Join RunThrough Events for an exhilarating day at the Ladybower Reservoir Trail Half Marathon & 50k Ultra on Saturday 14th October 2023 in Hope Valley, Derbyshire. This event offers participants the chance to run in one of the largest reservoirs in the country, surrounded by breathtaking scenery in the Peak District National Park. Whether you're a seasoned athlete looking for a challenge or a first-timer eager to take on a new adventure, the Ladybower Ultramarathon is the perfect opportunity. The Ultra starts at 7am, followed by the Half Marathon at 9am, ensuring a full day of thrilling races and supportive marshals. Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to push your limits and enjoy a memorable day of running in a stunning location!
WE ARE EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE OUR ULTRAMARATHON AND HALF MARATHON EVENT AT LADYBOWER RESERVOIR ON SATURDAY 14TH OCTOBER 2023!
The Ladybower reservoir in the Peak District National Park is one of the largest reservoirs in the country and a perfect setting for our first event there. With stunning scenery and a team of enthusiastic marshals, the Ladybower Ultramarathon is perfect for both seasoned athletes and first timers!
HALF MARATHON ROUTE
The Half Marathon route consists of an hilly loop on a mix of surfaces including trail, gravel and road. The route involves climbing Win Hill and traversing west, all the while enjoying unbelievable views over the reservoir. From here you will descend to a double track road along the waters edge, before crossing the dam into Heatherdene parking and your first Aid Station. From here you climb once again, this time up onto Bamford Edge. after running along the top of the rock crags you will wrap around Lees Wood before returning to Bamford and the finish line!
50K ULTRA ROUTE
The 50K ultra route consists of an undulating loop on a mix of surfaces including trail, gravel and road. Starting at Bamford Recreation ground you will ascend Win Hill and enjoy breathtaking views of Ladybower Reservoir to the north. After traversing the ridge you descend to a double track gravel road along the waterfront, cross the dam and pass through our Heatherdene Aid Station. From here you will make a full circumnavigation of Labybower reservoir, passing two further Aid Stations along the way.
Now it is time to climb again! Heading up towards White Tor before descending back down to cross the A57. The final section of the route runs along top of Stannage Edge, with more stunning views of the surrounding area. Throughout this race you will climb and descend approximately 1500m, a great challenge for anyone looking to complete their first ultra distance trail race.
What's Included
Chip timed results
Unique themed medal
Free official event photos
Post race goodies.
Parking
Official parking for running festival will be off site, with shuttle buses to the event village.
Location
Event village for the running festival will be underneath the Derwent Dam.
start times
HM - 9am
Ultra - 7am
event village
Event village for the running festival will be underneath the Derwent Dam.
facilities
Baggage
We will have a secure area in the event village where you can leave your baggage. We recommend you bring as little baggage as possible. Your baggage tag is attached to your race number, you simply tear it off and attach to your bag. To collect, show your number to the baggage staff and they will help you find your baggage.
Toilets
There will be plenty of toilets available within the event village.
Additional information
Due to the nature of this event it is going to be cup-less. This means that we WILL NOT be providing bottled water on course. We will have bottled water in our Event Village for pre race and also every finisher will receive a bottle of Actiph Water after they finish.
Instead, we will have Aid Stations on both the Half Marathon and 50K courses. At these Aid Stations we will provide basic food supplies and un-bottled water in jugs that our marshals can use to refill you water bottles/flasks. We recommend that all Half Marathon and 50K runners use a hand flask, running belt or vest with which to carry essential items, as well as food and water.
RECOMMENDED KIT LIST
ALL DISTANCES
Trail Running Shoes
Running Vest or Belt
Sunglasses
Suncream
Food & Water (to be re-filled at Aid Stations)
REQUIRED KIT LIST (50K DISTANCE ONLY);
Hooded waterproof jacket
First aid kit (to include minimum blister plasters, bandage and tape to secure dressing)
Spare long-sleeved base layer top
Hat & gloves
Whistle
Mobile phone and/or GPS device (fully charged)
Head Torch
Emergency foil blanket or bivi bag
Emergency food & drink
Reviews
Verified Purchase
A 'verified' purchase review means that we've verified that the person writing the review purchased their entry to this race on findarace.com.
