Ultra Trail Running Skills Weekend - FEMALE ONLY | Borrowdale YHA | 8 to 10 March 2024

Your ultra journey starts here: we’ve teamed up with RunUltra, Scarpa UK, The Lakeland 100, the Lake District Sky Trails team to create an immersive weekend of running, skills and training that will prepare you to tackle your next (or first!) ultra or mountain challenge with confidence. Expect two and a half jam packed days of running skills with expert coaches, opportunities to learn from world-class elite ultra runners, and evenings talking trails and swapping stories over a glass of wine or a pint. You will:

• Learn how to tackle your first or next ultra in style and with ease
• Learn Navigation for Ultra Runners with Mountain Run
• Learn to 'walk and run' with Leki Trail poles [supplied] by Mountain Run
• Learn how to fuel and train for Ultra's
• Try out the essentials of yoga for runners
• Run with top level trail, mountain and ultra runners
• Learn about Mountain Weather and how to read the MWIS synoptics and more with Gary Nicholson from Mountain Weather Information Service [MWIS]
• Make friends for life and share your information with like minded trail runners
• Discover some of the finest trails in the Western and Central Lake District
• Test shoes from Scarpa UK
• A Chance to rub shoulders with UK top Ultra Distance athletes

Plus there will be highly interesting and informative talks from those involved and extra special guests*

*To be released in the new year.

All female trail and ultra runners who are thinking about tackling your first ultra-distance run/race or are already racing on the UK Ultra circuit but need help to progress, then this course is for you.

You don’t need to be a hardened trail runner to take part: from total trail addicts to off-road newbies, we’ve designed this ultra-immersive weekend to cater for all women.

Need to know more? For more details please contact enquiries@mountainrun.co.uk.

• Two nights' accommodation at the the Borrowdale YHA (note: this is single-gender premium dormitory accommodation)
• Male and Female guides and hosts
• Home cooked and hearty food all weekend – breakfast and dinners, with brews and cake thrown in [You will need to bring your own lunch]
• Notes to take home so you can review what you’ve learned
• Fun with like minded people and the chance to make friends for life!
• Two full days of training with world-class tutors and coaches
• Social run Friday evening
• Friday night film/talk by UK athletes
• Two chilled out evenings drinking, chatting, swapping idea's and learning from each other
• Fun and smiles – on and off the trails!
• More information than you can shake a stick at, all about ultra distance trail and mountain running
• Extra Monday Guided Run if you can take the extra time off and fancy putting what you have learnt into practice

• Lunch for both days
• Extra accommodation for Sunday night - £30 supplement for this choice
• Extra days guided run on parts of the Montane 100 route - £60 supplement for this choice

*** All the above extra choices can be booked at the time of booking the weekend.

Course Program:

Friday 17 March:

• 16:00 - Early arrival time
• 16:30 - Social 10/15km guided run with Marie Cheng from Lake District Sky Trails
• 18:00 - Later arrival time
• 18:15 - Social 5km+ guided run with one of the Mountain Run team
• 19:45 - Dinner at the Bury Hostel
• 21:00 - Film/Talk night or social chat with drinks [Available at the bar in the YHA]

Saturday 18 March:

• 06:00 - Option to: "Wake up Run"
• 06:30 to 07:30 - Session 1: Yoga for running form and flexibility for Ultra and Mountain runners
• 08:00 to 09:00 - Breakfast at the Borrowdale YHA
• 09:30 to 12:30 – Session 2: Nordic Walking and Running with Poles - session lead by Charles Sproson. Wake your muscles up with some light Nordic Walking around the valley. Charles will show you the benefits of Nordic Walking, the Nordic Running Style, Double Polling and much more, then she will explain how to make the transition to 'Running with Poles' for Ultra Distances and Mountain Travel. Once you have the skills working their magic, we will then go for a short run (3 to 5km) to get this ingrained in to your muscle memory and mind. - Remember, you can't run before you can walk, so the walking cycle is essential to good efficient travel.

• 12:40 to 13:20 - Lunch at Borrowdale YHA - You supply your own
• 13:30 to 14:30 - Session 3: Nutrition for Ultra Running: Its very specific for each runner, but in this session you will learn some of the pitfalls of fuelling and nutrition for ultra running and racing.
• 14:45 to 16:45 - Session 4: Navigation for Ultra Running: - Session lead by Mountain Run. Learn the tricks of the trade with a map and compass; understand the value of route recce's, and hear about all the most common ultra running navigational errors, so you can be sure you don’t make them on the big day! GPS devices encouraged and will be implemented into the session.
• 17:00 to 18:15 - Free time to run, shower and relax
• 18:30 to 19:30 - Dinner at Borrowdale YHA
• 20:30 - Talk/Film or relax and chat in the Bury Hostel

** Night option: Guided night run after dinner. There will be a £30 supplement for this session. You will be lead by head torch somewhere around the valley of Borrowdale or the Catbells Ridgeline, conditions dependant.

