E87. For Rangers Ultra Special | Running for Ranger Welfare in Kenya

10/07/23 • 136 min

Will and the team at BTU have recently returned from Kenya where the For Rangers Ultra was taking place. This is an absolutely unique event that offers runners the opportunity to run in East Africa’s beautiful scenery in open wildlife conservancies teaming with iconic wildlife. If the race itself weren’t awesome enough, all profits go to projects that support the welfare of wildlife rangers and so far almost £600k has been raised.

The 5-day, 220km race puts runners face-to-face with Kenya’s beautiful wildlife, an immense privilege and something almost never done on foot. Beyond that, it is an opportunity for the rangers to meet and interact with the runners who are pushing themselves through this ordeal to raise funds for them, and to hear directly what the life of a ranger is like.

In this episode we chat to Edward Ndiritu, the head of Lewa Conservancy's Anti-Poaching Unit about what the funds are used for, then with Race Director Kris King for an insight into what juggling 70 runners and uptown 200 rangers at a time is like. We then spend some time with our winners Lou Cole and James Hassan before, finally, we talk to seasoned race medic and ultra-runner Chris Hewitt who gives his unique view of the race as a medic and as a finisher.

Time Stamps as follows:

Edward Ndiritu - 0:12:05

Kris King - 0:16:55

Lou Cole - 0:53:10

James Hassan - 01:34:10

Chris Hewitt - 02:06:16

You can find Chris’ excellent race blog here: https://www.beyondtheultimate.co.uk/for-rangers-ultra-we-arrive-as-strangers

Learn more and enter For Rangers Ultra 2024: bit.ly/ForRangersUltra

Time Stamps as follows:

Edward Ndiritu - 0:12:05

Kris King - 0:16:55

Lou Cole - 0:53:10

James Hassan - 01:34:10

Chris Hewitt - 02:06:16

You can find Chris’ excellent race blog here: https://www.beyondtheultimate.co.uk/for-rangers-ultra-we-arrive-as-strangers

Learn more and enter For Rangers Ultra 2024: bit.ly/ForRangersUltra

Previous Episode

E86. Mountain Ultra Special | Racing among the Tian Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan

In this brand new episode, Will Roberts chats to Jon Shield and Kristina Madsen. Hear all about how they went about winning the recent Mountain Ultra, Beyond the Ultimate's inaugural race through the remote and beautiful Tian Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan.

You'll also hear from Race Director Kris King about his experience of creating and directing one of the toughest races in the BTU Global Race Series.

This race saw a first batch of pioneering runners take on 200km of technical trail with more than 10,500m of climbing over 5 gruelling days, all against the stunning backdrop of the breath-taking Tian Shan Mountain Range. Our winners will talk you through their time among those stunning peaks.

For anybody considering the Mountain Ultra - this is a must-listen. You'll hear some excellent advice on how best to prepare and plan for an adventure among the summits.

You'll also sample the winning mindsets of these two exceptionally driven runners as they reflect on the massive goals they've reached in their relatively short careers in ultra-running so far.

Enter Mountain Ultra 2024 here: https://www.beyondtheultimate.co.uk/race/mountain-ultra/

*Please note - Jon Shield's audio is occasionally lower quality due to signal problems when recording.

Time Stamps:

Kris King: 0:08:29

Jon Shield: 0:40:29

Kristina Madsen: 1:25:55

Next Episode

E88. Desert Ultra Special | Beating the Heat in Namibia

250kms over five days in the oldest desert on earth in temperatures of 50°c and higher. That's the challenge that faced the athletes who traveled with us out to Namibia just a few weeks ago for Desert Ultra 2023. The Desert Ultra is the longest race in the Global Race Series and this year's edition was the hottest race BTU has ever hosted.

In this episode, you'll hear from race director Adam Kimble about why he considers the Namib his second home, from our race winners Steve Williams and Ellie Milnes, and later in the episode an extremely inspiring interview with Andy Delderfield whose preparations for this race took place whilst he also underwent treatment for cancer. We know his journey inspires us and we're certain you will feel the same.

Keep your ears open for another shorter episode coming out very soon featuring BTU's very own Jenny Hall who was also out in Namibia finishing her first-ever ultra marathon!

Adam Kimble: 7:50

Ellie Milnes: 47:03

Steve Williams: 1:31:26

Andy DElderfield: 2:04:07