KINGDOM OF NORTHUMBERLAND ULTRA

By Michael Bissett

Throughout my time running marathons had never been a big pull for me. How on earth did I find myself at the start line at the Kingdom of Northumbria Ultra?

To be fair I have always said that an Ultra had more appeal than a marathon. When you tell people you are running a marathon the first thing they ask you is “What time are you looking for?” but when you tell them you are running an ultra the first thing they ask you is “How far are you running?" I have always found the difference in attitude interesting.

My preparation for the Northumbria was far from ideal. For the past two months I have been suffering from chronic back pain which has curtailed my running, especially at club during the early part of 2026. Thankfully this has eased considerably and did manage to get some distance training in.

A big part of the race was getting the fuelling strategy correct. This has been a problem in a couple of the marathons I ran in 2025. I don’t love gels and take as few of them as possible, but salt tablets have been a revelation. Alongside the electrolytes and sugary sweets hopefully it would be ok.

Onto race day itself and I wasn’t running alone. Fellow club member Tom Farrell was along for the fun and also running his first Ultra. It was a very early start. We left the hotel at 5.30am to get to Druridge Bay Country Park to be picked up by the buses and to be taken to Bamburgh Castle to the start line. The race was a staggered start and by 8.30am our challenge had started.

The start of the race was along the road leaving Bamburgh Castle towards the next village before heading onto the coastal path proper. Reaching the costal path is where the race really came into its own. There were many spectacular views, lots of castles, caravan parks and golf courses. I tried not to think about how far we had run rather think about what section of the race I was in. I had mentally broken it down into nine sections of 6km. I was using this as part of my fuelling strategy – take salt or a gel every 6km. I also had in my mind when we had less than a marathon to go, less than an 20milers to go all the way down to less than a parkrun! There was also lots of opportunities to take in the stunning Northumberland Coastline on a beautiful spring morning.

We were very lucky with the weather. It was a good temperature for running. During the race we were never far from the coastline which made for some varied terrain and some stunning views.

Everything was going to plan by the time we reached the first feed station after 13km and we were able to refuell and head into the second part of the race.

During the second part there was more coastline, spectacular castles and not so spectacular caravan parks. Everything was going well. Once we had passed the 30km mark was where I was aware of my first dip.

Running became more laboured and I was more aware of the headwind that we had battling. (This headwind was nowhere near as strong as Cramond but after several hours plays with your mind). At this stage it was a case of refocussing and just wanted the 30’s to be out of the way and get into 40km+. I was still fuelling well and feeling ok. There were a few climbs but nothing to speak of and the course was still interesting enough.

Heading into the last part of the race I could feel my energy dipping. Thankfully I recognised this quickly

and was able to get a boost from a sugary drink which helped me to keep going. I also was facing another mental challenge – the headwind. It was now irritating me and in my head, I was having a stand up argument with the wind telling it in no uncertain terms where it could go. At this point it was sheer will power that got me through the last section – run – walking – ignoring the wind. We eventually turned into Druridge Bay Country park and out of the wind. We ran a couple of km around the lake, and the finish line was there.

It was a strange feeling crossing the finish line. I didn’t really comprehend what I had achieved. I still find it hard to comprehend the amount of time I was on my feet running. The race was never about time – it was about getting from A to B. There was also a bit of redemption for myself after my fall in Steall Marathon back in September. That has left mental scars, and this has helped to put some of them to bed. Having a running buddy made it so the experience so much richer and well done to Tom who also completed his first ultra. If it wasn’t for Tom, I would have never had even considered running a marathon let alone an Ultra, thanks to Tom for helping me to find the belief to attempt it.

There are more Ultra experiences to come in the not to distant future. Those are for another day. Today I can officially say that Tom Farrell and Michael Bisset are Ultra Runners. Result.