Records tumbled yet again at this years South Downs Way 100 in what was arguably the most competitive 100 mile race ever to take place on UK soil.
This race figured not only as the sixth stop on the World Trail Majors Circuit, but this year also as the British Trail Running Championships - Ultra Distance.
In 2025, we finally saw Mark Perkins' 11 year old course record get lowered to 13:42 by Mark Darbyshire. Lucy Gossage took the womens record to a new best of 16:30. It seemed possible but unlikely that both marks would improve again, given that this was the sixteenth year of the race. But improve they did in what was truly a race for the ages.
In the womens, 24 Hour World Record and 100km European Record Holder Sarah Webster (Precision Hydration/ CurraNZ) was taking on a long distance trail race for the first time. We knew that the potential for something special was high, but there was still an element of the unknown. Robyn Cassidy (Montane) - Lakeland 100 and Dragons Back Champion was coming from the other end of the spectrum, moving away from rugged mountain trails to the rolling runnable hills. Meanwhile Maryline Nakache (CimAlp) - 2026 Marathon des Sables champion travelled over from France and Nicole Bitter (Altra), previous Javelina Jundred Champion came in from the US. Behind those four were a cast of many other potential podium protagonists.
As expected Sarah went out hardest, with Maryline running in hot pursuit and Robyn never far behind. Unfortunately Nicole was forced out early on with an injury.
World 24hr Champion Sarah is known for a laser focus when she runs and it's one of the most impressive sides to her incredible approach. With that steely determination she set about systematically dismantling the records of years gone by and completely dominating the race. In fact, for most of the first half she was right on pace with Mark Darbyshire's course record. For a woman who has covered 278km in 24hrs, the pace wasn't daunting, it was comfortable and all the while she was running towards her home trails at the far eastern end of the course. Supported by her Lewes AC clubmates she never relented, increasing her lead all the way to the final stretches. It was just a case of how far under the exisitng record she might go.
The answer was a staggering, 2 hours and 3 minutes. Her time of 14:27 makes her the fastest female finisher at any of our events and in fact, the fastest British 100 mile trail runner of all time. It was a display of complete and total class from a humble, wonderful person. What an honour it was for everyone there to witness.
Sarah Webster
Maryline Nakache
In any other year, Maryline's second place finish in 15:39 would have dominated the headlines. The truth was she took a nasty fall and gashed her knee quite badly and honestly, it wasn't either hot enough or mountainous enough for the past TDS champion to feel truly at home. But class will always shine though and she turned in a sensational performance. Robyn Cassidy also went over 30 minutes inside of the 2025 course record as well as pipping the 16 hour barrier to come home in 15:59.
Robyn Cassidy
These are three of the finest 100 mile performances we have ever seen in women's racing.
The men's race featured incredible depth, which was nearly undermined when two time second place finisher Hugh Tibbs nearly missed the start due to road closures. The 13:03 trail 100 mile runner had already clocked a 6 minute mile and jumped five fences before he even got into the starting pen with just 38 seconds to spare. If this was to have an impact on the race in the latter stages, we would see.
It took a little while to consolidate, with only one hare off of the front in the early stages this year, the front runners stuck close together through the early miles, building into the race and with all the likely leading contenders featuring.
2025 British 100km champion Henry Hart seemed the most keen to run from the front, surging on multiple downhill sections, followed through the early miles by Simon Withers and Hugh Tibbs. Conditions were almost perect. That trio hit the first check point separted by less than 20 metres in 2:50 elapsed, a little under course record pace.
Henry, Hugh and Simon
Through 50 miles in under 8 minute mile average pace, we were now into unknown territory with nobody in the history of the event ever coming through hafl way so quickly. Henry led with Hugh sitting just yards behind seemingly marking. Both had crews, but it was Hugh stopping for longer each time to focus on his cooling. At the turn-around point in Washington David Green had moved past Barney Plummer into third and could just about see Hugh in the distance as he entered the out and back.
Henry and Hugh maintained the top two positions through Saddlescombe mile 68 but David Green, second at the SDW50 back in April in 5:51, was on the hunt.
