Three years ago in 2015, I ran my first ever mountain ultra-marathon. It was the 54km route at the Scenic Trail in Ticino Switzerland, and at that time, is was the second hardest race (behind Ironman Wales) I had ever done. It took about 9 hours in hot and humid conditions, and I distinctly remember finishing the race and saying to myself “never again”. Well, not necessarily never again (we all know how that works out), but certainly not for a while. I also vividly saying to my friends and family that I had absolutely no desire whatsoever in running twice that distance. No way mate.

Fast forward to June 2018, I’m back in the same village where it all began; Tesserete in Ticino.

We know the saying: ‘fail to plan and plan to fail’ and this is particularly true for the ultra-runner and adventure racer. Somewhat ironically, you also need to plan for when things do not go to plan. Here are a few a few tips.

Part of the joy of running is deciding which challenge to set yourself next. The normal way to progress is to start ticking off UK-based distance races and then look a little further for your next dream challenge. Here we look at some of the magnificent races around the globe that can provide the ultimate high for distance runners. We’ve started off with the heavyweight UK races, then looked at European races and then global races. This article’s a little longer than usual. But you endurance types will love that. Sorry, puns. Moving on…

Do I get the prize for the most amusing race name? You have to admit that coming from a country where the word ‘boggin’ is common parlance and where you frequently run through miles of bog it has a certain amusement value.

Dogtag blogger Jonathan Baguley took part in the 2017 Grand Raid des Pyrenees; a 120km mountain ultramarathon in Saint-Lary Soulon in the Pyrenees. Have a read of how he got on and get an insight into the race itself.