North Downs Way 100 miler, 09/08/25: Starting 7am in Farnham, Surrey to Ashbourne, Kent (30-hour cut-off)

Ultra runner and club member Jenny Richards reports on an epic race…

Messed up straight away, as my breakfast was inedible (bad planning), so only had a banana pre-run, which was a concern. Arrived at the sports centre for bag drop and to collect my number/tracker and noticed I was carrying a lot more equipment than others, which was also concerning! Was joined by my new running pal Emma, whom I'd met on a couple of other Ultras this year, so was thankful to have a friendly face on the course!

Having never run anywhere near this distance previously, I didn't really have a clue what I was doing, so my only thoughts were to ensure I was hydrating and fuelling - and I wanted to speak to as many people as possible on the course. I thought this might be a good strategy for the low moments which would inevitably come. I'm glad I did: I met so many inspiring, accomplished runners of different ages and backgrounds, many of whom gave great support and kindness on the course. Notably, a gentleman at the 50-mile aid station wanted me to know he was dropping out of the run but noticed I'd lost my bite valve on my camel pack and gave me his, which was incredibly kind and extremely helpful.

I took a tumble around mile 43, ripping my leggings and cutting my hand, which knocked my confidence. One thing that kept me going was seeing all the supportive messages flashing up on my watch. Especially welcome were messages from the many lovely ladies from LAC on glamorous holidays(!), sending me support at all hours for the entire distance. Eternally grateful. 

I made a conscious decision not to run in the dark. Although I had my head torch, the fall had really knocked my confidence and I was largely running on my own during this period, so the thought of falling again on my own was too much. In fact, I was hallucinating by this point, so I just needed to keep moving. The toughest part of the race was pushing on to Detling, mile 82, as I knew my husband Steve was waiting for me and was going to support-run me for the last 20 miles. It was an arduous part of the course to reach that aid station! When I arrived around 3am, I gave him the biggest hug and had to really restrain myself from bursting into tears, as I'm not sure I would have recovered and I needed to reserve my fluids!

Heading off from Detling was tough as I knew there were 4 or 5 miles of hills in the dark, but eventually the dawn came. I'd already run the last 15 miles on a recce with Emma a couple of weeks before, so was on more familiar ground.

I finally arrived in Ashford at the athletics track, and crossed the line at 9.26am, absolutely delighted. I was greeted by my fellow runners I'd been passing during the run, and was happy to cheer in the others who followed. I'd taken a few wrong turns (entirely my fault, as the Centurion course was very well marked out), so my total distance was just over 104 miles, in a time of 26 hours 26 mins. Slightly gutted not to have done a sub-24 hours, but I did the best I could in the circumstances.

I finished in 66th place of 140 finishers and was the 11th female and 6th in my age category, so I was thrilled with my achievement. 

Surprisingly, I loved the Ultra, having an adventure and meeting so many inspiring new Strava buddies. I'd like to practise night running in the forest next, with a view to nabbing the sub-24, if anyone is up for that this winter…!

Congratulations Jenny - your LAC teammates are in awe of you!