We believe in Ultras For All.
As part of our Ultra 50:50 initiative, we’re following ten remarkable women – our Ultra 50:50 Challengers – taking on their first ultra with us at Race to the King next summer.
Research we conducted in 2023 identified Representation & Perception as one of the major barriers for women looking to get into ultras.
Coming from a range of backgrounds and experience levels, each has a unique tale to tell about their own journey towards that distant finish line in West Dean Gardens.
Our hope is that by showcasing their stories over the coming months, we can inspire more women than ever to take on the challenge of an ultra in 2025.
Meet the Challengers
Alex
Alex works as a technical manager in the fashion industry. She initially signed up to her first ultra with Threshold in 2024, but after falling pregnant was able to take advantage of our pregnancy deferral policy to defer her entry to 2025 free of charge. She plans to run her first ultra at Race to the King next summer.
Aliyah
Aliyah is a Sunday Times Bestselling author and CEO of registered charity, Solace UK. Aliyah is currently in training for her first London marathon in April 2025, which she hopes to follow up with an ultra at Race to the King shortly after.
Along with her co-hosts, Aliyah presents Honest Tea Talk, a YouTube show and podcast designed to provide “honest conversations about issues we need to talk about as Muslim women and as a community.”
Aneeka
Despite being a relative newcomer to running, student engagement officer and personal trainer Aneeka is determined to show other Muslim women that “there are no limitations, and you can achieve great things when you go against societal norms.”
Aneeka took on her first marathon at London in 2024, and has been experimenting with other endurance challenges, including cycling and triathlon.
Berfe
Peckham-based Berfe moved to the UK with her husband two years ago from Turkey.
Since moving to the UK, she has found a home in the many running communities dotted around the UK’s capital, including She Runs, a Hackney-based initiative set up by 2024 Ultra 50:50 Challenger Nazrin.
Carla
Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Carla moved to the UK as a student and has since gone on to set up a successful plant-based culinary business with her partner Marco.
Working long and often unsociable hours as a chef, Carla found running was the perfect way to socialise and make friends in a non-drinking environment. She describes herself as a “proud slow runner” and hopes to share her ultramarathon experience and inspire other black women to take on the challenge.
Charlene
Charlene is a presenter and football personality from London looking to take on her first ultra at Race to the King next summer.
A passionate Arsenal fan, Charlene’s background in fitness and strength will certainly come in handy out on the trails. She completed her first marathon in 2024 and is looking forward to the challenges associated with going further.
Clare
Clare is a retired librarian and gardener from Hampshire. An avid walker and runner, Clare has completed multiple long-distance hikes with her husband Jonathan, including the 600+ mile South West Coast Path.
Now in her 60s, Clare describes herself as belonging to a ‘sandwich generation’, intermittently taking care of both her grandson and her elderly father, who has Alzheimer’s. Clare is taking on her first ultra with us to reclaim some valuable ‘me-time’ and hopes to show that one needn’t shy away from a challenge later in life.
Kate
Kate is a triathlon coach from Sussex who was recently diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Having been forced to reassess her training from the ground up, Kate is taking on her first ultra with us at Race to the King in the hopes of proving that Crohn’s needn’t hold anyone back.
As if that wasn’t enough, she will be run-guiding her partner and fellow coach Chris, who is visually impaired, around the course!
Racheal
Racheal is a London-based mental health practitioner who started running in 2019 – and it’s fair to say she has taken to it like a duck to water! Since then, she’s run four marathons and ten half marathons, and is now stepping up to run her first ultra as a Challenger.
Racheal has recently faced some challenges in her life, including the breakdown of a long-term relationship. She describes running and the community she has found as her “lifeline”, helping her stay on top of her mental health through a difficult chapter, and hopes to help others do the same.
Sophie
Sophie is a Doncaster-based mum of two. Despite only starting to run in late 2023, Sophie has gone from strength to strength, completing her first marathon at the Yorkshire Marathon in October 2024.
Married to a professional boxer, Sophie is determined to show her daughters that fitness is not just “daddy’s thing”, and will be toeing the line of her first ultramarathon with us next summer at Race to the King.
