See our Frequently Asked Questions page if you have any questions.
- Registration is at the venue, here you will receive your race number, free TRIBE bar, and any event T shirts & camping passes purchased. This is open from 5 pm - 10 pm on Friday for every distance at the event, and then from 5.20 am - 5.50 am.
- Coach transport will leave the race venue at Petersfield Rugby Club at 6am - for the 6.30am start time. It is your responsibility to be on the bus as it will be leaving promptly to take you to the race start.
- Race Briefing will be emailed out to participants prior to the event and short key points covered at the start line.
- Kit List for this race has been planned to help allow a fast, safe race in summertime Kit List HERE.
- Support Crew are allowed to follow you and supply you with food and drink in addition to race checkpoint supplies. We ask that they do not come to the checkpoint locations but meet you elsewhere.
- Drop Outs from the race can only do so AT CHECKPOINTS unless there is a medical reason or emergency. We will transport any drop outs back to the finish line, but there may be a small wait.
- Course Records - These will be set in the 2025 race as it is the first running of this new 75k option! See our Hall of Fame for the ALL TIME top ten finish times in the other distances for an idea!
- UTMB - This race is a UTMB qualifier and contributes to an individuals UTMB index.
- Cut Offs - The overall cut off for the 75k is midnight. This is 16.5 hours from the 6.30am start, making the event accessible to people wishing to try a longer ultra distance run or for those wishing to walk the whole way. Realistically the route can be walked in its entirety within 14-16 hours.
We have to have a few cut offs along the course to ensure participants make reasonable progress and will make the midnight cut off, also to give our volunteers a time they know they can stand down at after a long day! These times are purposely lenient and are;
5pm / 10.5 hours for 23 miles at the Fittleworth CP
8.30pm / 14 hours for 36 miles at Midhurst CP
10pm / 15.5 hours for 40 miles at Trotton CP.
We will enforce the cut off times and those not continuing will be transported back to Petersfield.
- The Venue has camping available on the Friday and Saturday nights, plenty of parking and changing and shower facilities open all weekend. Consider camping after and/or before the race to make a weekend of it but especially to be rested before driving away from Petersfield afterwards.
- Arrival & Departure The venue opens at 5 pm on Friday evening and closes for the event at midday on Sunday.
- Use of Poles is fine and allowed in this race. Be aware of other users and considerate / courteous with your poles.
- Music is allowed but take headphones out / turn it off when at or on roads and be aware of other users on the Trail and other runners.
- 7 Checkpoints will have water, squash, coke and a mixture of sweet and savoury snacks such as sandwiches, crisps, cake/biscuits, sweets, bananas, watermelon, oranges, nuts etc.
The 50k is CUPLESS - read HERE for detail plus link to example of a perfect lightweight, folding cup to bring with you for the race.
These are the Checkpoint locations, please make sure any support crews do not meet you at checkpoints but elsewhere along the route. To help you plan your food and drink etc, the distance between CP's can be viewed HERE
- 1 - Henley
- 2 - Petworth
- 3 - Fittleworth / Tripp Hill Farm
- 4 - Grafham Common
- 5 - Midhurst
- 6 - Trotton
- 7 - Durford Mill (water only)
- Route Map for the 75k race is HERE plus downloadable from the website GPX FILE HERE (We recommend having a gps device as backup whilst you are running) The official South Downs Serpent Trail guide is available in pdf from here.
- About the Serpent Trail Here are some links for background information about the Serpent Trail; Wikpedia, South Downs National Park Authority, Long Distance Walkers Association.
- Route Markings - The whole of the 75k distance is signed with our extra race signage, in addition to the permanent Trail markings as shown below. Below are photos of the temporary race signage and the permanent markers.
We put these extra signs out along the route during the week before the race and they are collected by sweeper runners at the back of the field, then the whole route is ran again by ourselves in the week after the event to make sure we have all the signage collected back in and that litter etc isn’t left from the races.
Also see our page of Frequently Asked Questions.
