'I'm a sucker for punishment' - former trainer Harry Whittington to run 57km ultramarathon for Racing Welfare

Former trainer Harry Whittington has admitted he is a “sucker for punishment” as he prepares to compete in a 57km (35.4 miles) ultramarathon to raise funds for Racing Welfare.

Whittington, who returned to pre-training in 2023 following a successful training career, and two members of his team are competing in the Race to the Stones event, but have added their own twists to enhance the challenge further.

Not only will Whittington and his colleagues Richard Cosgrave and Tomos Phillips run an extra seven kilometres more than the usual ultramarathon distance, to allow them to finish at the pre-trainer’s yard just outside Lambourn, they are also aiming to complete the race in one day rather than two.

Whittington said: “The organiser got in touch in February to see if they could use our field as a pit stop. I got geared up watching videos on YouTube and thought it would be an awesome challenge to do.

“I love my running and mentioned it to the lads in the team to see if they’d be up for it. Richard is part of a running club and has done the marathon. So very quickly both he and Tomos said they would do it.

“It’s going to be hardcore, but we’ve got our pit stops planned. Who knows, next year we might even go for the time – I’m a sucker for punishment.” 

The Race to the Stones takes place on July 13-14 and follows the ancient Ridgeway towards the Avebury Standing Stones, a 5,000-year-old Unesco World Heritage site close to the village of Beckhampton in Wiltshire.

Whittington, who trained the likes of Grade 1 scorer Arzal and Cheltenham Festival winner Simply The Betts, said the opportunity to raise funds for Racing Welfare provided an extra incentive to participate in the challenge.

“Racing Welfare is a fantastic charity which does a huge amount for people in the industry, and they helped me when I was going through difficult times when training,” he said.

“Racing Welfare has not only helped support me but also a number of my members of staff throughout the years, and it's my way of giving something back. We hope that by doing this we can raise a substantial amount of money for them.”

Whittington, Cosgrave and Phillips have set up a JustGiving page to raise funds for their challenge. You can find more details about the ultramarathon and donate via their page here.

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