Sean Merryweather and Natalie Taylor ran to victory in the GB Ultra Chester Ultra 100 race – and broke the male and female course records.
First was Sean in 16:20:05, followed by Frankie Ralph in 17:20:04. In third place overall was Nat, of Brecon AC, who finished in 18:09:31 and took third place overall. Third male and fourth overall was David Shearer in 18:17:09. The second female was Caroline Hardie some four hours and 40 minutes behind Natalie in 22:52:51.
Both male and female winners recorded new fastest times for the event and Nat’s new course record is more than three hours faster than the previous record time set in 2019.
Nat’s latest race win
Nat has many race wins to her name, including a triumph in the extreme 6633 Arctic Ultra, a win in the Ultra Tour Monte Rose stage race in 2022 and victory in the Winter on the Downs 100 mile ultra race, to name a few.
It was her second GB Ultra – she was second female in the 2021 215-mile Race Across Scotland – and she revealed she was keen to see if she could run 100 miles in under 20 hours.
The Chester Ultra follows a route of 102 miles with 1590m of ascent along the Sandstone Trail, the Marches Way, Helsby Hill, Frodsham, Beeston Castle, Delamere Forest and the Bridgewater Canal.
Nat said: “I chose the race because it’s relatively flat and it also suited my work schedule. Plus, it’s not an area I know and I like to explore new places.”
She reports that the race went well. She said: “For the first 20 miles I ran alongside other people and I chatted to some interesting people. That was good because the first part of the race was on the canal and it is flat, straight and a bit of a grind.
“After about 30 miles, I spent most of the time running on my own. It’s a good race that is well organised and with signage so you don’t need to navigate.
“In the last 25 miles, there is a section where you loop back so I could cheer on other runners who were behind me. They also encouraged me on.
“I knew I was in first female position but I thought I was probably in the top 10 overall or maybe the top 5. It wasn’t until the last 12 miles that I discovered I was third overall. That really helped to keep me going.
“I ran the bits I could and fast walked the hills and tried to focus on my running style and technique.”
The final 400m is on a track. Nat, who was sporting her Flanci skort with a Welsh dragon design, said: “I have been doing quite a bit of track training recently to work on my running style and technique so the final part of the race was very familiar to me. I knew exactly how long it should take me to get the the end. I finished just after midnight and I was very pleased with my time and placing overall. It was great to set a new female course record, too.”
Nat added: “I would recommend this GB Ultra to people, especially beginners. It’s a great course and relatively flat.”
The race recorded a 63% finish rate this year. Of the 269 starters, 170 completed the course within the cut-off time of 32 hours. Entries are open for 2026. See GB Ultras Chester Ultra 100.