But from here, everyting would change.
Between Ditchling Beacon and Plumpton Plain the front of the race had come back together again. Both Hugh and Henry had pacers, but as they appeared over the Downs a fifth runner had joined their group at the back. All was to play for coming into the final 25 miles and this was the first section the front two had struggled to keep with Mark Darbyshire's 2025 pace. 2026 SDW 50 champion Matt Hammerton was not far behind and looked the freshest of the bunch.
In and out of Housdean Farm, the final drop bag point at mile 77, David passed a fading Henry and a strong Hugh in incredible fashion, taking the lead and forging out a gap. He didn't relent. Closing in on the finish, he never sustained a big lead but it was always just enough to remain out of sight over those closing miles. Henry stopped at Southease at the end of a fantastic run that unravelled fast and we hope to see him back in 2026 to complete the distance.
David pushed on and crossed the line for a new course record in 13:27:13. Matt Hammerton passed Hugh at the Alfriston check point and held on to second in 13:38. Hugh took his third podium in three years in a time of 13:46.
Mens Podium LtoR: Hugh Tibbs, David Green and Matt Hammerton
In the age categories the awards went out as follows:
First FV40 went to Sarah Webster alongside the win. First FV50 went to Vanessa Dolling in 19:04. First FV60 was taken by Ai Seng Paul in 29:35.
First MV40 was second overall Matt Hammerton. First MV50 was Stephen Pope in 18:54. First MV60 went to Frank Wheeler in 24:40 and first MV70 went to Iain Walker in 27:01.
Special mention to Ken Fancett who won gold in the MV75 category in the trail champs, finishing his 49th 100 mile race with us.
There were a lot of issues overnight with falls, bumps and cooling runners as the heat of the race wore off but a finish rate of over 70% amongst a field size of 500+ is still an excellent outcome. 153 of those came home inside 24 hours to earn 100 Mile - One Day buckles.
A huge thanks to our 190 volunteers who made this, and the accompanying 50km, such incredible races. We look forward to following the progress of the leading runners as the World Trail Majors roll on to stop 7 on the circuit at Quebec Mega Trail next month.
Picture perfect race day conditions greeted runners to the second edition of the South Downs Way 50km. Established alongside the 100 mile race as part of the World Trail Majors - Short Series Circuit, this is the perfect event for those stepping up in distance on the trails, but also for world class competition to throw down in what is one of the fastest 50km trail races worldwide.
This year's field attracted a mixture of the best in the world in the trails and mountains, up against road marathon and ultra specialists. The course is the perfect meeting point of those two contrasting worlds due to it's hard-packed chalky trails and rolling hills. In 2025 Robbie Simpson (Adidas Terrex) blew the mens field away, running 3:13 for the inaugural win. The Commonwealth Games Marathon Bronze Medalist is also one of the world's best mountain and trail runners, and he really showed how fast this course could be for someone with that varied set of skills.
The women's race saw Rebecca Bunting (Hoka), a 2:41 marathoner, taking on Vanessa Caba Machado (Sports Shoes) who had taken eighth at TransGranCanaria Marathon back in March. Also running were SDW100 2025 third place finisher Nicole Funnell, previous Chiltern Wonderland 50 Champion Amy White, back after a long gap in her ultrarunning career, and recent Thames Path 100 champion Karla Borland.
Nicole Funnell
It was Rebecca who took the race by the horns right from the gun, led the initial loop around Matterley Bowl and immediately gapped the competition. Nicole settled into second with Vanessa and Amy settling into third and fourth close together. The leading margin just grew and grew as Rebecca's raw pace fit so well with the fast and runnable trails of this part of the South Downs.
In fact, the Hoka athlete's splits were the fastest over every section of the course and as she closed in on the finish it became clear we were going to see a new course record by quite a margin. Rebecca crossed the line for 3:49:37 taking the crown and maximum points in the World Trail Majors rankings, a full 15 minutes under Imogen Ainsworth's 4:04 winning time from 2025.
