James founded Centurion Running in 2010. Having been fortunate enough to race frequently across both the UK and the World at that point he wanted to bring the supported style of racing he had enjoyed so much elsewhere to the UK.
For the first 10 years following the initial North Downs Way events in 2011, he race directed all of the events bar the 2015 Autumn 100 which he enjoyed from the other side of the table as a runner instead. He set up the Centurion Coaching arm in 2012 which has now grown to a team of fifteen. And added the Centurion Store in 2013 as the demand grew for quality gear, apparel and footwear relevant to our trail and ultra scene here in the UK.
He is a passionate runner himself, having competed in ultras since 2006. His proudest moments coming as he represented Team GB at the 24hr format.
Robbie is our Head of Endurance, and oversees the entire coaching arm of the business. Through One to One, Group Coaching and Training plans his team of 15 deliver the best in world class coaching. You can also listen to him on our podcast where he features regularly.
Lisa is the Centurion Ultrarunning Store Manager. She is in charge of the purchasing, customer service, merchandising and delivery, as well as of course the pop-up shop on race weekends and beyond.
Nici's background was as a volunteer as early as 2012, but she quickly progressed to join the staff team where she has been ever since.
She co-ordinates all of the volunteers for our events, ensuring that over the course of the year, almost a thousand people are in the right place at the right time and are armed with all of the details to empower them to help our runners in the best way possible. On race day you will find her in charge of the registration and finish line teams at most of our races. Day to day Nici handles most of the communication via our info email account. Dealing with the majority of requests and questions we get fielded from all groups. Harking back to her old 'day job' Nici is also in charge of all of the Health and Safety protocols and Risk Assessments.
Drew joined our team for the Thames Path 100 in 2012 and has been on board ever since. He manages all of our race courses, ensuring they are safe, marked correctly, accessible and accurate. He is also heavily involved in our store and is with us for all of our shop open days.
His own running career is extensive with dozens of finishes at the super long events, from flat to truly mountainous. Amongst other things he has finished finished UTMB, Leadville, Ehunmilak, GUCR, Lakeland 100, Arc of Attrition, Istria, 100 miles Sud De France, Ronda Del Cims three times and the WHW Race . He is the ultimate fan of the sport and can often be found crewing, pacing or just spectating at events up and down the country and internationally.
He brings a true runners head to our events, which is a huge part of what makes them friendly and safe. Not least, he also 'invented' the Chiltern Wonderland and Wendover Woods 50 courses - so many have to thank him for those too! He is RD for the Chiltern Wonderland 50.
Magda joined as our logistics manager in early 2025. She is based full time at our Granary store/ farm unit where she oversees the planning, packing and inventory of all of our event equipment.
She also works alongside our store team, helping to manage all aspects of that side of the business as part of a wider team. You can find her at all shop open days, as well as all of our events where she is typically either setting up or sweeping the aid stations. She was a long time volunteer, course marker and runner with us before she became staff. Winner of the Wendover Woods 100 and finisher of Winter Downs 200 amongst many other things.
Paul joined the team in 2021 and came straight in as our Race Director for the North Downs Way 50 and Wendover Woods 50.
He is an experienced endurance athlete and first attended a Centurion event back in 2015, when he finished the South Downs Way 50. He also went on to run the NDW50 in 2019. Paul's depth of experience as an RD prior to Centurion, came from his own company - Big Bear Events, a long distance running race organiser with events scattered across the Midlands, which has grown in reputation and standing thanks to the dedication and such high standards that Paul strives for.
Chris came on board in 2023 to oversee tracking at our events, but his role has only expanded since. He is now responsible for the management of all three of our websites and much of the day to day function of the digital side of our business, as well as continuing to cover every race on the ground, overseeing all of our tracking and timing.
Away from Centurion, Chris founded and owns Runaway Racing which has a series of great trail races across the year.
Alongside Ed Mitchell, Neil is our Logistics Sweeper. It's his role to set up and manage the first aid station on every course, before visiting and closing all aid stations down the course. In doing so he collects all of our equipment, accounts for every runner through every check point, manages the run sweepers that clear the markings behind our final runners and co-ordinates with staff up and down the route to ensure supplies are all in place. He is an avid ultra runner himself, having finished several of our races over the years and is a huge fan of canicross!
