Escape From Meriden – A Race With No Route

A Stone Cross stands in the centre of England; in Meriden. It has stood for 500 years. Every year hundreds of prisoners will gather around that cross, late into the night. At midnight, the Crow will release you. Then, you must Escape from Meriden…

I’ve enjoyed most of my ultramarathons. I think that’s because one of the first criteria for whether I sign up for an ultra is “Will I enjoy this?”

If the answer is no, I usually don’t sign up. There’s been one exception, my UTMB DNF which I’ll discuss in another post, but there’s one race that I’ve been back to again and again. There’s something in it that appeals to me.

I’m talking about Escape from Meriden, a race I’ve enjoyed so much I’ve entered it four times. It’s actually the only ultramarathon that I’ve entered more than once. 

The premise is rather simple. You start in Meriden in the UK, halfway between Birmingham and Coventry, the traditional centre of England. You hang around in a bright orange jumpsuit with a load of other convicts, and when the clock strikes midnight, you run. Your aim is to escape as far away as possible, as the crow flies.

A crow-flies distance complicates matters a little as it makes you plan your route more carefully than just running as far as possible. And as every runner has their own route, there are no checkpoints. Any food, water or support you might need has to be self-organised. Some people choose to run completely alone. For me, I’ve enjoyed having a rag-tag bunch of people come along for bits of the run, keep me company, hand me food and make sure I’m not about to collapse into the traffic.

The first year I tried Escape from Meriden, I ran through Cambridge, past my house, and then on for another half-marathon. The following year, I tried a flatter, more efficient route up to King’s Lynn. And the two years after that, feeling competitive, I went for the win using the most efficient route down to London. Here are my results

• 2017 – 91.3 miles as the crow flies – 3rd place
• 2018 – 90.7 miles as the crow flies – 3rd place
• 2019 – 94.3 miles as the crow flies – 2nd place
• 2021 – 100.3 miles as the crow flies – 1st place

Now, I’m sure the first result played a part in me wanting multiple attempts, but I’ve had a couple of other podium places and I’m yet to return to those races. When you are running for such long distances, you need something in the event that resonates with you. It might be the scenery, the theme of the event, the difficulty, the crowds, whatever it is, and it’s different for each of us, to really get the most out of your race, I think there needs to be that thing.

What appealed to me as much as the running was designing a route, planning all the logistics, and just being out on an adventure. And I guess, in some ways, running the length of Japan is just an Escape from Meriden on a much grander scale. 

I did try and get some footage of my first Meriden run, although it wasn’t such a long video as you can see:

Would I enter Escape from Meriden again? The answer is, of course. There’s still a run I’d love to attempt, and that’s to start in Meriden, head into Wales and reach the sea by the time the 24 hours is up. The aim isn’t to go into the race to win but to embark on an adventure. 

And I’m pretty sure whatever races I sign up for, there will be elements of adventure there.

But if I would recommend one race, I’d suggest trying to bag a ticket to Escape from Meriden, but be warned, they sell out fast, and the crow is watching.