Our 50 mile race season got underway under flawless blue skies offering runners a picture perfect day on the Downs. This was the thirteenth edition of what has always been a big favourite within our community, incidentally the day also marked the occassion of us welcoming our 10,000th 50 mile finisher over the line, across the forty three 50 mile races we have held in our history. Finishing in 11:14:48. Tom Brain in 230th took that prestigious honour.

You can find a podcast review of the race and results here

428 runners set off from Hill Barn Rec Ground in Worthing, with the joy of being able to experience the South Downs at their best. Deep fields in both the mens and womens races led to different strategies, with the leading men sticking together in a fairly tight pack through the early miles. Whilst Sarah Page led out the womens race from the gun and forged an early gap over Anna Buckingham and the other chasing ladies behind.

The mens race began to fragment on the section between Saddlescombe Farm and Housedean Farm. Patrick Wightman our NDW50 course record holder was in fourth but dropping back and clearly having a few issues that would lead to him stopping at the half way mark. Paddy Hamilton running in third also came in to Housedean battling what was a humid day which together with the headwind made staying on top of race fueling the key to success. Mark Darbyshire pulled away from Matt Hammerton on the descent to Housedean reaching there first, but then had to catch back up on the climb up to Kingston as Matt didn't stop! Mark then built a small lead which stayed at roughly the same time gap over Matt all the way to the track in Eastbourne, crossing the line in 6:15:00 to better Matt's 6:23:22. Fantastic racing. The gap to third was almost an hour as all of the early protagonists dropped away or dropped out, leaving a strong Ash Varley - past CW50 champion - to take the final podium spot in 7:18. 

Mark Darbyshire

The womens race was far more balanced, with Sarah and Anna running in one and two all day, seemingly managing the issues that the warmer conditions were throwing at them really well. Without falter, they settled in to their own races with Sarah coming home to win for the second time on this track, the other being at the 100 in 2023 and having lead gun to tape in a time of 7:41.

Womens Champion Sarah Page

Anna who recently joined our Centurion Coaching team took second in 8:01, making us doubly proud. The final spot on the podium changed hands several times and it was a race right to the finish line. Alex Coomber held the spot until Southease at Mile 34 but in hot pursuit were a cast of other hopefulys including Annaka Charters, Caroline Lear, Flic Archer and Laura Watts. In the end, Caroline pulled clear coming over the top of the final climb with less than 3 miles to go and took third. The gap between third and tenth in the womens race spanned just 18 minutes. 

Centurion Coach and Second Place - Anna Buckingham

In the age categories, there were some regular fixtures and some new faces taking trophies home. 

In the womens, first FV40 went to race winner Sarah Page. First FV50 went to Alex Coomber in 8:52 and First FV60 went to Yvonne Walker of Black Trail Runners in 12:38.

Yvonne Walker - First FV60

In the mens, first MV40 was Mark Darbyshire, first MV50 went to Ash Varley in third overall. First MV60 went to Aziouz Lammali in 9:11 and first MV70 to Ken Fancett in 11:31 - incidentally that was Kens 10th finish here. 

The finish rate was 85% on the day, with over 60 runners succumbing to the beautiful but warm conditions amongst other issues. But to welcome 365 runners over the line is still a huge thrill and a great accomplishment by all.

A huge thanks as always to our volunteer team who make all of this possible, our race sponsors for their support and the people of the South Downs National Park for allowing us to keep coming back every year.

Next up is the Thames Path 100 in just under three weeks time. 

The third edition of our season opener the Hundred Hills 50km and all were truly blessed to what were possibly the best conditions for trail running one could ever wish for. After a dry spell, the course was in mint condition. With one inexplicable 5 min rain shower just before the start, the sun shone all day but with a cooling breeze, the balance of the perfect temperature was struck. Lambs in the fields, daffodils on the verges and a parade of red kites soaring overhead.

It was a day in which the Chiltern Hills got a chance to literally shine in all their glory!

Before pressing on, you can listen to a Podcast recapping the race here which covers much of what is in this report. And find a link back to watch the tracking back here. Links to the results and the photos are available at the top of this page.

