Endure24 Reading 2025: Running Together, Enduring Together

Running is often such a solitary pursuit. Just you, your breath, your legs, your thoughts.

Black Trail Runners - Competitive Team

But this weekend at Endure 24 Reading 2025 reminded me of something bigger: the power of sharing the journey with others. The power of moving together, struggling together, growing together — and being part of something that transcends the individual.

This year, I had the privilege of running as part of one of two Black Trail Runners teams at Endure24. Each of us came in with personal lap goals, but we weren’t just there for the numbers. We were there for representation. For visibility. To remind the trail running world that we belong here too.

The Conditions: Brutal Doesn’t Cover It

If you were there, you know. Hours of relentless rain. Howling winds. A yellow weather warning for thunderstorms. And of course, the Endure course slowly transforming into a swamp of ankle-deep mud. Every step was a grind. Every lap tested resolve. And yet… still we moved. Still we ran. Still we endured. 💪🏾

My Race Within the Race

I clocked six laps (30 miles) in total, including a 3am double lap that bled into sunrise. That run was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done — and one of the most transformative. There’s something about being out there in the dark, soaked, exhausted, with only your headtorch and the squelch of mud to guide you. That lap changed something. By the time I finished, I wasn’t the same person who started it. 😂

The Team Effort

Together, our team completed 25 laps and placed 64th out of 147 in our category. We came to compete, and we weren't just making up numbers. But beyond the stats, it was about showing up, holding each other accountable, cheering each other on in the cold and rain, and proving to ourselves (and to anyone watching) that we’re here to stay.

Camaraderie in the Mud

One of the most special things about Endure 24 is the camaraderie through shared struggle. Out on that course, it didn’t matter what team you were on — we were all bound by the same mud, the same fatigue, the same challenge. A nod, a “keep going,” a muddy high-five from a stranger — those small gestures meant everything.

Huge credit to Threshold Events too, for putting on such a well-organised event under such testing conditions. From logistics to safety to atmosphere, everything was in place to let us focus on the running (and surviving the mud!).

What Endure24 Reminded Me

This weekend wasn’t just about endurance in the physical sense. It was about belonging. About community. About the resilience to keep showing up in spaces where we’ve historically been told we don’t belong.

But here’s the truth:

We do belong.

We always have.

And we’re not going anywhere. 🖤