On Saturday 15th October, the team from Camino Ultra (the brainchild of Darren Strachan, David Bone and Paula Bedford- all experienced ultra running competitors) invited our Goodgym crew to lead a vital aid station for the Epping Forest 50km.

Area Activator Simon joined Darren early on Saturday morning to help with building a primary checkpoint for stage 1 and stage 3 for this tough wooded out-and-back trail race. Using a camper van parked up outside the Butler's Retreat café in Chingford (by the Epping Forest centre), we unloaded two camping tables, two fishing shelters, jerry cans full of water and electrolyte mix and endless amounts of water melon, bananas, chocolate, soda drinks and crisps for hungry endurance runners. We had the full spread laid out by 8am, as the starter klaxon blared over in Wandstead Flats (the start and finish line by the Golden Fleece pub, Capel Road).

Within 12km of running along the green corridor, our runners would be met with the smiley faces of Aj, Sharon and Linda on a glorious Autumnal morning. We couldn't have picked a better day for this event- the wildlife was out (birds, squirrel and grazing cows on route) and the temperature was perfect! Just over 100 participants were running today, and we were able to track them live from an OpenTrack mapping device on every race number.

As almost every runner passed checkpoint 1 (and some of the super fast folks had already made their way back to checkpoint 3), John and Lorna joined Simon for the "afternoon" shift, chatting to friendly runners looking for encouragement for their return trip to Wandstead Flats. By this point, our runners would have 38km under their feet, and would have covered most of the major slopes- so fresh water, extra supplies and good vibes are hugely important at this stage!

As we approached the final hour of the race cut-off, we packed up the lovely camper van full of food, kit and camping equipment, and enjoyed a well earned meal and refreshments at the Butler's Retreat pub to finish off a solid day of aid station good times!

If you feel inspired, sign up to the classic Lea Valley 50km with Camino Ultra next year!

Saturday 25th March 2023, starting in Welwyn Garden City and finishing in Hackney Wick

https://www.letsdothis.com/gb/e/lea-valley-191400?utm_source=camino_ultra&utm_medium=organiser_referral&utm_campaign=preferred&utm_organiser_id=155819&eventId=191400#camino_ultra