Centurion Running

Autumn 100®

15 Oct 2016

Course Records

James Elson (M)

14:35:40

2015

Sarah Burns-Morwood (F)

16:13:58

2015

The Autumn 100 (previously the Winter 100) is a 100 mile continuous trail race based in the twinned villages of Goring & Streatley on the river Thames. The course reflects the shape of a cross and takes runners on a series of 4 different 25 mile out and back spurs using sections of both the Ridgeway and Thames Path National Trails.

Runners will depart from Goring at 10am on Saturday 15th October and make their way to Little Wittenham on the first out and back section on the Thames Path. On returning to Goring, runners will be faced with the more challenging but beautiful second spur of the course, out to Swyncombe Farm on the Ridgeway before returning to Goring a second time. Spur 3 takes runners west on the Ridgeway to Chain Hill before returning to Goring for the final leg on the Thames Path to Reading and return for their 100 mile finish.

The difficulty of this race should not be underestimated. During a dry spell the route is flat, fast and picturesque presenting ideal conditions for a trail 100. However, runners will also be faced with up to 13 hours of darkness and the possibility of extremely low temperatures, rain and very wetand windy conditions. The trails may well be wet, flooded or iced over in parts underfoot.

As with all Centurion events, runners will be fully supported by 16 well stocked aid stations , full medical support and course markings in addition to the pre-existing national trail waymarkers. Race held under full UK Athletics Permit granted through the TRA (Permit Number: TRA183).

Photos

Vital Stats

Distance

100mi

161KMs

Elevation

3840ft

1170m

Cut-off

28hours

Entry Fee

£130

Date

15 Oct 2016 10:00

Course Marked

YES

Medical Support

YES

No. of Starters

300

Avg Temp.

11C

51.8F

Avg Rainfall.

61mm

2inches

Avg Humidity

35%

# of Aid Stations

16

Location

EU / UK / ENGLAND / SOUTH-EAST

Terrain

20% road / 80% trail

General Info

Entries

Entries for the event open on Saturday 12th December 2015 at 1000. 

There will be 300 places for the event on open registration and places are available on a first come, first served basis. Entrants must meet the minimum qualification standard below in order to apply. Qualifiers will be checked 6 weeks from race day - if you have not updated your registration with a valid qualifier by that point or have not met the criteria, you will be contacted and potentially removed from the start list.

There will be a wait list in operation once the initial places are taken.

Exceptions to the above are:
Those who volunteered over 8 hours of service to the race in 2015 and are therefore guaranteed 2016 entry. These will be confirmed prior to general entries opening. 
Previous Male & Female Champions

The entry fee is £130 with an additional card fee taken by the registration company. 

Qualification Standard

In order to start the race, you must have completed a minimum of a 50 mile distance race within 15hrs, between 1st January 2013 and 30th September 2016. As organisers, we reserve the right to refuse anybody entry who does not meet this standard. Unqualified runners may enter but should they not complete a qualifer within the requisite time frame, they will not be permitted to start. There are further conditions to what may be used as a qualifier. 

Click here to read more about what counts as a qualifier.  

Cut Offs

Runners must finish within a 28 hour time limit. There are additional cut offs at every aid station as listed in the aid station table.

Start/ Finish Location

Registration, Race Start, Race Finish and Race HQ is at Goring Village Hall, High Street, Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, RG8 9AG.

Route

The route is a series of 4 separate 12.5 mile out and back sections using both the Thames Path and Ridgeway trails which converge at Goring & Streatley. Each section will start and finish in Goring & Streatley but will be run on a different stretch of one of the above trails. As in 2013-15, the course will be run in the following order.

Spur 1: (Thames Path): Streatley to Little Wittenham and return
Spur 2: (Ridgeway): Streatley to Swyncombe Farm and return
Spur 3: (Ridgeway): Streatley to Chain Hill and return
Spur 4: (Thames Path): Streatley to Reading and return

Total: Distance 100 miles. 

A map of the route can be found at the bottom of this page. 

