THE annual Imber Ultramarathon is due to take place early next month, again as a joint enterprise from the Avon Valley Runners and the Rotary Club of Westbury.
The competition, which saw 80 starting runners last year, follows a 33 mile route through the Westbury and Warminster area.
This year, there are in excess of 100 enrolled competitors, and 120 people expected to run on the day. The race will start from Leighton Recreation Centre at 9am on Sunday 8th March, and finish in the same place.
The event is sponsored by Myddelton & Major, Morrisons (providing water), SK Fruits (providing bananas for the runners), White Horse Pottery (making commemorative mugs for the runners), and from The Co-op supermarket.
The race will begin at Leighton Recreation Centre, before runners ascend the escarpment of Salisbury Plain, then follow the Imber Range Perimeter Path in an anti-clockwise direction.
In the first 10 miles they pass round the town of Warminster and a number of iron age hill forts on footpaths. They then run on metalled roads, bridleways and tracks to the east then the north.
On the way they pass through some of the most remote parts of southern England, apart from a German village around the halfway mark! The final 10 miles are westward along the north side of the training area. Here the going is good on roads or big tracks, but it will be against the usually prevailing wind to add to the challenge.
The final couple of miles include the biggest descent of the day, back to the finish again at the Leighton Recreation Centre.
Spectators are welcome along the route and there will be five checkpoints, at roughly 7, 13, 18, 22, and 28 miles.
For more information about the race, go to www.imber-ultra.org.