Rebecca Bunting
Second place went to Nicole Funnell who, like Rebecca, held her position all day and crossed the line in a time of 4:09:51. Vanessa Caba Machado faded in the final stages with both Amy White and Karla Borland passing her. Amy held on for a superb return to the sport, taking third in 4:28:28.
Womens Podium LtR: Amy White, Rebecca Bunting, Nicole Funnell
The men's race went out in a similar fashion. Antonio Martinez Perez (Asics), the 2023 SkyRunning World Champion and winner of the TransGranCanaria Marathon this March was out looking for his second win on the World Trail Majors circuit. If he could secure top points here he would put himself top of the overall rankings.
Like last year, the pace was electrifying. The Spanish professional athlete held sub 6 minute miles (sub 3:45/km) for the first 10km around the rolling hills of Matterley Bowl. Behind him Peter Le Grice, who finished second last year, ran with Italian Riccardo Borgialli (Sport Project/ VCO) and Spaniard Fran Anguita (Kailas Fuga) both close on his heels.
Antonio had finished top ten at Zegama just a few weeks ago and quickly showed here that he can translate that level of performance to the faster, rolling trails of the South Downs Way. Riccardo was running strong too, but Fran had come straight from a 13th place finish at the European Trail Champs representing Spain and it was clear that recovery was not quite complete. He had pushed Antonio all the way at TransGranCanaria in March, coming home second, but it looked like that could be out of reach on this day. Peter too struggled to find his legs after racing the weekend before and pushing Robbie Simpson for the first two-thirds in 2025.
Antonio closed down on the finish in a truly astonishing display of speed, flirting with the course record all the way up the final climb. As he appeared at the top of Butser Hill, everyone at the finish could see he was going to be within a minute or so one way or the other. In the end, it was under as he set a new benchmark of 3:12:36. His marathon split was 2:41. Second place went to Riccardo (3:22:33) and Fran did indeed hold on for a gritty third in 3:28:47 despite suffering in the final 10km.
Antonio Martinez Perez
The age category awards yielded some incredible performances and one for all-time amongst them.
The womens V40 award went to Rebecca, the race winner. The FV50 award went to evegreen Sophie Biggs in 4:35:51, who continues to churn out incredible performances time and time again. First FV60 was taken by Elaine Battson (one of our SDW100 - 1000 mile buckle holders) in 6:20, just over 30 seconds ahead of Jane McCartney in the same age cat.
First MV40 went to Dean Porter in 4:06. First MV50 to Andrew Spooner in 4:41. First MV60 to Kevin Murray in 5:16. First MV70 to Keith Stanley in 7:55.
John Fanshawe
And for the first time ever, in 136 events, we had a Vet 80 finisher. John Fanshawe crossed the line in 7:09, continuing to break records and win races seemingly every time he steps up to race.
Final Finisher Helen Newman
Huge celebrations went on all the way to the 9 hour cut off at our QECP finish line, as every runner who had beaten the cut-off at the last checkpoint also made it to the finish in time. Excitingly Helen Morgan and Helen Newman finished with just under a minute to spare.
A huge thank you to all of the volunteers, on-course marshals, marking, and sweeper teams for making this event possible alongside the 100 miler.
The fifteenth edition of the NDW50 kicked off at 0745 from the North Downs Way National Trail Head on Saturday 16th May.
This is the fourth event in our race calendar each year and comes hot off of the back of the Thames Path 100, making it a tight turnaround for staff and volunteers - but as usual an amazing team and community effort pulled off another successful and exciting (the women's race in particular!) event.
All Photos - Jamie Rutherford
A sell out field of 298 runners had for much of the race, near perfect running weather. Some early morning sunshine and temperatures around 10 degrees with dry trails underfoot and a light tail wind. Does it get any better! Through the day a few light showers blew through and towards the end of the race an overcast sky did turn to light rain, with the last couple of hours reasonably wet which is unusual for this race. But it was warm enough to let the runners enjoy it. The finishing rate of 92%, much higher than the hotter edition we had in 2025.
