North Wales man to create ‘legacy of hope’ with world’s largest female-only ultra-marathon

An endurance runner with inoperable cancer is organising the world’s largest female-only ultra-marathon in the Llyn Peninsula in north Wales.

After a successful launch with 500 participants last year, this year’s She Ultra on Saturday, April 12, has already attracted a record 1,800 entrants from around the world.

53-year-old Huw from Pwllheli was diagnosed with inoperable stage 4 neuro-endocrine cancer in 2019, and says his illness gave him time to think.

As a result,  he came up with the idea of creating an all-women ultra event to raise £1 million for various women’s cancer charities in five years.

The first She Ultra event was held on the Llyn Peninsula in April last year and saw participants run, hike or walk a 31-mile (50km) course, raising £30,000 in the process.

Barriers

Huw says because of his own health issues he is nowhere near the fitness needed to take part in ultra-marathon events but has vowed to lift any barriers stopping women taking part in this year’s She Ultra.

He said: “The main thing about the She Ultra, as well as raising money for women’s cancer charities, is that every single woman taking part feels as valued as the first one over the line and as valued as the last one over the line.

“The inaugural event was the biggest one in the world last year and it will be biggest one in the world again this year.

“Our USP is that we are an event, we are not a race, there is no cut-off.

“With the event comes responsibility and the She Ultra provides a safe space.

“All the front-facing staff are women, 95 per cent of those working on the event are women.

“We want to raise as much money as we can, we have raised £30,000 since January last year and want to target £1 million in five years.

“I have chosen five years because that’s the time some people with cancer will get to live once they are diagnosed with terminal cancer, and that’s if you are lucky.”

Red carpet

Huw explained the participants would be a mixture of walkers, hikers and runners – and they were coming from near and far.

There will be a pre-event celebration on Friday, April 11, with the ultra-marathon itself taking place on Saturday, April 12.

He said: “The majority of the women are walkers and hikers and then you’ve got about 20 per cent who are runners.

“Women are coming from all over the UK, Italy, Portugal, Poland, France, Greece and America.

“We are starting on the beach in Abersoch this year and will finish in The Maes at Pwllheli.

“We’ve got The Maes on the Friday and the Saturday and we have got a big stage.

“On the Friday evening, we will have the opening event and a small procession round the town for anybody who wants to take part.

“Then on theSaturday, there will be music, bands; there will be a festival feel, and there will be a big red carpet finish for every woman. No matter what time of day you finish, every woman will have that VIP Olympic-style finishing experience.

“It is going to be such a great weekend for the women and the local community. Every single woman will be given their medal at the start line to symbolize the women that we have lost to cancer, to take their spirit with us, and also to remember the women who are living with cancer.”

Safe spaces

Huw added that the small number of men on the event team have undergone DBS checks and are well-known to SheUltra, further supporting the safe spaces ethos.

Coaches will shuttle participants from Pwllheli to the start line in Abersoch, and the women will return to Pwllheli via the clearly marked course.

He hopes the money raised from this year’s event will be a substantial boost to the women’s cancer fundraising.

Before he received his diagnosis, Huw had a background in endurance running and trail running.

He started running as a hobby, taking part in a 10k event and a half marathon before gradually improving his fitness and going on to take part in the Marathon De Sables, billed as the toughest footrace on earth, in 2017.

In just six days, Huw ran 156 miles across the Sahara Desert in baking heat. But his life took a sudden turn when he was diagnosed with cancer and subsequently had to undergo open-heart surgery.

He said: “I just didn’t feel right when I was training. I was back and forth to the doctor, looking to find out what was going on.”

After collapsing at home in terrible pain in October 2019, Huw was taken to the hospital.

He said: “Later, one of the junior doctors came up, and he had a face that looked like the face of somebody who was going to give you bad news.”

Shadow

He was told he had a shadow on his bowel which indicated cancer, and lesions on his liver. He also had a murmur in his heart and three damaged heart valves.

Huw said doctors could not tell him how long he had to live and said he probably had the tumours for about 12 years.

He was put on medication to ease the symptoms of the cancer, and the heart issue also saw him having open-heart surgery at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital.

He was in bed at home for about eight months to allow his health to recover. During this time, he came up with the idea of organising the women-only ultra-marathon.

He said: “Being involved in this has given me an added purpose in life because cancer does change you. You are different. Everything does change, so it’s good to be doing something so worthwhile. My aim is to create a legacy of hope.”

Huw thanked the local community for the support it has already given to the SheUltra initiative.

He gave special thanks to his friend Ken Grayson of home improvements company Peninsula who organized a charity auction, with some of the proceeds going to the SheUltra initiative.