Jan has been a regular face at our events since 2016, initially as a volunteer before going on to a fine Autumn 100 finish at the end of that year. After running both the SDW50 and NDW50 in 2017 she started volunteering more regularly and started 2019 on the Staff Team as logistics manager. She moved on from that role in 2025 as she expanded to working abroad more often - she is now back on the race day staff team and can be found as aid station set up manager at our bigger races, as well as race day sweeper at our 50 milers too.
Ed is one of the longest standing members of our team having signed up as aid station set up and sweeper at the end of 2011! You will find him these days managing the overnight sweep at the 100s, and the full course sweep at the 50s alongisde Neil Mckie and Jan Strachan. Ed comes on during the 100s in the dead of night and cleans up and takes care of all of the back half of the field right through until the race closes down. He loves the all nighter!
Natalie manages all of our social media accounts, communicating to our runners and followers all of the information we need and want them to know. Her knowledge and experience as a runner make her uniquely placed to get that communication across in the right way, in the past she has been British and English fell running champion, but these days has turned her hand to longer stuff from her base in Italy with recent finishes at monster events like TDG and Adamello Ultra Trail.
Paul is our sweeper minibus driver for all of our events and has been part of our staff team for almost a decade. He is there for every runner who has not managed to have the day they dreamed of, to help them get to where they need to go as smoothly as possible. As an avid runner himself he knows what it's like to be on both sides of the fence!
Marc is a keen biker and runner - and joined us on incredibly short notice in 2016 when he stepped in to do aid station set up for us at the South Downs Way 100. Having plenty of experience working at endurance events he took straight to it and hasn't looked back. You can find him at our events in charge of the Drop and Finish Line Bag logistics.
Sylvie joined the Staff team at the start of the 2021 season as Start/ Finish Set up Manager working alongside Nici Griffin and Andy Wollaston to make sure our start and finish lines are the best in the business. She now oversees our pop-up shop together with Lisa, on all of our event weekends, working at both the start and finish lines. She has competed in triathlons for many years and is a passionate runner.
When James founded Centurion Running in October 2010, it was Al who was first on board to bring the dream to life. At the time he was working with James at a company called Clear Channel based in Golden Square, London. James was in the trading team and Al was Head of design. But the main efforts around that period were extra curricular with regular late nights and early mornings in Als Brick Lane abode.
When James brought the idea of Centurion to Al, he jumped on it straight away and built the original website. In the first couple of years, Al did everything alongside James. Packing vans, sweeping the courses, logistics, IT and sometimes when we had time - the design work! He is reponsible for all of our logos, awards and beyond. Now based once again in his native Australia, we do most things remotely. And miss his presence at the events greatly.
Louise has been an ever present at our events, right from the start. Over the years she has found the time to volunteer, run and now staff almost every race we have held, often pulling huge shifts, up before the first runners before often dropping stranded runners home, hundreds of miles in the wrong direction.
She has previously finished many of our events, including the Grand Slam of 100s. These days she can most often be found managing the 50 mile/ half way check point at each of our point to point 100s and managing major check points at our 50 milers. But the chances are if you hang around a race weekend long enough you will see her multiple times, as long as it is not whilst parkrun is on.
Laure is rapidly closing in on having worked 100+ events with us. She can be found on the staff side in charge of the finish line at the SDW50km, and at Bishops Sutton on the Winter Downs course. But on top of that she is in charge of a key aid station at each race, working with the volunteers to deliver the best check points in the business.
Alma has completed the double slam of volunteering/ staffing our events more than any other person. If you run with us, you will see her working check points up and down the course. Her main role these days is on catering, at both key aid stations and finish lines. She is a crucial member of the team and continues to be inspired by and inspire so many runners every time she attends an event.
Michelle was one of the earliest members of our team, having been on the aid station set up crew from the Thames Path in 2012 right through to today, in between doing her regular day job working for the emergency services in Brighton. She has worked dozens of our races and knows the aid stations like the back of her hand! She too is an avid runner but tends to stick more sensibly to marathon distance and below.