The womens race was the one to watch. One of the closest we have ever seen right from the early miles, through to the climax 50 miles later at the finish, thanks to three incredible runs.
Hannah Rickman
Hannah Rickman (Centurion Ultra Team/ Inov8) led the early stages, pursued by Katie Brook and Abi Woolaston (Salomon). Incredibly, there was never a gap of more than seven minutes between first and second in the entire 8+ hours of the race. Plus the lead changed hands along the way. At Box Hill, the half way mark, Hannah's lead over Katie was less than a minute. Abi came through looking more relaxed nearly 11 minutes back. By Reigate Hill, Katie had run into the lead, with Hannah five minutes behind and Abi a full 16 minutes further back. It looked like a decisive move. But it seemd to have come at a cost as Hannah ran back into the lead, enjoying a 7 minute advantage through the final check point at Botley Hill. She said at the finish that she'd kept looking behind expecting Katie to be catching her. But in fact it was Abi who was charging hardest, at times in that final stretch all three tracker dots were almost on top of each other as we waited at the finish with baited breath to see who would emerge first.
Abi Woolaston
Hitting the road with less than a mile to go, Abi had made the pass and she crossed the line first in a time of 8:11:12, with Hannah inside the finish chute at the same time, crossing the line just 13 seconds later. Katie rounded out the podium with an impressive 8:15:42. What a race!
Womens Podium (L to R: Hannah, Abi, Katie)
The mens shaped up quite differently, with a pack of five guys coalescing at the front and for much of the first half of the race, separated by less than a minute. Barry Bryant, Richard Strong, Jonny Hind, Simon Jones and Matthew John all featured. The race pace was way off of course record level which suggested it would likely be a tighter finish with the 7 hour mark within reach for most of them.
As the race moved on to the 50km mark, Jonny and Richard pushed out into the lead together, but the elastic snapped heading into the final 20km with Richard forging out an extending gap all the way to the line, to take the win in 6:56.
Jonny running his first ultra picked up second in 7:06. Third place went to Matthew John in 7:12.
Mens Podium (L to R): Jonny, Richard, Matthew.
Age Category awards went out as always, some much more hotly contested than others, handed out in the prescence of Ken Fancett who was volunteering as usual at the finish of this one, the most decorated Centurion age group winner of all time:
First FV40 went to Helen Chapman in 9:09. First FV50 went to Natasha Cox in 8:59, a time that would have won her the FV40 category as well! There were no FV60 starters or finishers this time which is unusual and after the success of Jan Payne at TP100, something we hope to see turning in the future.
First MV40 went to Matthew John. First MV50 to Barry Bryant in 7:28. First MV60 to Aziouz Lamalli in a superb 9:23.
276 finishers over the line, with the final two making it home with just over three minutes to spare: Zak Overfield and Amanda Tondeur - a fantastic end after the heartbreak of 2025 where Jaz and Frank missed the cut off by half a minute. They tried again this year but both stopped at Box Hill - we all hope they will keep coming back to get it done!
Finally, 79 runners completed leg two of the Grand Slam adding a finish here to the SDW50. Find the standings after two races here.
A huge thanks to our volunteer team as always for another fantastic day out at our original race!
The fifteenth edition of the Thames Path 100 took three hundred runners from Richmond Upon Thames, London to Oxford University in a maximum time limit of 30 hours. Our 2026 100 mile season opener.
The race has always been one of the landmark long races in the early part of the race season, with first time 100 milers, some of the most prolific ultrarunners in the land and lots of international competitors too.
All Pictures c/o Richard Gilly
The weather was set to be a real mixed bag, in the end a sunny and humid first day gave way to heavy showers in the early evening. Before turning dry and warm through the whole of Sunday, making for generally good going throughout.
The course itself is almost flat and with good underfoot conditions as we had this year - extremely fast, taking in the best of life along the river.
The day got off to its usual emotive start following on from a speech from the parents of Ed Catmur - a past champion of this event whom we remember fondly each year and in honour of whom special awards are given out to the fastest newcomer male and female athlete.
