When people heard I was running a 100-mile ultra marathon from Edinburgh Castle to Glamis Castle, the reaction was usually the same: “Just why?!” Fair question. A distance that takes a couple of hours by car probably should not be done on foot, let alone in one go. But somehow it became a good idea — this is how the race unfolded, what I learned, and some advice for anyone thinking about an ultra marathon, even as part of a bucket list!
Convincing myself this was a good idea
I started running seriously in my early 30s after joining Saltwell Harriers, mainly because I wanted to beat my Dad’s old times. Once I managed that, I needed a new challenge. Trail races with Hardmoors introduced me to ordinary people doing extraordinary distances — 30, 50, 100, even 200 miles — and planted the dangerous thought that perhaps I could try it too.
After finishing The Wall in 2024 — a 69-mile Rat Race ultra from Carlisle to the Millennium Bridge — my friend Ken and I recovered just enough to start saying, “Well, we’re not dead yet…” Then the social media algorithms did their thing, Rat Race 100-mile events started appearing, and we convinced ourselves that adding “just another marathon” to a 69-mile race was perfectly reasonable. We entered, postponed by a year because of a work trip, and suddenly 2026 was the year.
Training
Training started about seven months out. I kept it simple around work: three runs a week, usually one speed session, one tempo run and one long run. I also mixed in cross-country races where I could, and aimed for a marathon-distance effort roughly once a month, either in training or at events such as Saltburn Marathon, Kingdom of Northumbria Ultra, White Horse Marathon and the Great North 10K, which I was pacing for fun.
The Race
We chose the Edinburgh to Glamis Castle route because it felt different: 100 miles, roughly half road and half trail, starting below Edinburgh Castle and finishing at Glamis. Two work friends came along as our unofficial support crew. Rat Race pit stops are excellent, so support was not essential, but having familiar faces on the route turned out to be a huge boost. We registered on Friday, went for safe pre-race pizza and alcohol-free beer, then got up early to drop bags, drink coffee and join the first wave at 7.45am.
Start to Pitstop 2
We set off through the city centre and headed for Corstorphine Hill, a local nature reserve running around the edge of Edinburgh Zoo — near the zebra enclosure, I was told. It was a decent hill straight away, but early enough in the race that I could properly enjoy the trail downhill on the other side. I still think of that descent as one of the highlights of the race, because I love a good downhill. From there we headed towards Queensferry and the first checkpoint at mile 9, before crossing the Forth Road Bridge. We did not have any drop bags there, so it was a quick stop to top up liquids, grab flapjack and Haribo for later, and get moving again.
Continuing along the coastal path, seeing some gorgeous views of Edinburgh and the bridge, we hit pit stop 2 at mile 18 at Aberdour. We were both still feeling pretty fresh and still running, so again was a quick replenish and continued on. The heat was starting to rise after this pit stop and I certainly do not do too well in the heat. A couple of slower miles, and the best timing of a support car around mile 26 who we saw having a lovely picnic on the beach waiting for us. Chilled drinks, ice, more electrolytes – perfect! With new energy, we continued on and found an ice cream van (the classic 99 flake with monkey blood, gorgeous!).
Pitstop 3, 4 and 5
Pit Stop 3 was at mile 32, between Kirkcaldy and Leven at Coaltown of Wemyss. Our friends said we “still looked fresh”, which felt like a win. This was our first slightly longer stop, where we changed into different road shoes to help avoid blisters and shift the pressure points on our heels and soles. We also ate properly here, with sandwiches, sausage rolls and a whole host of lovely things on offer. From there we continued into Leven, reached Pit Stop 4 at Lundin Links at mile 40, then followed a sandy coastal stretch to Pit Stop 5 at Colinsburgh Town Hall at mile 45. Mentally, reaching Pit Stop 5 was a key moment: for anyone who has done The Wall, it felt like the equivalent of getting to Hexham, which can make or break your race. Overall, we were still feeling good. We had settled into a run/walk rhythm — run to the next direction arrow, walk to the following one, and repeat — and were happy with where we were mentally. The support crew then brought out a heated massage gun and decided to torture us for a few minutes each, much to their own amusement. In hindsight, a maxed-out calf massage probably helped keep the muscles in reasonable shape for longer.
Pitstop 6 and 7
We had left Pit Stop 5 in daylight and headed towards Kingsbarns Hall at Pit Stop 6, mile 57, before returning to the coast and joining the Fife Coastal Path. This began the long coastal stretch to St Andrews. We reached this section at night, and the coastal path was technically tough in places, especially at night. There was sand, flagstones, the usual up and down from beach to grass and back again, plus a couple of fun staircases and rock climbing, all by headtorch. There was a definite urgency because one part of the path would be underwater if we did not reach it on time. From where the tide was, I think we made it by only about an hour. We reached St Andrews at Pit Stop 7, mile 66 – the most golfing town I’d ever visited!
