RACE FAQs
Find out full information about our major events
23.03.2024
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Price: £50 Affiliated / £52 Unaffiliated
Age Limits: 20 years old
“Lea Valley 50 km” is a 50 km from Welwyn Garden City to Hackney Wick in East London. The route follows the scenic Cole Green Way and Lea Valley Path all the way from rural Hertfordshire to the Big Smoke. Welwyn is very accessible from Central London, being only a 35 minute train ride from Kings Cross station. The race finishes very close to Hackney Wick station for fast access back to other parts of London. As with all Camino events, you will be fully supported by 3 nutritiously stocked aid stations, first aid support and course markings in addition to the pre-existing Lea Valley trail waymarkers. Race held under full UK Athletics Permit granted through the TRA (Permit 5584).
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WANT TO KNOW WHAT PREVIOUS RUNNERS THINK OF LONDON LEA VALLEY 50KM - CHECK OUT OUR 4.8/5 RATING ON RACECHECK
LEA VALLEY 50 KM FAQ:
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Please keep an eye out for our newsletters leading up to the event. There will be a race briefing video sent out a few days before race-day.
1. How can I sign up? – You can enter all Camino Ultra events through our partners LetsDoThis
2. Can I walk this race? There are cut-offs for all our events (mostly because the kind folk that you meet at all the start/finish/aid-stations are volunteers and we hire the venues and need to keep to strict times for our licences) So whilst you will definitely be able to walk sections of our ultra events they are not suitable for pure walkers
3. What happens with my stuff at the start? You will be given a tag to write your “name + contact number + race number” on and all of these bags will be transported for you to the finish location.
4. This is my first race – what happens if I don’t finish? One of the great things about our events are the accessibility of easy public transport. You are never too far from a bus or train station – dare say that a taxi could be called out to most places too.
5. Is there any mandatory kit? For Camino events the answer will mostly be no. However please do read any emails that are shared or community/social media posts – especially ones that may be helpful around weather warnings.
6. This is my first Ultra – what do I need to consider that I may not have done for a road marathon? Probably the biggest impact will be the amount of food/hydration that you may need. All the Camino Ultras will have adequate Checkpoints and we want to have a reputation for stocking the types of food on our aid stations that are actually good for you.
7. Is it possible to leave a car at the finish and easily get to the start via public transport? Yes - the journey between Hackney Wick and Welwyn is really straight forward and can be done in one hour. Catch the London Overground to Highbury & Islington Rail Station and then Great Northern train to Welwyn station. Cost will be less than £10 for this journey. There are more than two trains leaving Hackney Wick per hour and these start as early as 06:17 am. You would probably want to get 06:42am which would leave you over an hour to get to the start and registered. You can park all day near Hackney Wick from less than £8 using https://www.justpark.com/uk/parking/hackney-wick-station/
8. What happens if I get injured and are no longer able to take up my Lea Valley place? Please see info for Race Refunds below. Always contact us on info@caminoultra.com - we are a small race organiser and we pride ourselves on a personal service. So we will do every thing we can to support you.
9. What does the Lea Valley 50 KM race include: World-class timing from One Time - Your results will appear on DUV Statistiks ultra website Checkpoints stocked with nutritious food/drink Full insurance from UK Athletics - Trophies for winners - Medals for all finishers
10. What happens with RACE NUMBERS: Race Numbers will be available at the start for 2024. You will receive full instructions from Camino in newsletter. Race Numbers contain a timing chip and your emergency contact details etc on the reverse. This can be pinned onto shorts or top but must not be obscured by other kit such as a race vest. It must be clearly visible at all times. Please do not pin it on the back of your body or on the back of a race vest or rucsac.
11. What will happen for the "Registration / Race Briefing" The race briefing will be video recorded, posted to YouTube and a link shared with you well in advance of the race. The briefing will contain all the information you need to know to have a safe and enjoyable run. Therefore, to avoid congestion and aid social distancing, there will not be a race registration area that is mandatory to attend prior to the race. As long as you have your number and are ready to race you can just show up near the start line ready to start.
12. What happens at the finish? There will be volunteers towards the end of the race that will inform you how close you are to the finish – so that you can be prepared to sprint it home. You will clearly see the finish CAMINO PINK ARCH (for Lea Valley 50 KM 2024 this will be by the Here East zone near the Hackney Olympic park. Our finish venue is HERE EAST which will have your bag, a clean toilet and your finish. There is a station at Hackney Wick which is a 10 minute walk from the Barge. There are plenty of amazing places to meet your friends and eat – we recommend the Breakfast Club which is owned by Jonathan (a Camino 50KM finisher!)
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13. Can you recommend somewhere to stay the night before? The organisers will be staying at the Premier Inn next to the start at Gosling Sports Centre Welwyn Garden City. Please contact Camino for any questions you have regarding this.
RACE REFUNDS You can process any Race refund through the existing functionality on the Race Director website. We will constantly update signed-up runners through emailed newsletters. There will be a clear cut-off date where we will be no longer be able to process refunds due to the need to pay for committed spend for this race. Refunds accepted up to 24th Feb 2024.