Sunday 13 March:

• 06:00 to 06:30 - "Wake up Run"
• 06:45 to 07:45 - Session 6: Yoga - Strength and Conditioning for Ultra and Mountain Running
• 08:00 to 08:45 - Breakfast at Borrowdale YHA
• 09:00 to 11:15 - Session 7: Running Form for Ultra's TBC
• 11:30 to 12:15 - MWIS weather chart interpretation with Gary Nicholson from MWIS
• 12:30 to 13:15 - Lunch at Borrowdale YHA - You supply your own
• 13:30 to 16:00 - Session 9: Guided Run - Blow the cobwebs of the weekend away with a guided trail run around the local fells of Patterdale. Session lead by Marie Cheng (Lake District Sky Trails) and other running stars [TBC] - other Special Guests may feature here.

Monday 10 March: - ** There is a supplement to pay for this day and will require an extra nights accommodation (£30 B&B plus £60 extra for the day)

• • 08:00 to 09:00 - Easy morning start with Breakfast at the Borrowdale YHA
  • 09:30 to 14:30 - Guided run around the the Scafell Massif offering a real 'Tour de Force' of the area's using some of the epic Rab Scafell Sky Race route. The run will be lead by Charles Sproson from Mountain Run with the possibility of some other fell/trail running stars [special guests TBC]

• Waterproof jacket & trousers (taped seams please)
• More than one spare L/S base layer, Primaloft layer or similar (NOCOTTON).
• Multiple Hats, Buffs or similar.
• Multiple gloves, appropriate for the temperature and weather conditions.
• Head Torch and spare batteries - we advise 250 lumens plus.
• Survival Bag.
• Whistle.
• Hill food and snacks for in-between meals, this is one action packed full-on weekend
• Compass, if you have one and want the 'Navigation Session' - we will supply the maps.
• Race Vest/Small Pack to put it all in.
• More than one pair of running shoes
• Multiple socks
• Thin soled shoes for slack-lining, if you have some (zero drop 3mm soles great), there will be some slack-line's set up on site to mess around on great for balance and core
• A spare set of clothes for the Missing Link Coaching session: you WILL get wet and muddy
• Plenty of running clothing and running shoes; do not under estimate how much you will use
• Towel and wash bag
• Shorts/trunks/bikini/swim suit for 'Run to Swim' assuming the conditions allow
• Single sheet, duvet and pillow or sleeping bag. Please note the mattresses need bedding
• A towel
• A good attitude and desire to learn
• Big smiles and plenty of laughter

Please be aware we might be moving at slow speeds at some points during the day: please account for this in your clothing selection. Check the weather forecast in advance of the training weekend and come prepared.

The Training Expert:

Charles Sproson, head of Mountain Run - view Charles' profile here

Marie Cheng; Lake District Sky Trails operations manager

Race operations, marketing and drive at LDST office, relatively new to Ultra Running but learning very fast and gives a great take on starting out and progressing through the ranks.

Garry Nicholson [MWIS] - The weather expert:

Garry has been working for MWIS since 2013 and is now one of the most active forecasters. He also manages ongoing projects and development for MWIS, and produces the popular video forecasts and social media content.

Garry has an MSc in Applied Meteorology and Climatology and a BA (Hons) in Geography and Broadcast Media.

Born and raised in rural Derbyshire, on the doorstep of the Peak District, Garry has always had an affinity for the great outdoors. Favourite stomping grounds include the rugged gritstone edges of the Dark Peak, the wide-open landscapes of the Yorkshire Dales and in more recent years bagging the classic fells of the Lake District, combined with regular trips to the Scottish Highlands.

Garry is a student of weather history, and loves to delve into the archives to uncover the ever-changing nature of the great British weather through the decades, analysing how various cycles and patterns combine to give differences over time.

UK Elite Ultra Runners

Emma Stuart: [Scarpa athlete, record holder on Arc 100, UTS 160 and winner of TdG 2023

Robyn Cassidy: [Winner of Dragons Back Race 2023 and the Rab Helvellyn Sky Ultra 2023]