Meet The GB Ultras Team
GB Ultras events & our race day events team are organised and positioned by our experienced team of Race Directors. GB Ultras 50 Mile, 100 Mile & The 215 Mile ‘Race Across Scotland’ can have upward of 80-120 event team members briefed & in place during the event with multiple checkpoint managers & mountain response teams helping to ensure a high level of support, event safety & responsiveness throughout each mountain ultramarathon. GB Ultras events also benefit from live participant tracking from GB Race Tracker (except Hope Trail Festival)!
We are extremely grateful to all members of the team for helping to make the event possible & for looking after each and every runner on their ultra-running journey.
Wayne Drinkwater
Founder, Director & Event Director
Race Director: Jan 2015 – Oct 2023. Event Director: Oct 2023 – Present.
Role: Overseeing event management and further developing the GB Ultras brand.
Devised the concept of a national ultramarathon organisation with events across different areas of Great Britain in 2014 and founding the GB Ultras race series in January 2015 creating a range of 50 mile – 215 mile events.
A pyramid of events that led to the pinnacle title race ‘Ultra Great Britain®’ 200 mile ultramarathon (the 2nd ever GB Ultras event). With just 21 participants on the start line of the 1st 200 mile race (including Ian Yates, now a Race Director), the GB Ultras race series has now established itself as one of the leading ultramarathon brands in the United Kingdom with events in stunning areas of England, Scotland and Wales. This would not have been possible without the kind support and friendships forged with so many runners, event team members, landowners, stakeholders, local authorities, medical teams and venues over the years,
The title race ‘Ultra Great Britain’ has now become the ‘Race Across Scotland®’ 215 mile taking on Scotland’s Great Trail, the well-marked, beautiful and unique Southern Upland Way with an international field of participants signed up to take on the event.
FREC3 First Responder. Passionate about event safety and often found in the mountains during events to provide support between checkpoints. Inspired by runners, supporting their journey, challenge and adventure.
Setup GB Race Tracker in 2018 partnering with Race Tracker Norway to standardise live tracking and event safety across the GB Ultras ultramarathon events.
Founded Ultrarunner Magazine in 2020, an online digital Ultrarunning magazine with race reports, athlete interviews, running news, kit reviews and much more.
Laura Yates
Race Director
Assistant Race Director: Jan 2021 – Dec 2023. Race Director: Jan 2024 – Present.
Role: Being a Race Director is a multi-faceted role involving managing the event and volunteer teams both in the lead up to races and on the day, being part of the mountain team in all weathers and helping co-ordinate the running of the events behind the scenes as each race unfolds. As a FREC3 qualified First Responder, I also work with our medical teams when assistance is needed.
I took up running in 2016 and initially enjoyed taking part in events up to half-marathon distance until one night at my local running club, I overheard another club member talking about the Ultra Great Britain race he was taking part in. My interest in ultras was sparked, although at that time I never thought I could do one – I just couldn’t get my head round how you could eat on such a long run!
That interest grew and led me to not only taking part in my first marathon (Manchester) and ultramarathon (Pennine Barrier) as a result of meeting ‘that club member’, Ian Yates. It was during one of the training runs for the Pennine Barrier event that Ian proposed to me at the top of Malham Cove (with Wayne doing his usual job of ensuring photos were taken) and we tied the knot in 2022!
During Covid, an opportunity arose for me to take on a role at GB Ultras which I initially carried out in conjunction with running my own business as a Personal Trainer and owning another local business before selling the company and moving into a full-time role on the Race Director team in 2021.
After spending years in Customer Service roles managing various teams both in the UK and overseas, I’m now able to put these skills to use to deliver top-class events to our brilliant runners who never cease to amaze me in what they achieve. We strive to ensure that every person who takes on our races or who volunteers with GB Ultras gets such a rewarding experience that they want to rejoin the team again and again.
Outside of GB Ultras events, I love getting muddy and take part in OCR (Obstacle Course Racing) events and Hyrox (Running and Workout stations) events alongside my running. You’ll also see me out on our training runs leading groups and helping them get familiar with the race routes. I’m also an avid Formula 1 fan and love travelling around the world to both long-haul and short-haul destinations. I’ve been to some fantastic locations and have some more great trips planned over the coming years.
Ian Yates
Race Director
Assistant Race Director: Oct 2018 – Feb 2023. Race Director: March 2024 – Present.
Role: You’ll find me setting up the start and finish line with the GB Ultras team and in the background behind a laptop performing the role of Race HQ, managing the finish line, the race timing, monitoring trackers, as well as co-ordinating the event alongside the Race Director team and medical teams. Outside of the events, we work together in the planning and preparation phases in the lead-up to each event.
