From Matthew Kennedy…

Following a cold and boggy Fellsman in late April, a well-timed e-mail from SI Entries flagged the South Downs Way 100. Hard chalk trails over gently rolling hills sounded like an appealing change, and the race also gets great reviews for its beautiful views and friendly organisation, including from a number of Harriers (most recently Jane McCarthy – thanks for the tips!). So it was I found myself just outside Winchester at 6am on Saturday morning, setting off for Eastbourne in perfect conditions with over 400 other runners.

12,700 feet of ascent is not much for a 100-mile trail race (the Lakeland 100 has about 21,000, UTMB pushing 33,000), and it’s also split into lots of small, often quite runnable climbs. However, I decided to hike the ups right from the beginning, in the hope of saving my legs for later on. Although yo-yoing back and forth with other runners felt a bit silly at the start, the approach paid off as I gradually worked my way up the field, from 74th at the first CP, to 50th at 35 miles, to 31st at 67 miles, to 23rd when I finished not long after midnight. Although I was nearly four hours behind race winner and 1st MV50 Dan Lawson, even that felt like a good result, considering he’s the current MV50 100 mile world record holder (on a track, with 12h37!). 

Results

(1 Dan Lawson 14h28, 1st MV50)

23 Matthew Kennedy 18h15, 3rd MV50

430 starters, 349 finishers