Arc of Attrition 2024
A short introduction to the event, its setting , the course and previous winners. Also highlighting some leading contenders.
Live tracking can be found HERE
The 2024 edition of the classic winter ultra, The Arc of Attrition, starts this Friday, 26th January, at noon. The Arc, as it is usually called, takes place annually at the end of January in the far west of Cornwall on the trails of the iconic Cornish Coastal Path. path. I will confess that since the race started in 2015, I have had a fascination for it, as I was brought up in a little village on the North Cornish coast. Much of my early running was on the undulating cliff-top trails with the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean as a backdrop.
Two events.The Arc of Attrition and the Arc 50.
The 100 Mile Race has a time limit of 36 hours, while the ARC 50 which starts on Saturday 27th, at 8.30 am has a cut-off of fifteen and a half hours. With sunrise at this time of the year around 8 am and sunset around 5 pm, all the 100-mile runners are destined for many hours of night-time running. Some will run on into a second night. Unless you are one of the few speedy 50-mile runners finishing in under nine hours, you will also not avoid having to use your head torch.
The 2024 Arc of Attrition courses
The complete Cornish Coast Path is 296 miles long, from Marshland Mouth, where it meets the Devon border on the north coast, to the Cremyll Ferry crossing on the Tamar, opposite Plymouth, on the south coast. The Arc races are on the most South Westerly part of the Cornish coast.
The Arc of Attrition 100 miles starts at the tiny fishing village of Coverack on the Lizard Peninsula, south of Falmouth and finishes at Porthtowan on the North Coast of Cornwall.
From Coverack, you run around the Lizard Peninsula, Britain’s most southerly point, before hitting the wide expanse of Mounts Bay, where a nice flat stretch awaits. Beyond Penzance, the most westerly link in the British rail network, and Newlyn, its neighbouring fishing village at around the 40-mile mark, the undulating cliffs beckon again for the next 30 miles. You run around the entire Lands End Peninsula to Zennor and through St Ives and Carbis Bay on the north coast.
Now at the 80-mile point, after negotiating a little tarmac through the small port of Hayle, you rejoin the coast, with the final 20 miles being a glorious mix of sand dunes, coves and cliff top paths, finally finishing at Porthtowan.
The 50-mile course.
The shorter, but no less challenging sister race, The Arc 50, starts at the picturesque and world-famous Minack Theatre, above Porthcurno Beach. The iconic open-air venue is carved out of the cliffs. The route then follows the 100-mile course to the finish at Porthtowan.
The dramatic Lands End Peninsula is very undulating. If you do reach a relatively flat stretch, you barely have time to get into a rhythm before it is interrupted by another short, sharp up or downhill, often accompanied by man-made steps. These steps never seem to be an exact running stride length apart. And whether you are still running or power walking, they break up the runner’s rhythm. The course doesn’t have the steep, long climbs of The Lakes or the Scottish Highlands, but the continual short, steep rise and fall, down into and up out of rocky inlets and coves, means that for long stretches, there is no respite to relax for long. You are either going up or going down. Sometimes steady inclines, sometimes sheer paths or paths with curated steps that weren’t built to cater for a natural running stride.
Beyond Hayle to the finish at Porthtowan, it is a more regular and runnable section of dunes and cliff trails. The total elevation of the 100-mile event is 4,241 metres, or 13,917 feet, while the Arc 50-mile race has 2,271 meters and 7,198 feet of ascent.
Spring and summer visitors to Cornwall are used to a picture of idyllic, sun-drenched beaches with long summer evenings. In winter, you can experience the opposite with gale-force winds billowing in off the Atlantic, that will make the going challenging at best and downright hostile at worst. The frequent westerly gales can bring you to a when complemented by lashing rain and the sparse daylight hours.
Although not winter mountain conditions, one still has to be aware of the risks and signs of hypothermia and wind chill affecting both body and brain. It makes for a wonderful challenge, where the effort must be gauged well to last the distance.
Arc of Attrition 2024 Contenders
Almost 400 entries are showing in the 100-mile event, and both the men’s and women’s fields have a few standout contenders.
Standout in the ladies’ race is Lakeland legend Sabrina Verjee.
Wins at Lakeland 100 and the 50km Cursa di Ciclopi in Italy were her standout races from 2023. She is also a previous winner of Tor des Geants, The Fellsman and the Winter Spine race, together with several FKT expeditions.
Men’s 100 mile contenders.
After dropping down in distance and running the Arc 50 in 2023, Mark Derbyshire, the 100-mile winner in 2022, when he set the current course record, is back again.
Mark is joined by the 2023 winner Gavin Dale. Gavin came to last year’s race a little under the radar, as he had been living in New Zealand for a few years. He had top six placings in several ultras there, including the Taupo 100km and the Keplar Mountain Challenge. He ran with Ellis Bland for much of the first half in 2023 before powering away in the final third to win, in one of only two sub-20-hour clockings recorded to date. Mark Darbyshire’s course record run of 19:12:48 was the other.
Gavin also won the Kong Lakes Ultra 80km in 2023.
.They know each other from previous races, having finished together, joint 1st, in the Lakes Traverse 100km Ultra last April.
Other contenders include,
Rob Forbes was 3rd at the 2023 Lakeland 100 and 2nd at the Centurion Autumn 100.
Jacob Snochowski from Ambleside, winner of the Moray coastal 50km in 2023, also with previous wins at the Lap in 2021, the Autumn 100 in 2021 and the Hardmoors 110 in 2020.
Arc 50 Previous winners
The 50 mile race starts on Saturday at 8.30 am.
Standout name in the 50 mile looks like Kendal’s Josh Wade. The North Face sponsored athlete won the Ultra Trail snowdonia 100 mile last summer and also placed 3rd at the Eiger trail 100km event in Switzerland. The undulating nature of the coastal path shouldn’t pose him too much.
Neil Kirby previous winner of both the North Down and South Downs 100 mile and 50 mile events a few years ago has a good pedigree. He seems to have been running shorter events the last 2-3 years, winning The Beachy Head 52 km ultra in 2022 and 2023.
With GB trail International Katie Kaars-Sijpestein withdrawing to concentrate on Trans Gran Canaria in a few weeks, the runner to watch could be Holly Stables. Third in last years Arc 100 . As Holly Rush she represented GB at both the Marathon and Mountain Running, and England in the Marathon at the Delhi Commonwealth Games. The last few years has seen her record several ultra victories including the Centurion Autumn 100 and the Ham and Lyme 100km races.
Both the 100 and 50 mile races have a habit of throwing up new faces on the trail scene. Gavin Dale being one of them in last years 100. Whether 2024 will allow someone to seize their own opportunity will be revealed over the weekend.
AS well as the tracking link at the top of the page, you can find out more about the race and other ways to keep in touch on the Arc of Attrition website
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Adrian Tarit Stott.
The author is a former GB 24 hour ultra international with over 100 ultra race completions. He has also been involved organising ultra distance races for over 30 years. Still an active recreational runner, he is currently a member of UKA’s Ultra Distance Advisory Group (URAG) and part of the selection and team management for both Scottish and GB ultra teams.He is also a freelance writer, contributing articles and reports to several websites and magazines including Athletics Weekly and Irunfar.