The four early front runners in the womens race
The womens race looked strong and deep in the preview and that turned out to be spot on. The racing was close, competitive and fast. Initially it was South African athlete Jana De Waal who led the way but Northern Ireland international 100km runner Karla Borland forged into the lead right through Cookham at mile 38 and never really looked back. But she was pursued hotly by Jana and behind of them, Zoe Smith in her first 100 miler was going well as expected. Once Jana dropped at Purley, it became seemingly a two horse race, but Karla ran an impressive second half, stopping with crew rather than at check points and executed a brilliant second half to finish in 17:21 for the win. That puts her seventh on the all time fastest womens times at this event.
Karla Borlan
Zoe held on for a really solid second place in 18:00:10 and in the process took home the Ed Catmur award for fastest first-time 100 miler. Third place went to Laura Ricci from the US in 20:33.
Zoe Smith
The mens race took on a very different shape with Will Collie and James Bennett heading out way off of the front and gapping the field by several miles. However Will stopped at Cookham with a shin issue and James dropped back into the pack, allowing the eventual strongest protagonists to forge to the front.
Matt Gallagher and Sergey Ionov were the fastest two through the 100km mark seemingly running together, but coming into the final drop bag point at Goring mile 70, Matt had pulled out a small lead. Having finished fourth here as well as in our other 100 milers several times, it was clear he was enjoying the opportunity and determined to take it. Smiling, he headed off onto the final 50km section and grew his lead out to come home with a winning margin of 30 minutes over Sergey, in 15:39. A fitting result for a man who has been as consistent as he has.
Matt Gallagher
Sergey ran a brilliant race and the past GUCR champion came home second in 16:09, but was missing an item of mandatory kit which cost him a one hour time penalty. Fortunately for him, he had run so well that he'd gapped third place, held equally by Guido Pastore and Francesco Sgarlata by a huge amount. The two Italian's crossed the line together in 17:40.
James Mcdonald took the Ed Catmur award for fastest newcomer in 18:41.
Ed Catmur award winner James Mcdonald together with Ed's parents, Richard and Ginny who presented the awards
In the age categories there were some fine performances, but the stand out result came from Jan Payne.
In the mens age cats, first MV40 was Matt Gallagher also the race winner of course. First MV50 went to Stefan Pracht in 20:17. First MV60 to Simon Best in 23:14. First MV70 to Iain Walker in 26:19, our only finisher in that category.
In the womens age cats, first FV40 went to Zoe Smith who was second overall. First FV50 to Louise Langmead in 21:21. First FV60 to Helen Sawyer in 25:21.
Jan Payne
Jan Payne came into the race one of the very few FV70 category athletes ever to take on a 100 mile race. We knew she had a great shot at finishing, she had previously had success here as an FV60 runner but she knew she had to focus throughout, remain efficient at check points and keep the pace as high as she could realistically sustain. Running with partner Rob Treadwell, she built a gap over the cut offs early on and held it there, putting a finish seemingly beyond doubt from relatively early in the race. As she closed in on the finish she had time to enjoy the final miles. It's her energy and enthusiasm that refelect in an amazing, strong attitude and allow her to compete at these longer events to such a high level into later years. Jan became the first FV70 finisher we have had in a Centurion 100 mile event - this was our 66th. Her time of 27:48 was not only well inside the new cut off of 30 hours but under the old one of 28 hours too of course. Hopefully a performance that will inspire many more to try.
Exactly 200 runners crossed the line in Oxford bringing to a close a fantastic weekend on the Thames.
117 volunteers made this event possible - our deepest thanks to every single one of them for their dedication, time and energy in making it the race it was. Huge thanks to our sponsors and partners too for getting our 100 mile season underway in such successful fashion. On to the next one!
An amazing, record breaking day on the South Downs Way for our 50 milers, taking on the fourteenth edition of this event and second race of 2026.
