Chris Dawe

Where It Started

Prior to 2024, I was somebody who dipped in and out of running. If I’m honest, I didn’t really enjoy it. Football was always my number one sport.

That all changed when I lost a close friend to suicide.

I decided to sign up for Rat Race Man vs Coast and raise money for CALM Suicide Prevention. At the time, I needed something to focus on. Something that could give me a distraction and a purpose.

I was naive at best, thinking the race wouldn’t be too bad.

It was.

Man vs Coast

I trained, but nowhere near enough for what was waiting for me. Running the Cornish coast is unforgiving at the best of times.

At halfway, I rolled my ankle and went arm-first through a barbed wire fence. It left me with a pretty good war wound and a permanent reminder of that day.

By the end of the race, after 37.56km and 1,123m of elevation, I could hardly lift my feet off the ground.

Finish time: 04:58 hrs
Position: 46th

Despite the struggle, little did I know that my running journey was only just beginning.

Finding The Social

After taking some time off, I kept seeing a local run club popping up on my Instagram.

It felt like exactly what I needed.

I went to my first Social run in September 2024 and never looked back.

The reason I joined was simple: I wanted to meet like-minded, good people.

That is exactly what I found — and then some.

The Social has been a massive part of my life ever since.

The First Ultra

Fast forward to September 2025, and my first Ultra Marathon was looming:

Rat Race Sea to Summit: Snowdon.

After the biggest training block of my life and many long, unsociable hours spent training. Myself, Nic, Sammy, Harry and Alex headed to Snowdonia.

The race had its ups and downs.

At mile 18, cramp set in after I tripped over a tree root. By mile 21, I reached the final aid station with no skin left on either of my little toes.

After some time patching myself up and getting some much-needed food from the amazing people who were there supporting me, I was back on my way.

As we neared the top, we were diverted onto the bad weather route. High winds at the summit meant we couldn’t climb any further.

It was disappointing, but there wasn’t much time to dwell on it.

The race ended up being slightly shorter than planned at 46km with 1,814m of elevation.

My toes were grateful.

Finish time: 06:09 hrs
Position: 29th

And just like that, it was official.

I’d been struck by the Ultra Marathon bug.