Ladybower Reservoir Trail Half Marathon & 50k Ultra

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.

Great route and brilliant organisation. Will definitely be back in 2024.

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.

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.

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!

Such a well organised event, great communication on the run up, very well marshalled and sign posted on the day and a great trail.

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.

Great ultra!
A fair bit of road running in middle section, the last climb at 27miles is fun!!
Well organised and beautiful views.