424 starters - an almost identical start rate to last year, but with 402 runners over the finish line (some as little as 3 seconds inside the cut off but more on that below!) instead of the 365 last year. Main difference, a mighty tailwind for most of the journey as opposed to a hefty wind against. Up on the exposed ridge it was near perfect running weather if a little gusty at times for some!
Listen to our post-race recap podcast here, also available via all good platforms
The womens race saw a toe to toe battle over the first couple of hours with 2024 Beachy Head Marathon Champ Amelie Karlsson and 2025 Wendover Woods 50 Champ Veronika Gill, almost together through CP1. As the day wore on Veronika called it a day 55km in with increasing shin pain, opting to save herself for the TP100 in three weeks time. But Amelie was already forging a sizeable gap by that stage over the rest of the field. Now in second place was Hayley Green in her first race with us and Katie Brazier, who amazingly ran the SDW1 13 years ago as a 9 year old and who looked like she might just close the 2 miles or so to Hayley in the final stages.
Amelie Karlsson
In the end Amelie motored over the line looking completely untroubled in a second fastest all time 7:02, missing out on Julia Davis's course record by just 8 minutes. Hayley hung on to second in 7:34 and Katie took third in 7:47.
Katie Brazier
The mens race shaped up differently, with 2025 second place finisher Matt Hammerton going out hard with David Green - 2025 Autumn 100 second place his last ultra outing. The two gradually shed the rest of the field and it became a real tactical battle with Matt filling flasks from SDW public taps to save seconds in one or two of the check points. He took a small lead out of Housedean Farm, the marathon mark, and stretched it to a maximum of four minutes going into the final third of the race. From there, David ran at least as strong and pushed Matt all the way. With the final miles coming into view, it was only then that the dream of breaking Tom Evans' 8 year old course record of 5:44 finally faded for the pair. Matt crossed the line first in 5:47 for the second fastest 50 mile trail performance we have seen in 14 years of racing. David came across four minutes later in 5:51 to put himself third on the same list. Third place went to Paul Grieve in 6:32, who dug deep to fend off a large group of guys all pressing home to finish in 7 hours or less.
Mens Podium Left to Right: David Green, Matt Hammerton, Paul Grieve
The most astonishing part of this race perhaps however, were the age group performances.
First FV40 went to fifth place overall Laura Watts - a now five time finisher of this race. The FV50 award went to Claire Howard - who actually bested all the FV40s too and came home in 7:54. That was an age cat record of 45 minutes! She was also fourth overall. First FV60 went to Elaine Battson in 10:50.
Claire Howard
In the mens, records also tumbled.
First MV40 went to Matt Hammerton also first overall. First MV50 went to Andy Day in 7:00:27. First MV60 in a huge new record went to David Justin Baird-Murray in 7:56, a 20 minute record which he took from a man who set a huge new MV70 best just an hour later. David Prince-Iles ran 8:58 as a new mark in his first outing in the MV70 category.
As the day wore on, it was PB central in the windy, overcast and fast conditions. One runner missed the final cut off at the 46 mile aid station at Jevington, leaving a group of four at the back of the pack, seemingly likely to miss out on an official finish under the 13 hour cut off, some of them by mere seconds. But with less than 45 seconds left in the race, first one, then two and three almost together came over the line, leaving just Tabitha Codd sprinting for the line. She crossed with 2 seconds to spare in 12:59:57, leaving us the perfect end to a brilliant day. Thank goodness for that!
A huge thanks as always to our team of over 80 volunteers, staff, course markers and sweepers who made all of this possible once again.
The first and final edition of the Sea to Sea 300km started over a two hour rolling window from St. Bees in Cumbria on Saturday 28th March 2026. Runners were given 100 hours to make it to Robin Hoods Bay, North Yorkshire using a route almost entirely based on the brand new Wainwrights Coast to Coast National Trail.
A podcast debrief of the race can be found on our channel here.
The race was there to replace the cancelled Northern Traverse, but to be run in a very different style, with no formal check points, course markings or safety teams. And the choice of whether to take it on Self-Supported, or crewed, with a list of around 20 locations provided to those runners who wanted to take the latter option.
