‘You’ve just got to keep moving’ – Former Lakeland 50 and 100 winner Emma Stuart’s advice for Lake District ultra

When it comes to the Montane Lakeland 50 and 100, Emma Stuart is certainly someone who can provide sound advice.

The Lake District-based runner won the Lakeland 50 in 2021 and returned to win the Lakeland 100 last year, having only began her ultra journey in 2018.

Stuart has made a significant impression in the sport already, and has enjoyed a superb 2023 – she beat the women’s course record as she won the Arc of Attrition in January, and produced a dominant performance to triumph in the 100M race at Ultra-Trail Snowdonia by UTMB in May.

Winner’s approach

She has offered useful guidance to runners ahead of the 2023 races this weekend, underlining the importance of continuous forward momentum, recceing the routes and testing out kit before the event.

“You’ve just got to keep moving,” she said on Lakeland 50 and 100 Access All Areas, a collaboration with the Young Hearts Run Free Podcast. “As soon as you stop, or lose a lot of time faffing, it just becomes a lot more difficult.

“The cut-off times are pretty generous, so even if you’re concerned that you’re not going to be fast enough, actually, if you’re efficient in moving, you’re not going to be timed out.

“It might be hard to keep running, but actually everybody can keep putting one foot in front of the other and you can keep walking.

“It’s amazing how we can keep moving forward.

“For both the 50 and the 100, recceing the route is so important. I’m a big believer in recceing routes. I’ll never go into a race without recceing it.

“Primarily because I’m rubbish at navigation, but also because it allows me to analyse the terrain.

“[I can] decide I can run this section, that’s a really good section, or this is a really big climb so I’m going to eat something at the base of or I’m going to eat something on my way up.

“Mentally preparing yourself for quite technical sections, like your Tilberthwaite section. If you know it’s going to be hard, it’s a lot easier to cope with it.

“It’s also knowing your kit, what you think your going to carry on the way and training with it, knowing what sort of conditions it works in.

“If you’ve got a waterproof jacket, is it going to cope with being saturated for 12, 15, 20 hours?”

Sickness and suffering

Stuart may have clinched victory in the Lakeland 100 last year, finishing in 23:05:54, but she explained how the race was far from a straightforward affair.

“It was awful. I had such a bad race,” she said. “People will hear this and think it’s rubbish because I did finish first female, but I really suffered to get there.

“It wasn’t what I hoped for, really, in terms of my performance and how I felt.

“I’m glad I did it and the best thing about it is I very nearly quit. I was unable to keep anything down – water, gels, I couldn’t keep anything down, I was really sick. I was sick from about 20 miles in.

“Whether it was because I had set off too fast, or whether it was because of a nasty stomach bug that was going round work, or a combination of both.

“It made for a very, very miserable race where I just felt absolutely horrific for about 22 hours.”

Approaching the Dalemain checkpoint just over 59 miles in, Stuart had resigned to handing her tracker in and calling it a day, but after seeing the leader heading into the toilet just up the road, she realised she was still in with a chance of winning and managed to summon the strength to power on.

“It goes to show that no matter how low your feel or how much you think the game is over, it’s not, you can always come out the other side, you always can,” she noted.

“That’s the most important thing, you can always go further than you think you can.

Crowd boost

The Lakeland 50 and 100 attracts large crowds each year, generating a terrific atmosphere for runners, and Stuart says that is the aspect of the event she most enjoys.

“It’s the scenery to some extent, but I think for the race itself, it’s the support, it’s the spectators, the people cheering you as you come through Ambleside,” she said.

“The people cheering you at the end at Coniston, the people at Dalemain at the start of the 50, all the marshals who treat everybody as if they’re exactly the same and they’re all a hero.

“I think it’s that atmosphere, that support that is just incredible, egging you on.

Lakeland return?

Stuart is back at the Lakeland 50 and 100 this year as a guest speaker, but won’t be running as she targets other challenges for the time being, though she hasn’t ruled out a return in the future.

“Part of me does [want to do the 100 again], but part of me is afraid that I would repeat what I did the last time,” she added.

“I know I can do better with managing myself. The Arc of Attrition was my perfect race and if I could apply that to the Lakeland 100, I think it would be superb day out.

“It’s my home turf, I should be able to enjoy it.

“I don’t think for a couple of years, maybe. I have a few other things that I want to tick off first and then I might come back and attack it with a vengeance.”