Schedule

Saturday 6th December 2025, East Dean Village Hall, Eastbourne, BN20 0DR

8am: Registration opens

8.15am: Registration closes

9.30am: Race start

9.30pm: Race finish

‍

Race start/finish location

Race HQ will be in East Dean Village Hall. Race registration will take place here and it will be the start/finish area. There is plenty of free parking in the nearby streets and also in the large fields opposite the hall. Eastbourne train station is 10 mins away. There will be toilets available throughout with free hot food and drink also after the race for runners only.

Race numbers will not be sent out in the post but, must be collected at registration along with a GPS tracker.

‍

Shuttle Bus

The start/finish location is situated in East Dean Village just to the west of Eastbourne. There are a few accommodation choices in or near to the village but also many more on the seafront in nearby Eastbourne where there are a number of options. Eastbourne is also the closest train station to East Dean. There will be a bus option available to collect runners in Eastbourne and take them to the start. This can be booked when signing up for the race. After the race there will be a regular shuttle bus taking runners back to Eastbourne. This does not need to be booked but will leave outside the hall every hour or so.

‍

Aid Stations

There will be 4 very well stocked aid stations along the route which are listed below. Aid stations will carry a wide range of food and drink. They will cater for everyone’s needs including vegan, vegetarian and gluten free.

• Bananas
• Crisps
• High 5 energy gels
• PB, jam, cheese, ham, marmite sandwiches
• Homemade vegan/gluten free lemon drizzle cake
• Skittles and jelly babies
• Coke
• Soreen
• Chocolate
• Salted nuts
• Homemade flapjack
• Salted potatoes
• Sausage rolls
• Water

‍

Cut Offs

All runners must be finished by 9.30pm so will have 12 hours to complete the race.. There are no cut off times for this race along the route other than at the last aid station in Jevington where everyone must have left by 8.30pm.

‍

Crews

There will be no crews at this event. We have decided to go with this option in order to keep landowners and the general public along the route happy. We did have the option to allow crews, but in terms of putting the future of the race in jeopardy we decided against it. With regular aid stations along the route, having a crew is not necessary for this event. Please contact us if you have any dietary needs on the day and, we will do our best to make sure they are available for you throughout.

‍

Pacers

No pacers will be allowed to accompany runners at any time during the race.

‍

Spectators

Spectators are very welcome to come along and support their runners throughout the day. It is however very important for the future of the race that they behave in a sensible manner throughout. Spectators must not attend at any of the aid station locations. This gets said every time and still they try to turn up at aid stations. If they turn up at these locations we will disqualify the runner. This is due to landowner requests, so it is very important to abide. Runners are responsible for their crew and supporters, so it is down to you to pass this Information onto them. There are also privately owned car parks along the route that can become overcrowded very quickly, and spectators must take it upon themselves to follow the rules of any certain car park. Not following these rules by parking on grass verges and in places that are not official parking spaces etc just because they are there to watch the race will not go down well, and could put the future of the race in jeopardy. If a certain car park is full, then please just move on to the next one. Spectators must not attend at any of the aid station locations.

‍

Finish Line Bags

Runners will also have the option of leaving a finish line bag at registration. This is limited to one bag per runner. The bag will be kept at the finish line area safe and ready for your collection. Please ensure the bag is clearly marked with your name and bib number. We will not post or hold any bags that are not collected by the end of the event.

‍

Mandatory Kit

The course is predominantly on easy going trails with small road sections as well. At the time of year the race takes place, the ground should be dry and hard, we therefore suggest that both road running and trail shoes are suitable. Runners must carry the following equipment with them at all-times and will be disqualified for failing kit checks. Inspections will take place before, during, and after the race.

• Fully charged mobile phone including the numbers for the Race Medic, Race Director and Event Control which will be printed on your race number..
• Emergency survival blanket or foil blanket.
• Hydration system capable of holding one litre of liquid.
• Whistle
• Waterproof jacket with taped seams and a hood
• Base Layer
• Warm gloves
• Warm hat
• Headlamp (300 lumens min) and backup headlamp (200 lumens min)
• £20 Cash and a bank card
• The route downloaded to a GPS device or mobile

It is not mandatory, but we do suggest you bring a foldable cup to drink from as the race will be cup less.

‍

Route Markers and Navigation

A large part of the route will be on the South Downs Way and on these sections there will be South Downs Way, way-marker posts showing the Acorn sign symbolising a National Trail. However, large parts will also not be on the SDW. We will mark the entire route mainly with UK Ultra arrows but also, UK Ultra ribbons and ground flags. A map and compass are not necessary at all although, never a bad idea.
 

Even though the course will be thoroughly marked, it is the runner’s responsibility to navigate it successfully. We do however suggest you try and recce the route as much as possible, and it is mandatory to download the GPX file onto your GPS/mobile device. The markings should be more than enough for everyone to navigate the route however, unfortunately, sometimes markers do get removed by members of the public or turned in the opposite direction and visibility during thick fog can sometimes be tricky. Even though we will mark the route as thoroughly as possible, please don't rely on this. Having the GPX downloaded will save you a lot of hassle in this situation as it is very accurate, and you can easily navigate the route with this alone if markers are tampered with or visibility is low. We will also have recce runs available throughout the year that runners can join in to see the route. For Information on these recce runs then please head the the Trail Run Explorers website. This is a small local company that take the guided runs for us. https://trailrunexplorers.com/

‍

Medical

There will be an experienced team of race medics available to runners before, during and after the event including first aid teams, response cars and ambulances. There is the possibility due to some locations on the course that the medical team might take some time to reach you. In this situation you should call 999.

‍

‍