Evans and Davis run 50-mile course records as Lewis Ryan and Noor van der Veen capture the 100-mile crowns and Kris Jones and Sara Alonso are 25-mile winners

From humble beginnings a decade ago, the Arc of Attrition has steadily grown into one of the world’s biggest – and certainly most gruelling – ultra races.

The flagship 100-mile distance around the rugged Cornish coastline in the middle of winter appeals to masochist side of endurance runners. The event is now part of the UTMB series and the latest event on January 24-25 featured well-known athletes such as Tom Evans and Elsey Davis, both of whom smashed the course records to win the 50-mile races.

Evans set off from the Minack Theatre on Saturday and finished in Porthtowan 6:54:40 later as Hugh Chatfield and Keith Wigley finished second and third. Just days earlier the 32-year-old, who won the Western States 100 in 2023 and ran for Britain in the World Cross last year, had announced a new deal with Asics and he put his new shoes and kit to good use here to run out a clear winner.

Mark Darbyshire’s previous course best was 7:39:31 from two years ago, which meant Chatfield and Wigley were both under the old record in what proved to be greasy conditions underfoot but not as brutal as many feared due to Storm Eowyn passing over the West Country before the races began.

“Such a fun day out on the trails with @arcofattritionbyutmb opening up my account for the season with @asicsrunning – thanks for the support this week, looking forward to everything to come,” said Evans.

“Great to share miles with @hughs_there and @wildwigley making the first half tough! Big year for you both!”

Davis clocked 7:55:48 to finish sixth overall, beating the old record of 8:18:46 held by Fiona Pascall.

Poppy Collingwood finished runner-up with Amanda Basham of the United States third.

 

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Britain’s Lewis Ryan won the 50-mile race last year, he moved up to win the 100-miler this year in 19:22:35 as Noor van der Veen of the Netherlands won the women’s race in 22:30:44.

David Ryan of Ireland was runner-up in the men’s 100-miler with Sarah Page runner-up in the women’s category.

There were some well-known runners in the shorter 25-mile race option, too. Kris Jones beat Andy Heyes and Miguel Benitez in the men's race, while Sara Alonso of Spain beat Gemma Hiller-Moses and Holly Wootten in the women's category.