Priory Ultra, 6th June 2026
Three Claremont Road Runners took on this 100 kilometre challenge along the beautiful Northumberland coast – Nina Jensen, Arthur Liu and Roberto Marzo. Nina send us this report:
“An A to B event along our beautiful coastline from the shadow of Bamburgh castle to Tynemouth Priory. As soon as I saw this event advertised I signed up.
The start was staggered in 2 waves with runners starting in groups of 15 at a time. I had opted for the earlier 6-6.30 am start while Arthur and Robbie were in the second wave. After picking up my number and tracker and getting my kit checked we were off.
Knowing the area well having walked or ran each part of the route helped as I could picture what village was next and break the route down into small chunks. Pretty soon the eventual winner shot past at a pace I can barely sustain on a 5k, not long after Robbie caught up with me and after some words of encouragement and a couple of selfies, he was off.
Checkpoints every 10 or so miles in most instances allowed me to top up water and grab a snack or two to keep me going until the next one. The weather was generally kind apart from a head wind along the entire route but the showers mainly stayed away and it wasn’t too hot. When we hit Alnmouth there were lots of walkers and runners who were doing the shorter of the 3 distances on the Coastal Challenge (Jamie did the ultra distance) so lots of mutual encouragement and company all the way to Druridge Bay which was their finish and our halfway point.
The second part of the route was more tarmac than trail and not as undulating although still some off road sections. At Cambois I had a surprise visit and some company for a stretch from Rose and her fancy new bike which gave me a boost. She was also able to keep me updated on where Robbie and Arthur were. This section was the longest between checkpoints with a 17 mile gap from Newbiggin to Seaton Sluice so it was good to see a friendly face or too long this stretch. This section also had a bit where you ran through a very overgrown field (we had been advised there would be a marked diversion but it wasn’t apparent).
Soon I was running the last stretch from Seaton Sluice to Tynemouth. Once I got past the Spanish City I looked to see what the actual time was as knew Lena was in post at Cullercoats until 7pm. Best get a wriggle on then if a want to see her!Amazingly I made it in time and get a massive energy boosting hug! She said she’d had so much fun she was staying on for longer to see Arthur finish. Soon enough I rounded the corner to see the Priory looking splendid in the evening sun, after on last detour off the main path to head right around the point, I was heading over the cobbles in the gateway to the finish.
What a great event and a brilliant adventure.”
Well done to all three, a great achievement, but an extra big shout for Roberto who finished 4th overall!
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 4 | Roberto Marzo | 9:39:17 |
| 81 | Nina Jensen | 13:04:25 |
| 155 | Arthur Liu | 14:42:51 |