We welcomed a starting field of 421 and in our dreams we thought we could possibly see over 400 make it home inside the nine hour cut off. Registration was buzzing with excitement with lots of returning and long standing members of the Centurion community, together with a lot of runners taking on their first event with us and for a sizeable portion, their first ultra. 

Shannon Evans finishing her first ultra supported by Dad - Darren Evans of the Green Runners

Usually the race report speaks first to the first runners over the line but there were two stories at the other end of the field that truly summed up what our sport is all about.

The first is simple. In 2024 James Robinson came home in 8:53, with just over 6 minutes to spare inside the cut off. This year, it looked like he was cutting it ever closer. Together with Sarah Reid, it looked likely leaving Bix that they would just miss out on an official finish. They approached the final mile and a half together before Sarah decided to make a break for it and ran amazingly well down the final long finishing straight to come home in 8:56:36. But as she finished, James wasn't even in sight and it appeared impossible that he could now make it under the 9 hours. His wife Jo who had already finished her race, jogged back to tell him to really get a shift on and that, he certainly did. With 90 seconds to go he was in sight of the finishing crowd but he seemed so far off. With a minute to go it was clear he was quite literally sprinting. With 30 seconds to go it looked possible he might miss it by a few seconds. With 7 seconds to go he crossed the finish line and collapsed in a heap. 8:59:53 and the closest under cut off we have had in a while. That is why we have hard cut offs. It raises the level of achievement for those that make it home.

Click here to watch back the last five minutes of the race including both finishes on instagram.

James Robinson

But another story went way under the radar. Over 7 years and countless attempts, Caroline Loach has tried to reach the finish of one of our events. Every time she fell short she questioned herself and often asked whether we would allow her to come back and try again. The answer always yes, we knew she could do it, she had proved she could do it, it just hadn't happened yet. Earlier in the day a bib number was posted in the comms group of a drop out with the name Caroline and I had wrongly assumed it hadn't worked out. But at 8:25 elapsed, I looked over and saw her cross the finish line. She was just another finisher on a great day for many. She would never dream of making a fuss or celebrating wildly. But you could immediately see the complete joy and validation that finally making it home had brought to her. It was a very emotional moment, to see the level of perserverance that goes quietly unnoticed sometimes, coming to fruition and making everything that runner, our volunteers and us as organisers do, worthwhile.

Caroline Loach

At the sharp end, we have seen a shift over the last few years in terms of the level of racing. Big leaps in shared knowledge, information, fueling options and training have pervaded from the bigger races down into the nationally competive ones, of which Hundred Hills has established its place. It's meant close racing from the gun and much smaller time gaps at the finish line. On the start line of both mens and womens races, representatives of past GB international teams over 100km and on the trails. 

Both the men's and women's races were so close that for the first time since forever, we were able to get all podium finishers together with their trophies on the finish line, still in the kit they'd just crossed the line in! Both races took on a similar shape with initial leaders dropping back to second and third place being held throughout. 

In the women's race, Nicole Frisby ran out in front through the early miles and through Stonor the first time off the slightly shorter first loop, in just over 2 hours. Second place Karla Borland looked fresh and left shortly after. With Amy Sarkies previous WW50 winner in third. Karla forged past Nicole in the second loop to close really strong and finish in 4:37 dead. Nicole was second in 4:41 and Amy third in 4:44:44. 

Women's podium: (left to right) Amy Sarkies, Karla Borland, Nicole Frisby

Out the front of the mens race, a pack of six set off together before an initial surge from last years second place finisher and TP100 champion, Kallum Pritchard seemed to stick. He was closely marked by Joe Turner, in his first race since racing the 100km World Championships in December. Kallum arrived back at Stonor the first time in 1:43, well up on course record pace and with around 3 minutes on Joe. Third place on his own was Nick Berry. Speaking with Kallum and Joe post race, Kallum stated that he simply couldn't match Joe's pace on the flat and it was that which separated them. Joe caught Kallum around 10 miles out, fueling on our Precision Hydration options new at our check points for this year, he powered through the final aid station at Bix and ran home the winner in 3:42. Kallum finished second again in 3:48 and Nick Berry held on to third in 3:51. Together with Tom Green in fourth, the front four all went under the old CR which was set last year in rather more challenging conditions (Kallum's 2024 time was 4:03).

