The Ealing Borough is a proud home of London’s only single-borough ultramarathon: the Queen of the Suburbs: the Ultra 50k or the Trail 25k challenge that takes runners on a journey through the green heart of Ealing!

This year, the day of the race was supposed to be extremely hot: the temperatures were supposed to reach 35 degrees, and they did! The organisers decided to bring forward the start time for both 25k and 50k so that the runners could avoid the worst heat. The scorching sun was still unforgiving, so the race participants appreciated having the aid stations along the way to refill their water bottles and bladders, grab some snacks and splash their towels with cool water.

The GoodGym crew was manning the aid station number 3 at Southall's Green Quarter, and responded to a call to arrive at the station earlier. Sevan, the leader of the station, and Kash ran 7.5km, and Maria cycled over 10km to Southall to meet Jags, who already got busy prepping the Parkside Yards for the "Queen". Richard arrived after the other three had set up the aid station, just at the right time to welcome the first 25km runners to the station. Most of the enthusiastic GoodGym aid station marshals were fairly new to the job, so they wanted to make sure they were ready to support the runners.

"Jags, you ran quite a few races, right? Does this setup look right to you?" - Sevan.
"Yeah, that's perfect, snacks easy to grab in the front, maybe prep some more water in advance." - Jags.

The first three 25km runners, two guys and one lady, while hitting their eight kilometre, surprised the GoodGymers carrying on past the station, not needing any hydration or nutrition - just cheers. They must have been really determined to get a good time! Every other runner after them welcomed a short (or a bit longer) pit stop to replenish their energy. Quite a few runners complimented the Green Quarter's lawn sprinkler on the way to the station, offering a nice opportunity to cool down. At Station 3, a few metres further, awaited friendly GoodGymers, toilets, and a bit of shade under the gazebo. Most of the runners craved - understandably - water. From the snack table, bananas and Ritz crackers had been disappearing most rapidly. Only a couple of runners opted for a sandwich with Cheddar cheese, which, in such hot weather, turned into a cheese toastie! The further into the race, the more interest the runners had in savoury, not sweet snacks - some brave enough to try the magic of pickled gherkins.

On the 25km Trail option of the Queen of the Suburbs, we spotted a GoodGym representation: Alan, and friends from We Run Ealing: Tom and Sasha. We were full of respect for them and all the other runners for taking on the challenge in such tough weather conditions!

After the morning calm and quiet setup, and the busy wave of 25km runners, the race and the water station story continued into the afternoon - read about it here.