12 and third to Kat Sizer in 17:41.

In the mens race, England 100km international Joe Turner led past the half way mark but only narrowly over David Green and when Joe stopped with an injury it was left for David to run through for the win in a time of 12:49, much like Zoe’s, a huge margin of victory.

Second place went to Tim Pigott who overcame an injury suffered in the first half of the race to battle home in 14:07. Third place was picked up by Jamie Pond in 14:30.

Full Results are here with the Tracking page archived here.

In the age categories, British Championship awards went to the following:

F45: Suki Gregory
F50: Kate Kelland
F55: Kim Reed
F60: Lin Holley
F65: Jan Payne

M40: Gary Tuttle
M45: Matt Hollins
M50: Will Raybould
M55: Bruce Mclaren
M60: Phil Hoy
M65: Kevin Smith
M70: Brian Layton

A huge thank you to all of the volunteers across the start, finish and nine check points for marking this another safe and successful weekend on the Ridgeway.

Applications open on September 30th 2023 at 1000 via the homepage of the website

https://ridgewaychallenge.com/