© Callum Jolliffe

This week the 300-mile Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra is nearing its 8-day cut-off point. Come tomorrow, the few racers who haven’t scratched will have been on the go for 7 days, and Canadian ultrarunner Jessie Gladish knows just what they’re experiencing. Jessie has completed the 300-miler once and is a three-time finisher of the 430-mile distance which runs every other year – last year becoming the first woman to finish it on cross-country skis. It took her almost 12 days.

Set in the frozen, snowy Yukon wilderness in Canada, the race is utterly brutal with temperatures sometimes reaching -50c. Competitors are self-sufficient and the clock never stops as they pull their gear, food, survival kit, bivvy and water behind them in a heavy pulk, sleeping by the trail in bitterly cold temperatures. Days are relentless and dark for up to 14 hours. Frostbite is a real danger. Fascinated by this race, I put some questions to Jessie, who has also completed the 300-mile Iditarod winter ultra in Alaska, on what draws her to the ‘world’s coldest and toughest ultra’.

Renee McGregor is a sports and eating disorders dietitian and author who works with elite athletes, Olympians and Paralympians. A specialist in eating disorders, earlier this year Renee co-founded #TRAINBRAVE with athlete Tom Fairbrother to raise awareness of ED in sport, address the culture that contributes to it and encourage openness.

An accomplished ultra-runner herself, Renee is a two-time finisher of the seven-day Manaslu trail race (220km through the Himalayas) and has completed, amongst many other ultras, the Gower 50 ultramarathon. We cover this, #TRAINBRAVE and more in this Q&A.

Photo Credit: James Mitchell

When professional Ironman triathlete Alice Hector fell in love with ultra-running she set her sights on reaching the coveted 100-mile ultra-running landmark. From training insights to fuelling and pacing, here she shares the lessons she learned along the way.