Your Name: Martin Ilott

Occupation: Veterinary surgeon

Home Town: Windsor

Runners Questions

When did you first start running Ultra marathons and why? London to Brighton 2000 after joining the 100 Marathon club 1999

When or where (at which events) are we most likely to see you? Grand Union Canal Race, Spartathlon, ultras and marathons in the south-east

What are your personal key running achievements to date? 2:59:59 Berlin Marathon 1991, 1:18 Reading Half 1990, LeJog 2002 crewed by dad, Solo Trans-USA 2007 72 days, 6 Boston Marathon finishes, Abingdon Marathon 2015 3:14, 9 GUCR finishes, 5 Spartathlon finishes.

What was your hardest race experience? The pain of 4 Spartathlon DNFs 2011-2015

What events do you have planned for 2015 up to Spartathlon? Thames Path 50 (completed), Mill Hill Marathon (completed), Paris EcoTrail 80km (completed – unique finish on stage 1 Eiffel Tower), Olympian ultra Greece, GUCR, C2C (total immersion therapy)

What is your typical race strategy for an ultra? Never identified an obvious strategy even after 16 years of running ultras.

What does a typical training week look like? 5-10 miles jogging Monday to Friday. Park Run Saturday (when not working), long 20 miler Sunday.

What one tip would you pass onto people running an Ultra marathon for the first time? When you feel you have nothing left in the tank take as much time as you can afford walking/resting as it is surprising how quickly the muscles can recover.

Can you tell us one interesting fact about yourself? We own a herd of 20 guinea pigs with the oldest boar nearly 10 years old.

Spartathlon Questions

Have you taken part in the Spartathlon before? Yes, 2005 – 2015

How did you get on? 5 finishes 6 DNFs

What tip would you pass on to those taking part for the first time? Train hard targeting regular 3:30 -3:45 marathons.

What are you looking forward to at the Spartathlon race? Finishing

What are you not looking forward to during the Spartathlon race? The oil refinery to Korinth

How will you prepare specifically for the Spartathlon race? Regular ultras with some hard training sessions

Will you be bringing any support crew to the race? No