I started running in 2015 after years of thinking that ‘I couldn’t run more than a mile’. A friend took me out on a run and an hour later, we’d run 10k! That switched something in my head and I thought, ‘Well, if I can run 10k, how far can I actually go?’
I subsequently took part in 10k races, 1/2 marathons and marathons and built up to taking on my first ultra – the Thames Path 100km race. I really enjoyed the event and found that long distances were what I enjoyed the best – this led me to sign up for my first GB Ultras event, the 2016 Liverpool to Manchester Ultra (which was also the inaugural GB Ultras race!). Finishing in 9h 18m and loving the experience and support that Wayne and the GB Ultras team provided, I then set my sights on the next GB Ultras race – the 200 mile Ultra Great Britain®.
My training for the 200 mile race included taking on a number of other events including 24 hour events, marathons and other ultras. I must have done something right as I finished that race in 4th position in a time of 69h 38m!
I continued to take part in GB Ultras events and also started helping out behind the scenes on a voluntary basis in 2018. I‘ve met so many inspirational people and have seen some fantastic achievements and I just love seeing the range of emotions as runners cross the finish line.
I’ve loved being part of the events so much that I left my job in 2024 to join GB Ultras full time as a Race Director after a 26 year career in IT!
Prior to joining GB Ultras, I enjoyed various roles as an IT Developer and Systems & Business Analyst in the Financial Services and Utilities sectors during which I helped deliver some major transformational projects, leading teams of people both internally and in conjunction with third party companies in the UK and overseas.
What I love about GB Ultras is that it’s not just about providing brilliant races – it’s about supporting people on their ultrarunning journey through the GB Ultras Community and remembering that every single one of us was new to this once.
Outside of the day-job, I’m a keen photographer with an avid interest in Formula 1 and aviation which has taken me to various locations around the world. I also love travelling whether on long-haul holidays or weekend/day trips to escape the UK weather and am steadily working through my list of destinations I have on my wishlist.
Glen Wareing
Social Media
Marketing and Social Media: Feb 2024 – Present.
Role: Part time role with a key focus on social media posts and stories which highlight key features of each race and provide information to those interested in or taking on the events. On race day at some events you may see me conducting interviews and reporting progress as the event unfolds. I also provide logistical support at a number of events and, in my spare time, I also volunteer at some races to help on checkpoints and/or focus on the media interaction of the event.
I have been running for 49 years and completed my first marathon at age 18. The race was the Piccadilly Bolton marathon. That year runners were lucky and went down rather than up ‘Plodders Lane’ which was a notorious 2 mile hill towards the end of the race. That ‘finish line feeling’ was amazing and from that moment, I was ‘hooked’. In true Forest Gump style, I have not stopped since!
At age 40, I discovered triathlon and have completed a number of long distance events. Looking for a new challenge in 2017, I was very excited to come across ultramarathon running. Any sport where you get to hit beautiful trails, walk, talk and eat a lot appeals to me!
I completed my first ultramarathon, GB Ultras Chester Ultra® 50 mile, in March 2018. I have since completed a further 10 ultras. My target for 2025 is to complete my first 100 mile event at, where else but Chester.
Prior to joining GB Ultras, I worked in banking for 39 years. For the last 25 years, my role was to lead people and manage ‘risks’, in simple terms ‘things that can go wrong and stop a business achieving its goals’. Key activities included risk identification, assessment, mitigation, control testing and reporting to senior management and the regulator. I built my reputation (brand) on three key things; caring for my people, delivering results and acting with integrity. All these are transferrable to my role with GB Ultras to help ensure that every runner has the best experience possible.
Outside of GB Ultras, I am a football enthusiast with a passion for Manchester City. I love caravanning with my wife and walking my daughter’s dog, Erin. I love food and have been known to enjoy a few drinks between races!
At GB Ultras, we offer a unique platform of stunning supported ultra-marathon events along some of the most beautiful trails in Britain, yet you’ll be pleased to know our principle focus has never changed, we focus on supporting the runner as much as we can, regardless of whether the runner is new to ultra-running or already very experienced in the sport.
We also do our very best to welcome the runner to the GB ULTRAS Race Series via our online GB Ultras Community where each runner is the source of inspiration for one another.
Our ambition at GB Ultras is to create a remarkable set of events built for the ultra runner with the build up throughout race season culminating in the 215 mile Race Across Scotland®!
