The morning of the eleventh edition of this race dawned warm, overcast and breezy, a classic September day and perfect for enjoying a 50 mile trail adventure around the beautiful Chiltern Hills.
We puposefully keep this race small, with the same circa 250 starters each year. The area and the trails are reasonably remote and not suitable for big events. What that also creates is an amazingly intimate atmosphere, with runners and volunteers sharing such a personal and supportive experience around the five on course check points as well as back at Goring where the race of course, starts and finishes.
In the womens race, the big news pre-race was that Robyn Cassidy, podium finisher at this years South Downs Way 100 was back to take on her second Centurion event. However, fairly quickly into the race it was clear it wasn't her day and she decided to step off the trail. It was only ever one womans race from there as Lynne Nicholls who was the second highest ITRA ranked athlete coming in, put on a masterclass in race execution. She ran away from the rest of the field and gapped everyone by an increasing margin through to her crossing the finish line in a winning time of 8:09. That puts her in the top ten fastest ever female times at this event.
Behind Lynne, 50 Mile Grand Slammer Helen Chapman took seecond in 8:56. Helen took 7th at the SDW50, 5th at NDW50 and jumped right up to the podium at this race in what is turning out to be an amazing year.
Third place went to Beth Whittaker in 9:08 - who was also our first FV50 athlete, in 9:08. Superb running.
Womens Podium: Beth, Lynne and Helen (L to R)
The mens race had a very similar shape to 2025, when Joe Turner set a new course record. Jack Oates, clear favourite coming in went hard off of the start line and never looked back. The question hung in the air all day over whether he could lower Joe's 6:18:15 benchmark. At the marathon mark at Ibstone check point with the biggest climbs out of the way, Jack was three minutes up. At Swyncombe, that had risen to five minutes and it looked on. At Blue Tin however, the final check point he had dropped to 5 minutes back with 10km to go and it finally looked out of reach. In what was still an astonishing run he came home in 6:28, taking the win by 42 minutes in what was the fourth fastest all-time mens performance on this course.
Second place went to Dominic Jones, also first MV40 who does so well at events in this area. He was just 16 seconds ahead of third place Jack Grover. It was great to see a real race right down to the closing metres as opposed to a jog in together. The two had done battle all day and it was fantastic to see the shared camaraderie between the two, back at Goring.
Mens Podium: Dominic, Jack Oates, Jack Grover (L to R)
The age categories went to the following athletes:
First FV40 was Lynne Nicholls the race winner. First FV50 was Beth Whittaker also third overall. First MV40 was Dominic Jones also second overall. First MV50 was Barry Bryant in 7:27. First MV60 Christian Poulton in 10:34.
Final Finisher was Eleanor Gills who went off course within a mile of the finish once she hit the outskirts of the village. But who dug so deep to come in with just over a minute to spare in what was a fantastic way to bring a close to the race.
A special mention to two other runners. Ella Welch who finished alongside her dad Simon - Ella first volunteered this race when she was 14 years old and has been a stalwart of the scene ever since, fantastic to see her returning to the race where it all began. And to Luigi Fumero who remains 'last person standing' in completing his eleventh successive CW50 - every single edition.
We are as always indebted to our incredible team of volunteers who every year, make this such a special event to kick start autumn after a huge summer season of racing across the world.