31 runners began the event, the self-imposed limit we had for safety reasons. With Race HQ acting remotely and tracker monitoring provided 24/7, runners were required to obey all instructions from Race HQ including bad weather route implementation. Runners were also required to report in if they planned to stop on the trail for any amount of time.
The race started in largely good conditions, if windy and with the odd passing snow shower making going challenging but only for short periods. As the first night wore on, things depreciated and eventually the bad weather route was brought in for those departing Patterdale after 0030 on the Sunday. Many had by that time passed over the high point of the route at Kidsty Pike in some of the most spectacular dusk / sunset conditions, accompanied by the Martindale Deer.
The first of of four safe havens was reached at New Ing Lodge, Shap, before runners pressed on across to Kirkby Stephen and the Mountain Rescue Hut there which was being manned as an informal checkpoint by the team there, led by Hannah and Rhys Beddoe.
As Sunday wore on, the weather set in with wind gusts up to 60mph and heavy rain on and off through the entire day. That led to several retirements and bad weather route implementation again impacting the latter part of the field who were called on to bypass Nine Standards Rigg.
Runners then began making Reeth - Dales Bike Centre - where Jess Young and Dales Runners gave support to those who were without. Before the long stretch over to Richmond and across the Vale of York To Ingelby Cross. This marks the 50 mile to go point and the final National Park to be crossed - the North York Moors.
The race now stretched into Monday. Sabrina Verjee (La Sportiva) led the race over the final 100 miles crewed in the latter stages by her mum and finished first in 55:10. Martin Wilson previous winner of our Winter Downs 200 in 2024, reached RHB second in 56:31 again crewed for the majority of the race and third place was our own Founder James Elson in 58:14.
Second place lady went to Teresa Reason in 64:51 and third place lady to Kirsty Taylor - our only self-supported female runner.
19 runners made it home, with the final finish going to our only International Runner - Daniel Podzimek - coming home in 95:58.
A huge thank you to the MR teams along the route, Race HQ of Nici Griffin, Sharon McMullan, Drew Sheffield. Open Trackings Chris Mills and James Thurlow. And of course all the runner crews to making this special event possible.
Here are some race reports from runners who took part in the adventure:
The fourth edition of our season opener and it was a cracker. After a rain soaked inaugural edition, spring has landed right around the time of three years that have followed and this year was no different. A crisp morning with frozen ground, gave way to bluebird skies and trails that were in excellent condition almost throughout.
Stonor Park in all its glory on race day
The racing at the front was as action packed as expected, with many of the best of British Ultra racing lining up for their first big throw down of the year. But amongst the field of 438 starters were around 25% first time ultra runners too. Together with lots of regular Centurion runners - everyone looking to make it home inside the 9 hour cut off and just enjoy the day.
Listen to our post race recap podcast here or via any good host.
Ultimately we ended up with several records. A new female course record and a record for highest number of runners across a finish line at a Centurion event. Only by five, but we will take it!
The ladies race coming in was quite simply a two horse race between Fiona Pascall (Adidas) and Julia Davis (La Sportiva), but Julia's late withdrawal with a niggle she couldn't quite shake in time, left it likely that Fi would run away with proceedings and that she did. But the race for the podium positions behind was extremely close indeed.
Fiona Pascall
Fi has raced with us three times now and has three course records to show for it. Wendover Woods 50, North Downs Way 50 and now here too. She led from the start and immediately built an expanding time gap over Anna Klucnika's 2024 course record splits (4:32). At half way back at Stonor she ran straight through and out onto a loop two where she began reeling in many of the leading guys to boot, eventually crossing the line in 4:08:11 for the win.
Behind her, a close battle raged from the start for positions two through five and beyond. Lynne Nicholls and Sophie Biggs ran close together through the early stages, with Nicola Glover just back of them. Those three remained locked within a few minutes of each other, for the entire rest of the race. Lynne always had a small margin, with Sophie first and then Nicola passing her sat just behind. In the end second place went to Lynne in 4:39:51. Third to Nicola Glover in 4:46:17 and Sophie took fourth and the first FV50 prize.
