Dark Downs - 50km
- Total distance: 50 km
- Location: Lewes
- Race Date: 3 Oct 2026
- Finish rate: 100%
- Navigation: Fully Waymarked
- Nearest Station: Plumpton (1.5 km)
- Aid Stations: 4
- Night Running: 100% in darkness
- Pacing Complexity: High (52/100)
Dark Downs - 50km Overview
No overview text has been written for this race yet.
Quick Facts
- Entrance Cost: £80
- Organiser: UK Ultra
- Start Town: Lewes
- Dogs Allowed: Unknown
- Start Date: 3 Oct 2026
- End Date: 3 Oct 2026
- Start Time: 6:30 PM
- Final Cut-off: 12 hours
Navigation
- Type: Fully Waymarked
- Closest Train Station: Plumpton
- Distance from Start Line: 1.5 km
Eligibility
- Minimum Age: 20 years
- Gender Eligibility: All genders
- Minimum Entry Criteria: Unknown
Terrain & Elevation
The course covers a genuine mix of surfaces, with gravel (39%) and trail (33%) being the most common and neither clearly dominating. The terrain is highly fragmented, switching roughly every kilometre. This demands constant mental engagement and limits the ability to build a sustained rhythm from surface consistency alone. Climbs are mostly on gravel, though the surface varies across the ascents. Downhills are spread across a mix of surfaces, with gravel most common.
- Gravel / Track39% · 19.7 km
- Trail / Path33% · 16.8 km
- Grass15% · 7.8 km
- Paved Road13% · 6.1 km
Distance
52.3 km
Ascent
1391 m
Descent
1391 m
High Point
243 m
This race has a flat section from around km 9, before a flat section until about 21km, before a gentle ascent until about 33km, before a gentle descent towards the finish.
Compared against 29 other races of a similar distance, Dark Downs - 50km has more total elevation gain than 62% of them, and more elevation gain per kilometre than 62% of them — hillier than most races of this distance.
Source: GPX Data
Climate
Navigation
Dark Downs - 50km is fully waymarked — runners can rely on course markings to find their way and don't need to carry a map or GPX file as their primary means of navigation.
Source: Race Website - Explicit
Aid Stations
Stations
You'll need to keep an average pace of 4.2 km/h between aid stations to make the cut offs.
Stations
| KM | Name | Gap from Prev | Cut-off | Water | Cold Food | Hot Food | Hot Drinks | Gels | Medic | WC | Bags | Crew |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9.7 | 9.7 km | – | ✓ | ✓ | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 24.1 | 14.5 km | – | ✓ | ✓ | – | – | – | – | ✓ | – | – | |
| 35.4 | 11.3 km | – | ✓ | ✓ | – | – | – | – | ✓ | – | – | |
| 45.9 | 10.5 km | – | ✓ | ✓ | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
None of the aid stations on this course are confirmed to offer vegan food, so vegan runners should plan to carry their own nutrition.
Source: Not recorded
Night Running
Dark Downs - 50km starts at 18:30 local time, with sunset around 17:33. Based on the median finisher time of 7:03:24, a runner at that pace would finish around 01:33 — after dark, spending around 7h 03m (100% of their race) running in darkness and covering roughly 52.3 km of the course after sunset.
Shaded stretches are expected to be run in the dark
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