Mens Podium: (left to right) Kallum Pritchard, Joe Turner and Nick Berry

It was fantastic to see a bigger womens field this year with age group awards being given out for some superb performances.

Amy Sarkies took home first FV40 in a new age cat record, together with third overall. First FV50 went to Camilla Mitchell in 5:01. First FV60 to Tara Taylor in 5:54 - an effort which took 2 hours off of the previous record!

In the men's categories. First MV40 went to Nick Berry, also third overall. First MV50 to Tim Marsters in 4:32. First MV60 to Simon Blanchflower in 5:00, a big new age cat record and first MV70 to Roy Dillon in 6:34.

402 runners crossed the line, thanks to the heroics of the last few runners taking us over that magic 400 mark!

We will be back in 2026 for another edition of what has firmly become a classic season opener and fun for all!

A huge thank you to our volunteers and race sponsors without whom none of this would be possible.

The fourth year of the One Slam virtual event saw nearly 500 runners take on their own 10 week challenge. Attempting to cover one of the many distances on offer which echo our in-person races throughout the year.

Runners from 20 different countries took part this year, aiming for distances ranging from 50 up to 1000 miles.

Runners of all ages took part once again, ranging from the youngest runner in the field Lola Campbell at 5 years old, all the way up to Alison Fuller who at 82 years young, finished the 100 mile distance.

We look at this event very much as an opportunity to bring the wider Centurion Community together, involving people who would never ordinarily get the chance to race with us due to age, geography or the distances involved in our in-person events. But also as pre-season training and education around training and racing for all of our regular runners. The six coaching webinars organised by our Head of Endurance Robbie Britton, were really well received and attended. The extra One Up event in the middle for those who took that on, added a bonus too.

Over £1000 was donated to charity as a result of revenue raised from the event. This has been spread across MIND and Protect Our Winters UK. And of course 75 trees were planted on behalf of runners foregoing awards in favour of Trees Not Tees. 

So we wrap up for another year, with the final finishing tallies available here. But to finish, just a couple of bits of feedback we had from runners along the way, which make it all wortwhile. 

Thank you so much to all of you who took part and of course, we will be back kicking off the 2026 event on 25th December 2025. Details to follow.

My daughter took on the 50 mile distance as a beginner in running,  she absolutely loved it, she really enjoyed  watching her dot move over the graph and helping enter the millage for each run. She’s really struggled with Obsessive compulsive disorder over the last few years and this has really helped focus her mind over the winter months, she’s also raised money for the R.S.P.C.A the whole experience has been extremely positive for her I hope to line up at one of your events with her by my side one day. This event is perfectly timed and a great way to get people into running. 

I entered One Slam at the same time as the SDW50KM in order to help with running in the dark cold months....but also because of the webinars. As a new Ultra runner I figured I could learn a lot from you. I got struck down by a neck injury that put me out for 2 weeks and so I have ended one Slam 18 miles off my 200 mile target but I wanted to write and say thanks so much for the webinars. I've learned so much - they were worth the entry fee alone. Robbie is funny and engaging and so knowledgeable and easy to listen to. I've really looked forward to each of them. I appreciate they take time to put together and prepare for - so I wanted just to say thanks and for you to know this is appreciated and that they have been hugely valuable. I hope to see you at the startline (and the finish line) of the SDW50KM

I just wanted to message to say thanks for organising this event again. I really struggle with motivation through the winter, I find particularly that February really drags and my running mojo can get lost. But this always manages to give me that bit of oomph to get out of the door and the sense of achievement at the end is just brilliant. It is somehow like being in an actual race except competing only with myself, which I have grown to really love!

Thank you to everyone who took part in the second ever edition of One Up. An event within an event this time as almost all of the runners were also still building miles towards the 2025 One Slam virtual event. All proceeds from this years' One Up went to our two charity partners - Protect Our Winters UK and MIND.