Creating A Path ‘Into Ultra’ Running
By Shirin Shabestari
Into ultra is a registered charity that aims to bring more diversity and inclusivity to ultra running. It’s founded by Andrew Heaney (Basil), Damian Hall, Shirin Shabestari and a few other keen ultra runners who are passionate about the sport/community and realised that the start lines of ultras don’t quite reflect the diversity of the society. Currently women, ethnic groups, those with disabilities and lower income groups are all under-represented in ultrarunning. One of the primary reasons is financial barriers. Ultras are not cheap. From race entries to travel costs and kit, getting to the start line of an ultra race is beyond many people’s affordability. This means that sadly not everyone can afford to enjoy the huge benefits that comes from running ultras. Improved physical and mental health, sense of achievement, belonging to a community and above all, enjoyment and fun being out on the trails and in nature are benefits sadly inaccessible to some people who probably need them most.
Over the last two years, we have had over 180 applications and supported over 120 runners. Over 50% of our runners are female and over 10% BAME. A lot of the people reaching out to us have had difficult backgrounds and challenges and running has given them a new lease of life. It really makes us feel we are making a difference.
Phill Hill©
“I am so humbled and feeling beyond grateful for Into Ultra and the wider community, who are coming through for me during such a difficult past year where my life has turned upside down and kept alive the one thing that has kept me going during this time and that's running, I just want to keep on running and moving in nature.”
But we couldn’t have done that without the generous support of our partners. The support we provide is varied. We provide our runners with race entries, coaching, kit and courses such as navigation or trail running skills and workshops. A huge number of races and coaches have partnered with us and offered us free or discounted entries. We also work closely with Kitsquad, a charity that provides second-hand outdoor kit. Other partners provide us with books, courses and guided runs. We have some fabulous ambassadors such as Jasmin Paris, Allie Bailey, Renee McGregor and Claire Maxted who have provided our runners with free webinars and advice. We started off with a small fund and now working on grant applications to raise funds to offer even more help where needed. We are also working on building a strong community around our runners – something that a lot of our runners value. We have an active Facebook group where we engage with our runners’ journeys and experiences, and offer monthly social zooms to chat all things running. We have a growing bank of useful advice through our articles on our website too.
Reaching out to us is simple. Runners apply to us through a simple application form online describing their background, and why they need the support and how they benefit from running. We then select runners who need our help most. Many runners have now done their first ultra with us and pursuing their ultra goals. Some have just started their journey with us.
How Can I Support?
Looking to the future, we have some great plans for how we can help more runners in more ways and improve inclusivity. But to do this we need more support from the ultra-loving community. Here are some of the ways you can get involved:
Partner with us:
Ourea Events has recently joined us as a partner. If you provide races, coaching, and courses, you could offer our runners free or discounted places? We love to work with more of you out there.
Donations:
A lot of us are in the privileged position to afford ultras. Can you spare a few £ towards our funds?
Become a friend of into ultra:
You love running, you are an experienced ultra runner and love supporting others along their journey? You can join us as a friend of into ultra, join our FB and our social zooms and offer support and share experiences with our community
Spread the word:
One of our biggest challenges is reaching out to those ultra-curious people who are just sitting outside the ultra running community. Can you spread the word on your socials and communities?
Donate kit:
Have you got any running kit that you don’t need anymore? Kitsquad.co.uk could rehome them for you!