The aftermath-of our first ultra: There’s something truly addictive about overcoming a big challenge. And, as you might have guessed, we survived our first Ultra run along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal in Northern England! “Proud” doesn’t even begin to cover it. The love and support we received along the way was overwhelming, and right now, we’re on such a high that we don’t want this feeling to fade.
Our alarm jolted us awake at 6 a.m. Heavy-eyed from a restless night, we fumbled for the lights to get started. The air was thick with anticipation, though neither of us said a word. I put breakfast on the hob, and we powered up with a bit of Lion’s Mane mushroom (highly recommend it for that extra focus!).
After breakfast, I geared up and took Coco out for a nice, long walk. The fresh air and movement were just what we needed to calm our nerves and loosen up for the day ahead.
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All packed and ready, we headed to Gargrave to get in a quick mile so we wouldn’t fall short at the end. It was a perfect morning—not too cold, cool and dry. The miles seemed to fly by, and our conversation flowed, keeping our minds off the distance. Before we knew it, we were nearing the resupply point.
Running this ultra was a self-supported mission, so we’d hidden supplies along the route. The day before, we took a train to Saltaire, a Victorian village near Shipley, West Yorkshire, and walked along the canal until we found our 20-mile mark—a perfect spot to stash our supplies.
As we walked, we noticed part of the canal was blocked off for maintenance. Thankfully, we’d gotten off the train at Saltaire to scout it out; otherwise, we would have been caught off guard by the detour on the big day! Luckily, it wasn’t too far out of the way, and we could re-join the canal without much trouble.
We hid our resupply bag behind a tree along the canal, covering it with dry leaves for camouflage. We also tucked an Apple AirTag inside to keep track of it (a brilliant idea, courtesy of my wonderful husband ☺️).
Twenty miles flew by, and as we arrived at our resupply point, we topped up on water and crammed some extra gummies into our running vests. After a quick break, we were back on track.
To our surprise, we felt strong, maintaining a comfortable pace of 9:50 per mile. Even this far into the journey, everything felt smooth—no cramps, no blisters, no nausea. Just pure joy and adventure with every step. It was incredible.
Seeing the city of Leeds growing closer filled us with an indescribable sense of accomplishment. We pushed hard for the final mile, crossing the finish line at an average pace of 9:58 per mile. Our total time? 5 hours and 19 minutes. To say we’re chuffed is an understatement!
But the best part isn’t just completing the 50km—it’s knowing that we did it for a cause we believe in. Raising funds for The Forward Trust, an organisation that supports those impacted by addiction, has been an honour and a privilege.
As of the time of writing this blog we raised £226 which is more than we set out to achieve. You can check our Just-giving page click HERE.
Thank you to everyone who’s read, shared, and supported our journey. Your encouragement means the world to us!
Terri and Stephen
After completing our first ultra marathon, 50 km plus an extra stretch just to prove we could go further—we wanted to share some fun facts, and everything that kept us moving from start to finish. As we mentioned before this was a fully self-supported run, and we learned a lot along the way about fuelling, hydration, and pushing past limits.
Preparation Is Key, to make sure we had everything we needed, we planned out every detail:
Fuelling Up before the Run, we started the day with a solid breakfast which made all the difference:
-A big bowl of semolina with
-25g of raspberry jam,
-25g of peanut butter,
-half a banana,
-120g of blueberries,
-scoop of Huel
This kept us energized and ready to tackle the first stretch of the run. We also noted our weights after breakfast to see the difference post-run.
Our fuelling strategy was to start snacking 50 minutes into the run and then continue every 30 minutes. Here’s what we consumed along the way:
2 litres of water each – though we probably should have brought more, as we started feeling it by the end!
4 portions of running gummies each for quick, sustained energy.
2 portions of energy gels each for a burst of carbohydrates.
2 bananas each for extra carbs and potassium to keep our muscles working.
Along the route, we hid a resupply bag with water and snacks. Thanks to the AirTag, we could track it and refuel easily—definitely a lifesaver for our energy levels.
The day before, we put dry clothes in storage at Leeds train station so we could stay warm on the 50-minute train ride home. Nothing beats slipping into warm clothes after a challenging day!
Once we reached Leeds train station, it was time to treat ourselves:
•Plant-based burger – a well-earned comfort meal after all those miles.
•Vegan chocolate cookie to satisfy the post-run sugar cravings.
•Coffee to help recharge for the journey home.
Back home, we weighed ourselves to see the impact of the run. Even though we kept drinking and eating both during and after the run you can clearly see how demanding long distance running can be. The real Aftermath of our first ultra is that we burned approximately 4000kcalories lost huge amount of water and: I (Terri) lost 1.5 kg, while Stephen lost 2.1 kg over the course of our first ultra run.
Our first ultra-marathon is just the beginning. This experience taught us that we’re capable of more than we imagined, and we’re already thinking about the next adventure. Whether it’s a new distance, a tougher route, or another cause to support, we’re ready to push our limits again so come along with us and enjoy the ride but do us a favour and from time to time please… Login To Your Life!
Thank you to you all again, and please don’t forget to follow our socials and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Don’t forget to check out our Preparing page in case you missed it before.
Just a short disclaimer: We are not professional runners neither are we trainers or qualified nutritionists. The above blog is our journey and story not aimed as advice. 🙂
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