Brilliantly course-marked. Great amount of aid stations (I've seen 2 less in a full 50 mile Ultra last year). Big race feel from pre-start briefing to tannoy congrats as you finish. YouTube vids and GPX told you everything you need to know - 33.6 miles and 3-4 stiff climbs/likely walking sections. Miles of runnable tracks around the water, married with technical boulder-dodging and concentration across the edges in final third of the race. I was suitably impressed and would recommend/enter it again.
The Marshalls were lovely and supportive. Aid stations were okay.
Course: tough underfoot. Another trail marathon that measures way over the official distance, over 10%!
3 miles over 50k is a lot.
I wait for a day when you're not out for an extra hour in tough conditions. Plz plz reduce the distance if needed to official distance or fairly close rather than adding miles and miles.
Registration: not having proper toilet and changing facilties is massively off putting especially for ladies. We have no where to change after a wet run and if we have our time of the month, what are we supposed to do with no running water. This is not inclusive eventing. Having registration in a field is just not on, especially in the autumn and winter.
Won't be doing again until facilites are improved and take reduce the course distance.
I've done other runthrough events and atleast the course was accurate.
What a fantastic event this was from start to finish. The comprehensive event guide, course map overview and pre race video gave us all the information we needed to answer all our questions and put us at ease (well as much as we could be for our first ultra!) There was ample parking on the day, which was well organised and got us in swiftly. Plenty portaloos for those last minute nervous wees! The start of the race was split into 3 waves to allow the elite runners to take off and not be impeded by the more novice runners. This also helped alleviate those imposter syndrome feelings and took the pressure off a bit as we set off in the 3rd wave with less pressure to keep up! The course itself was very well marked with flags every couple of hundred yards and arrows at every turn. We only made one wrong turn about 4-5 miles before the end when we couldn’t see a turn sign at a dog leg and went straight on instead, but we soon realised when we stopped seeing flags and turned back without going far out of our way (fortunately it was also on a downhill bit, lol). The finish was amazing with a hugely enthusiastic compere cheering us over the finish line, which made us feel amazing! One thing that would’ve helped would have been some distance to go signs on the approach to the finish as it was really hard to gauge how much further we had to go and we were really feeling it at this stage. We received our medals straight away along with water, a canned drink and choice of snacks which was really good. I’d purchased a t-shirt, which I thought was very reasonably priced as it is of good quality, a great material for running and a nice fit. Its just a shame it doesn’t have 50k ultra on it so I could show off my achievement, lol!!
All in all we were really impressed by the running of the event… we found it to be very professional, well organised and inclusive to people of all abilities. The course, whilst challenging, took us over every type of terrain possible and the scenery was just stunning. We met some lovely people along the way (runners are such a great bunch of people) and the marshals were amazing, standing outside all day in the sun, wind and rain with unwavering enthusiasm and encouragement. Thank you to you all! We would definitely recommend the Ladybower 50k Ultra, it was as a fantastic challenge and a great introduction to the world of ultra running. And if all Runthrough events are as well organised and as much fun as this one, we could most probably be tempted into signing up to another!
Overall enjoyed the race, not for the faint of heart that's for sure. Lots of different terrain to contend with - gravel, tarmac, mud, puddles and rocks too. The staff were great at every aid station. The trail was impossible to go wrong however I wish there were distance markers, at least every 10km just to help keep you going.
My first official ultra and I enjoyed it immensely. Firstly the event was brilliantly organised and the staff were super friendly all around. Aid stations were packed full of everything you could need. The course and setting was incredible, stunning and inspiring. The only criticism is that it was advertised as 50k but ended up being longer by almost 2 miles which was absolute killer but other than that, this was a pleasure to be part of and something I will be taking part in again next year
Excellent staff and marshalling couldn’t fault the organising team at all, lots of staff and very helpful and friendly, best thing about the event. There was no mobile signal for much of the course which is a risk. A lot of tarmac to run on. A small thing - would have liked more salt snack options at the aid stations.
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