Rat Race The Wall, 14th June 2025
Arthur Liu is the latest nutcase amazing, dedicated runner to take on the challenge of The Wall – and he did so successfully! This is his tale of the day:
“After years of talking about attempting an ultra-marathon across northern England, it was time I gave it a shot. The ‘Rat Race The Wall’ is a 70-mile challenge starting at Carlisle Castle and ending at Baltic Square in Gateshead.
My preparation spanned over a year and consisted of first recceing the 2024 route and ensuring I had the right footwear to tackle each stage. The second was to complete ‘The Kingdon of Northumberland Ultra’ and the ‘Beyond Trails 55KM Ultra’. Shout out to Nina Jensen who also did the ultra-marathons, and I learnt a lot following her on both runs.
Now that the training was over, I was ready – hoping for a dry race. Alas, this was not the case. Waking up at 5am on the 14 June 2025 and drawing back the curtains at the hotel, the skies were dark, and it was torrential rain. As many people from the club know, I’m a fair-weather runner and this brought on dread. At the end of the day there was nothing to be done about this but to put on my waterproof running jacket and get on with it.
Driving to the start line the rain started to ease so hope was there, and by the time my wave was called up, it was light drizzle, a good sign. As the countdown began, I mentally reviewed my pace notes and set off. After about a kilometre in, I noticed I was getting overtaken by a lot of people and I thought to myself, have I got my numbers wrong? However, I thought to myself, I must run my own race.
By Lanercost, I was ahead by 20 minutes, so I was very happy, feet were good, no aches or pains, and the rain had finally stopped. The organisers put on a good spread of savoury and sweet treats to keep me fuelled and there is nothing better than a hot cup of tea to get going.
By Walltown Quarry, I had lost 2 minutes, so still on track and met my wife with a change of footwear to trail shoes to tackle this section. I was hoping the time in the Cumbrian fells would pay dividends here.
By The Sill, I was behind by 30 minutes, the rain earlier in the day had made the previous section brutal!! The only saving grace was that this brutal section was finally over, and it was now a switch back to road shoes.
By Hexham, I was still 30 minutes behind, but I knew that I was over halfway and now on the last stretch to home.
By Newburn, I made back 4 minutes, so happy that I was back on track, but this leg had been my worst, it consisted of long straights, and I did not have the energy to run. I walked most of it and hated every step. However, I was given hope, there were cold cans of Coca Cola available, and I gulped one down and took another for the road.
Baltic Square, jubilation, I had successfully hit my target to get back to the Quayside to get a pint at last orders!! With the power of Coca Cola, I was able to run most of the last five kilometres to finish off this race. A pint never tasted so good!!
In summary, this ultra is brutal but the feeling of crossing the finish line is divine. Would I do it again, maybe, just maybe….”
Well done, Arthur – a fantastic achievement!