Nicola Glover
The mens race took a different shape as the front group went off at an extremely fast pace before gradually fracturing to leave two out front - previous champion Mark Darbyshire (Centurion Ultra Team) and Benjamin Hall, with Ry Webb just behind. Early lead group member Dan Weller who won the 2023 event, dropped at half way. Mark and Benjamin ran toe to toe until the climb up to Bix check point where Mark was just able to snap the elastic that had seemingly held them together, before pulling away very gradually to form a small gap. In the end a hard charging Ry Webb (La Sportiva) who ran a brilliantly paced race, came closest to reaching Mark but ultimately just fell short. Mark took his second win here in 3:49:48. Ry took second in 3:52:59 and Benjamin third in 3:54:13.
Mens Podium LtR: Benjamin Hall, Mark Darbyshire, Ry Webb
Age Category awards went to the following:
Mark Darbyshire won the MV40 cat as well as taking the overall win. First MV50 went to Charles Sykes. First MV60 to David Allan and First MV70 to Keith Simpson, also our final finisher.
First FV40 went to second place Lynne Nicholls. First FV50 went to fourth overall Sophie Biggs. Our first FV60 award was taken by Nicky Callus, just one second ahead of Maya Betheja.
We had amazing feedback from runners from front to back in this race. A team of 60 volunteers made this event possible, we are so grateful to all of them as always, together with our course marking team, staff and sponsors.
Next up for us is the South Downs Way 50 in just under four weeks time.
470 runners began their respective 70 days journeys on Christmas Day as they have for the last six years.
As usual the distances on offer ranged from 50 miles over the 10 weeks, all the way up to 1000 miles. With the One Community week included over the half term period, giving all of the Slammers a chance to take part in an event within an event and boost their mileage as they neared the end of their challenge.
Runners from 24 countries took part. Bethany Everett at 2 years old the youngest to finish as she tackled her 50 mile challenge with dad Stephen and got it done with almost a week to spare! All the way up to Barbara Seale 80 years her senior completing 100 miles - what other event could bring such an age range and breadth of geography and demographics together. Amazing!
The event really does engage our community of incredible people, albeit virtually, at a time of year when our in person events are on their winter break and motivation can often be hardest to find thanks to the colder, darker and this year for sure, very much wetter months. It's such an uplifting event for so many people to be a part of and we get so many messages of support to keep the event going. We will of course keep it rolling and start back again on Christmas Day 2026 for One Slam 2027.
As always we donate 10% of revenue to charity, across both MIND and Protect Our Winters UK. With over 130 trees planted with Trees not Tees across One Slam and One Community runners foregoing their medals/ awards.
So much good coming from one little virtual race.
A huge thanks to our sponsors for the spot prizes, to Robbie Britton our Head of Endurance for providing the six included coaching webinars and especially to all of our 2026 One Slam runners. See you next year!
The Everett family came to our shop for their medals. Brittany was our youngest finisher this year!
Victoria Birdsell and Barbara Seale
We first held our One Community virtual event during the pandemic - in late May 2020. 4000 runners took part in that first edition in what was a crazy and strange time in our sport and indeed our world.
We've brought it back several times since, as part of the longer One Slam virtual event that we hold between Christmas and early March each year, designed to kick start runners race seasons and provide inspiration and motivation to get out during the longer, darker, colder and this year much wetter months.
One Community 2026 fell three weeks from the conclusion of One Slam and gave a much needed boost to 170 runners who took the opportunity to enjoy the extra event included with their Slam entry. And for those who just wanted to take on the individual challenge of running between 5km and 100 miles over the course of the week.
As with all of our virtual events, 10% of the entry fees went directly to our charity partners, MIND and Protect Our Winters UK whom we are delighted to be able to support.
Full results show runners distance chosen and the cumulative time taken between the first and last step including of course any downtime.
A huge thank you to all of our runners, sponsors and partners for making our twin virtual events such a positive way to start the year once again.