Awards

100 mile Buckle to all finishers. Runners finishing the course in under 24 hours will receive '100 miles - One Day' buckles commemorating their achievement. Runners finishing between 24 and 28 hours will receive '100 mile - Finisher' buckles. Runners finishing all 4 Centurion 100 mile races within a calendar year will be awarded Grand Slam Finisher Awards at the conclusion of the race. 

Aid Stations

There will be 16 fully stocked aid stations along the length of the course. A list of the aid stations and all relevant details, can be found here. Aid stations carry as a minimum: water, coke, chocolate, sweets, nuts, fruit, crisps, a limited number of GU energy gel packets, sandwiches and other sweet and savory snacks. All of the aid stations on legs 2, 3 and 4 will have hot drinks. Hot food will be available at Goring & Streatley.

Drop Bags

Drop Bags can be accessed at Goring, meaning runners will have access to drop bags at mile 25, 50, 75 and 100 miles. 

Course Markings

The course is marked by national trail marker posts which come in different forms but most commonly display the acorn which is the key symbol and guide on both the Thames Path and the Ridgeway.

In addition to the National Trail markers, the course will also be marked with red & white tape and marker arrows as well as glow sticks through any section being covered at night. It is always possible that our course markers may be removed or vandalised, in which case you will need to use the National Trail marker posts as the guide. There are a number of road crossings to negotiate, some of them are extremely busy. The road crossings are NOT marshalled. Please be extremely careful when you are crossing roads of any nature.

It is ultimately the runners responsibility to navigate the course successfully, with or without course markings. If you are in any doubt we strongly recommend that you take the time to recce the route before race day.

Pacers

Runners are permitted pacers from the 50 mile point. Pacers must travel on foot only. Runners are permitted multiple pacers throughout the last 50 miles but only one may travel with the runner at any one time. Pacers may make use of the aid stations. 

New for 2015, the points at which a runner may be paced/ hand over pacers are listed here

Crew

Runners are allowed to have a crew. New for 2015, the points at which a runner may be crewed are listed here. Crews will not be permitted to crew for their runner at any point other than those listed. Crew will be permitted in the main hall at Goring at the end of each leg.

Medical

There will be a dedicated team of race medics available throughout the duration of the weekend. If you suffer an injury or accident that warrants direct medical attention, the medics will be on hand to provide you with exactly that. Contact numbers and full details of what to do in an emergency are available in the information packs and will be re-iterated in pre-race mail outs and at race registration. Due to the nature of the course ie. some off road, the medics may take some time to reach you, or potentially be out of contact tending to other runners. A level of self sufficiency is absolutely critical in such situations. 

Kit

The majority of the course is on trail. Trail shoes are advised especially given the time of year. There are sections of trail which can become very muddy or flooded in wet conditions. 

There will be kit checks prior, during and after the race. Runners must carry the following mandatory equipment at all times. A time penalty of one hour will be imposed for any item found to be missing at any point on course. Please refer to this page for explanations on the inclusion of the below items. 

There are many options regards kit for fulfilling these requirements and those of other events. We stock what we believe to be the best options at our online store available by clicking here under the Mandatory Gear Section. Please ask us if you have any questions.

  • Fully Charged Mobile Phone including the numbers for the Race Medic and Race Director (on the number you have given at registration)
  • Water Bottles/Bladder capable of carrying a minimum of 1 litre.
  • Survival Blanket: 1.4m x 2m minimum
  • Waterproof Jacket: Gore-tex or similar, minimum 10000mm+ & must have sealed seams. 
  • Whistle
  • Headtorch or Primary Light Source 
  • Back Up Light source - Minimum 25 Lumens 
  • Warm Hat - Beanie Hat or Buff (either are accepted)
  • Gloves 
  • Base layer or fleece top - This must be carried separately from the start and kept dry, for use only in an emergency. Starting in 2 layers is not a substitute.

Strongly recommended but not mandatory: 

  • Route Map - Should be a hard copy that you are able to navigate from and not a map on your phone. We advise the Harveys Maps available here. You will require the Thames Path and Ridgeway Editions for this event.
  • Compass - This should be a separate physical compass and not electronic/ on your phone. 

Course Map

Download KML fileDownload GPX fileNote: you may need to right click and Save As to download these files