Evans and Davies run 50-mile course records, with Lewis Ryan and Noor van der Wien taking the 100-mile crowns and Chris Jones and Sarah Alonso the 25-mile winners.
Since its humble beginnings over a decade ago, the Arc of Attrition has steadily grown into one of the world’s biggest, and arguably toughest, extreme races.
The 100-mile course around the rugged Cornish coast in mid-winter appeals to the masochistic side of endurance runners. The event is now part of the UTMB series, and the latest event on January 24-25 saw big-name athletes such as Tom Evans and Elsie Davies both break through. are the course records to win the 50 mile race.
Evans set off from the Meenak Theater on Saturday and finished in 6:54:40 in Porthtowan, with Hugh Chatfield and Keith Wigley finishing second and third, just days before the 32-year-old, who had won the Western States 100 in 2023 and last year ran for Great Britain at the World Cross announced a new deal with Asics and he used his new shoes and gear to run out a clear winner.
Mark Darbyshire’s previous course best was 7:39:31 two years ago, which meant that Chatfield and Wigley were both well under the old record, which turned out to be in greasy underfoot conditions, but not as brutal. as many feared because of the storm passing over the West.Earth before the race began.
“Such a fun day out on the trails @arcofattritionbyutmb opening my account for the season @asicsrunning “Thanks for the support this week, I look forward to everything to come,” Evans said.
“Great for sharing miles @hughs_there and: @wildwigley: making the first half difficult. Big year for you both.”
Davis clocked 7:55:48 to finish sixth, beating Fiona Pascal’s old record of 8:18:46.
Poppy Collingwood finished second and Amanda Basham of the USA came third.
Britain’s Lewis Ryan won the 50 mile race last year, he went up to win the 100 mile race this year in 19:22:35 as Noor van der Veen of the Netherlands won the women’s race in 22:30:44.
Ireland’s David Ryan finished second in the men’s 100 mile race and Sarah Page in the women’s.
The shorter 25 mile race also featured some notable runners, with Chris Jones beating Andy Hayes and Miguel Benitez in the men’s race, while Spain’s Sarah Alonso beat Gemma Hiller-Moses and Holly Wooten in the women’s race.
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