Last weekend, local ultra-distance runner Matt Biggin took on the South Downs Way 100, a 100-mile race tracing the full length of the South Downs Way National Trail from Winchester to Eastbourne. For Matt, this was his third crack at the 100 mile distance, and he arrived on the start line with a clear ambition: to get as close to 24 hours as possible.
Conditions proved near-perfect throughout. The day stayed warm without tipping into uncomfortable heat, and the night was mild and clear. Matt ran the kind of race that seasoned ultra-distance runners will recognise: disciplined, patient, and relentlessly focused on fuelling. At this distance, keeping the calories coming is every bit as important as the training, and he made sure not to miss an opportunity.
The standout moment came in the early hours as the sun began to rise over the Downs. Climbing through the hills with mist sitting low in the valleys below, it was the kind of scene that reminds a runner why they do this, quite lovely, and all the more so after a long night on the trail.
Matt crossed the line in Eastbourne in 24 hours and 51 minutes, setting a new 100-mile personal best by three hours. It was a result that left him elated, and one he was generous in sharing, crediting the support of his best friend Nathan Roulson as instrumental in making it possible.
