My Journey to 200 Miles
Wild Horse 200:
‘The ultimate 200 mile ultra marathon in Wales, Wild Horse 200 is one life changing adventure across the trails and mountains of South Wales’.
Well that’s a wrap with 2024! 2025 is going to bring some special adventures, one of them being my first 200-mile, non-stop ultra, Wild Horse 200. I have done a couple of 100-mile races now along with many multi-day routes in far-flung places such as Albania and Kyrgyzstan. Whilst these adventures have been amazing, I have a real passion for local adventures. There is something special about knowing your local area. Something a lot of us seem to forget.
What is the Wild Horse 200?
Here are the stats:
-21st-26th May 2025
-Chepstow to Worms Head
-120 Hours Cut Off
-200 Miles (322km)
-9,000m of Vert (Garmin thinks more like 10,000m)
It is a non-stop race which means that once the clock starts it doesn’t stop until you reach the finish line. Checkpoints are roughly every 25 miles, and I am allowed my own crew. Kelp and Fern did a fantastic video you can watch below.
To take a step back, at the start of 2024 I was on a family holiday in Scotland. I rolled my ankle on a run. My first real running injury. I got an x-ray and I had managed to break one on the bones in my ankle. I eneded up in a boot for 8 weeks and still doing physio to this day (roughly 11 months post injury).
It still doesn’t feel ‘normal’. I have learnt to deal with it now though and will continue to do the work to stop it from happening again.
Having my ankle gave me a bit more time to think about running, and whilst I have worked many events as a race director and route marker, I had never been a volunteer at one. I had already heard about Wild Horse 200 through friends, and it just sounded like the type of event I would enjoy. I put my name down to help at the 2024 event.
Whilst the volunteering was hard work, it was incredibly rewarding. I came away from those few days knowing that I wanted to attempt the 200-mile distance, and this was the perfect event. If you haven’t yet volunteered at an event yet, I would highly recommend it.
Back in 2012 when the Dragons Back Race had its revival, I remember looking at it in awe. I remember so clearly looking at the details thinking how epic an adventure it looked. I never considered I would take on a similar challenge. Signing up to run 200 miles just seemed like a logical progression from what I have already completed. I have the same feeling now as when I signed up to my first 100 mile race, The Cotswold Way Century. A feeling I didn’t get on the following 100 milers.
Training
I have 20 more weeks to train. For the past 15 weeks I have been focusing on getting my body into a position where it will be able to cope with the strain of my program. With recovery from my ankle injury, I had to train to train! The 200-mile distance is new terrain for me. Learning how to train, and what works for me is one big experiment. It can be hard to train if you don’t have a focus. On the backside of that, having a focus can lead to missing out certain elements whilst you train others. I have planned a dynamic training plan which encompasses:
Move More
Move Slow
Move Fast
Move Heavy
Recover Well
All of these elements combined are to make me Adventure-proof. Training to do a 200-mile race is not just taking a 100-mile training program and doubling it. You would end up running a crazy amount of miles, and not getting much benefit back. Between now and race day I will continue to keep this blog updated and dive more into the training and prep for Wild Horse 200 Mile Race.
*Update- 14th March*
10 weeks out from the start line. Do I feel ready? In not sure to be honest! What I do feel is incredibly excited.
This past block of training on the whole has gone well. Looking back at my mileage over the years, this is the highest one ever, and the niggles have been small.
My left knee has been struggling to keep up and I think I am at the limit of what I can do without causing more issues. I believe it’s still my left leg overcompensating for my right ankle still. The yoga/ strengthing is keeping it at bay, but something to work on before the big day.
The weekend just gone I spent on the route checking out the more mountainous sections. Starting near Pandy Matt and I did a one-way route which was great for covering loads of miles. Little did we know that Beast of the Blacks was also happening the same day (hence the Strava name!). Of the 6 hours we spent out on the course it gave me a lot to consider, mostly how much water to carry between checkpoints. I have a Salomon water filter which goes straight into a soft flask and it’s great. Having the extra security that you can fill up if needed just means I’m less reserved about how much to consume.
The next block of training is going to be less consistent than the previous ones. I’m very excited to be spending a week in Mayrhofen with work skiing coming up. Whilst I’m not sure I will get many miles in, the running shoes are going in the bag!
Between now and the big day are some high mileage weeks with a focus on:
-Improving my strength endurance. I’ve done the short sharp hills, now I need to go into low gear and be consistent on longer hills.
- Route practice. Getting on the route and checking places where navigation might be more tricky. I am now confident on the first 200km, yet the final 100km I haven’t touched.
- Checking all my kit. I know my watch won’t last the distance so I have a solution to try charging on the go, yet to test! Also shoes I am undecided on yet, I imagine there will be a few different pairs!
- Lots more strength work! want to make sure my hips and legs are firing on all cylinders come race day. Maybe in the next update I will detail exactly what strength work I have been doing.
If you haven’t already booked a ticket, make sure to check out the running 100 miles talk I will be doing with Naomi at Ellis Brigham Bristol and Manchester. Tickets are nearly sold out, but you can still get them here.
See you on the trails!