Cotswold Way Century - 102 Mile Trail Ultra Marathon
Six Striders entered in a field of 87 hardy souls taking on the challenge of 102 miles of continuous running and walking, travelling the length of the Cotswold escarpment to finish in the centre of Bath. Very early on, Striders’ very own king of the trails Rich Elsworthy led the field alongside Nicholas Berry, another notable ultra distance and trail runner. Elsworthy and Berry were rarely more than tens of metres from each other over the first 50 miles as they set a blistering pace for such an event. Such was their lead, that it made spectating a little challenging as the gap to the next runners grew and grew.
In the women’s race, the early leader was Pip Riches, however, Strider Liza Bradshaw was making steady work of the course, and as the afternoon waned, moved up the field. She had fellow Striders Gavin Woods, Tom Fletcher and eventually Josh Davies for company during parts of the course as the different athletes tackled the route at their own paces.
The leaders, Elsworthy and Berry passed the halfway mark just after 6pm, but as night fell, all runners battled the body’s tendency to slow down and the miles were taking their toll. Despite this the leaders pressed on, steadily passing through the check points, some of which had to be opened earlier than planned. Elsworthy made a decisive move in the seventh leg between Coaley Peak and Wotton-under-Edge, building a 20 minute lead. It was a lead that he was to hold to the end, with Berry showing incredible determination to match his pace over the next 31 miles. Both runners beat the Fastest Known Time of 17 hours and 27 minutes, held by Mark Derbyshire, with Elsworthy finishing in 17:05 to Berry’s 17:21. A veritable photo finish to such a long event.
In the women’s event, Bradshaw went through Wotton-under-Edge just after 2am with early leader Riches trailing by 50 minutes. The subsequent stages to Tormorton took Bradshaw a further 4 hours and 20 minutes, battling fatigue and the unnerving shapes in the dark, her lead grew to one hour. It was a lead that she would maintain to the end to finish in 23 hours and 27 minutes and 8th overall.
With Elsworthy and Bradshaw letting their accomplishments sink-in, many runners were still battling the course, with 32 having retired by the 27th hour. One retiree was Strider Gavin Woods who was taking on his first 100 miler. Gavin had already achieved several notable successes in marathons and ultra marathons, having completed the Comrades Ultra marathon in South Africa in 2025 and early this year. No doubt Gavin will be competing in another ultra event soon once he recovers. Josh Davies was another retiree, stopping at Cold Aston a mere 10 miles from the finish. No doubt Josh will be back to tackle another trail challenge soon. Earlier in the race, Vishnu Kausik battled defiantly to 47 miles before withdrawing.
The final Strider to take on the challenge, Tom Fletcher, finished in 28 hours and 40 minutes in 33rd overall, taking nearly 2 hours off of his previous best time in the 2024 event.
