Caithness athlete Budge goes the extra miles to finish 2nd in age group at Chester Ultra 50
John Budge put in a solid performance to finish second in his age category at the Chester Ultra 50 on Saturday.
The North Highland Harriers runner completed the multi-terrain 50-mile ultramarathon in 8 hours 50 minutes and 42 seconds.
It saw him cross the line in 40th position overall out of 459 finishers, and he was 35th out of 352 male finishers.
John, who is a committee member at the club and organiser of the Caithness Half Marathon, said he travelled down to the city last Friday to take on the event in the Harriers blue and yellow colours.
“It’s a 50 mile ultra-marathon on the Welsh border with stunning scenery,” he said. “It actually turned out to be 52.5 miles but it didn’t make much difference, really.
“It was a 6am start on Saturday. I really enjoyed this one.”
John was second in the male 50-54 category.
The event is hosted by GB Ultras and links trails along the North Cheshire Way and the Sandstone Trail taking in Helsby Hill, Delamere Forest and Frodsham.
John has little time to recover from his efforts, with his next race coming up in eight weeks’ time when he takes on the 56-mile Cateran Trail Ultramarathon on May 10.