Pitstop 8 and 9
Walking poles were in full force, and we had finally left the technical coastal section. It was a shame this was dark, as leaving St Andrews we went to Guardbridge around the Eden Estruary Local Nature Reserve – it must be quite pretty in the daylight. This was a bit of a road section, and the longest straight line of pine trees I think I had ever had wandered through – this seemed to last forever! Ken was hallucinating a bit from sleepiness during this section and my memory is a bit sketchy here! Reaching Tayport pitstop 8 (mile 78), Ken was starting to hit full tiredness and had to take a 5 mins powernap to recharge. I was luckily quite perky (I had given up caffeine for 2 weeks, and in every ~25M was taking a cherry red bull!) so after a refuel we left, walking poles in hand. We had a plan to try and keep a decent walking pace as much as we can, using the walking poles to keep a good rhythm and focus. We continued through sunrise around the coast and onto the Tay Road Bridge – the longest bridge that just kept going and never-ended! Mentally crossing this bridge was great for us – we had said that if we reached this bridge, we were definitely finishing. Reaching the other side at Dundee, we travelled along a long pavement and dual carriageway – when you’ve been moving for the best part of 80M, I would say this is where the mental battles really begun! Not the most exciting terrain, with tiredness and muscle aches creeping up quickly. This is where we started the hill walking to approach the highest point in the race. Walking onto pitstop 9 (mile 92M), I had a crying, emotional moment saying “it was too hard!”. One of the support guys had found us with Costa coffee – tiredness had hit me, I was aching, we still had to climb the highest hill of the event. He continuously hugged me, gave a lot of encouragement and helped me pull myself together for the last push.
Push to the Finish
From Pit Stop 9 to the finish, our conversation was constant complaining, swear words and a detailed catalogue of aches and pains. First came the road hills. There did not have to be road hills — we could see a path to the castle that did not involve them — but the Rat Race organisers clearly wanted to make sure we had one final mental challenge. Never have I been so happy to have walking poles. The road hill eventually turned into a great trail hill, which would have been amazing on fresh legs as it had a cracking downhill. On knackered legs, with rocks poking out everywhere, we could not risk it. Once the massive hill was done, it became a game of “find the castle”. By mile 100, we still had not seen one, so there was more whinging, mainly because we were so close to finishing and just wanted it over with. Our support crew walked with us for the final mile, mile 102, and we crossed the finish line running, absolutely elated that it was over. We finished a very respectable 61st and 62nd out of 551 runners, and I was 10th lady, in 27 hours 56 minutes.
Ultramarathon Advice
- A 100-miler is both a physical and mental challenge. You need to be comfortable spending time in what we called “the pain cave”, and you need to practise keeping yourself moving when everything is telling you to stop. The body can do amazing things when the mind keeps backing it, but it is much easier if you have already experienced tough moments in training and learned how to work through them.
- Kit matters, especially what you carry and what you wear on your feet. Something that feels comfortable for a half marathon or marathon may not work over an ultra distance, so it is worth testing everything in training to a reasonable distance. The items I have found most worth investing in are:
- A decent running bag (you don’t want blisters on your back if it doesn’t fit well).
- A good waterproof. I have always worn Inov8 stormshells – and was able to get one 50% in the sale. Runners have DNFed when they’ve been too wet/damp from a cheaper waterproof.
- Good socks and multiple pairs of shoes. I wear Injinji Ultra Toe Socks (~£15 a pair, I kept the same pair on) and wore 3 pairs of shoes throughout the race to move the pressure points. I only ended up with one small blister on the heel. Blisters can end a race for a runner if severe enough.
- As part of your training, make sure you’re giving yourself opportunity to run/walk longer distances (ideally 20M+ at least once a month, and a couple of smaller ultras if you can). You’re going to spend a lot of time on your feet, and you need to be used to that feeling. It gives you opportunities to do longer distances regularly and test shoes/kit.
- Find a source of food/energy that you can stomach and make sure you have a regular supply of electrolytes. I only had one flavour, which I regretted in the latter part of the race as my mouth was bored of the flavour. I have a more sensitive stomach and indeed spewed a couple of times (this is normal for me when exercising), so it was important I had something on me/in my drop bag that I knew I could stomach and then topped up with pit stop food (which is awesome, they literally had everything!).
Would I do it again? At the time, we both said it was simply too long. The final 10 miles were one of the hardest mental challenges I have ever had in sport, and for now I am undecided. Maybe I will stick to races up to 50 miles for a while — but recovery has a funny way of softening the bad bits and forgetting them is exactly how people end up signing up for the next ridiculous challenge.
Christie Waddington
Christie’s Castle-to-Castle Video
Thanks to Christie’s support crew for the video.