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LEA VALLEY - FINAL GPX -
SATURDAY 7th OCTOBER
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Price: £53 Affiliated / £55 Unaffiliated
Age Limits: 20 years old
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Epping Forest 50KM is an "out and back" ultramarathon to be staged in East London. The start location is in Wanstead Flats, opposite the Golden Fleece pub. You will travel through the most beautiful parks of East London before making your way through the full expanse of Epping Forest. At the tip you will return back to the start. This race will be in the autumn and will take advantage of the interesting weather and terrain (expect cool and muddy) - it will be fun and challenging. This race carries 2 ITRA points towards UTMB / CCC / OCC qualification. It is just over 50km long and has 514 metres of ascent / descent.
EPPING FOREST 50 KM FAQ:
1. How can I sign up? – You can enter all Camino Ultra events through our partner Race Director https://www.racedirector.co.uk/events/
2. Can I walk this race? There are cut-offs for all our events (mostly because the kind folk that you meet at all the start/finish/aid-stations are volunteers and we hire the venues and need to keep to strict times for our licences) So whilst you will definitely be able to walk sections of our ultra events they are not suitable for pure walkers
3. What happens with my stuff at the start? There will be a bag drop zone and plenty of volunteers there to assist you. We are partnering with 80Noir Ultra who will be onsite making world-class hot chocolates - you can seriously fuel yourself on 80Noir Ultra products alone
4. This is my first race – what happens if I don’t finish? One of the great things about our events are the accessibility of easy public transport. You are never too far from a bus or train station – dare say that a taxi could be called out to most places too. This is our only "out and back" event which means that you could always decide to test yourself by running the outward section and to finish near Epping station.
5. Is there any mandatory kit? For Camino events the answer will mostly be no. However please do read any emails that are shared or community/social media posts – especially ones that may be helpful around weather warnings.
6. This is my first Ultra – what do I need to consider that I may not have done for a road marathon? Probably the biggest impact will be the amount of food/hydration that you may need. All the Camino Ultras will have adequate Checkpoints and we want to have a reputation for stocking the types of food on our aid stations that are actually good for you.
7. Is it possible to leave a car at the finish and easily get to the start via public transport? Yes, you can park at/near Wanstead Flats. The start and finish of this race are in the same place.
8. What happens if I get injured and are no longer able to take up my Epping Forest place? Please see info for Race Refunds below. Always contact us on info@caminoultra.com - we are a small race organiser and we pride ourselves on a personal service. So we will do every thing we can to support you.
9. What does the Epping Forest 50 KM race include: World-class timing from Race Director Your results will appear on DUV Statistiks ultra website You will receive a ReRun clothing stamp Warm drink and delicious food at the finish Checkpoints stocked with nutritious food/drink Full insurance from UK Athletics
10. What happens with RACE NUMBERS: Race Numbers will be posted out to you 2 weeks in advance. They contain a timing chip and your emergency contact details etc on the reverse. Arrive at the start wearing your race number clearly on the front of your kit. This can be pinned onto shorts or top but must not be obscured by other kit such as a race vest. It must be clearly visible at all times. Please do not pin it on the back of your body or on the back of a race vest or rucsac. If your number does not arrive, you lose it or forget to bring it to the start, do not worry, we will have some replacements at the start point.
11. What will happen for the "Registration / Race Briefing" The race briefing will be emailed and a link shared with you well in advance of the race. The briefing will contain all the information you need to know to have a safe and enjoyable run. Therefore, to avoid congestion and aid social distancing, there will not be a race registration area that is mandatory to attend prior to the race. As long as you have your number and are ready to race you can just show up near the start line ready to start.
12. What happens at the finish?
RACE REFUNDS You can process any Race refund through the existing functionality on the LetsDoThis website. We will constantly update signed-up runners through emailed newsletters. There will be a clear cut-off date where we will be no longer be able to process refunds due to the need to pay for committed spend for this race.
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GPX File - full GPX of the route downloadble here:
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LAST STAGED ON: Saturday 19th March 2022 - No current plans to redo this as we look to for NIGHT TIME ADVENTURES - CONTACT US
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Price: £48 Affiliated / £50 Unaffiliated
Age Limits: 20 years old
The “Centre of the Universe 50 km” - a totally unique ultramarathon where you decide the start point (as long as it is outside of a designated 50 KM zone) and you finish up at the "Centre of the Universe" otherwise know as Hackney Wick in East London.
First held in April 2021 this event was a fabulous success
Centre of the Universe 50 KM FAQ: WHAT ON EARTH! is the "Centre of the Universe Ultra" - The concept is simple. We draw a map that is 50 KM as the crow flies from our end point in Hackney. As a team of 2 or an individual you choose where you want to start from 'outside of the ring'. You will have a tracker that we supply and a start time and your mission is to cover 'at least 50 KM' as fast as possible. There will be 9 hour cutoff for this ultra which also means that as well as prizes for the fastest Male/Female and Teams there will be a very special prize for the furthest distance covered inside of the 9 hours. So the challenge is set but which one will you choose - Run your first ultramarathon distance or run your fastest 50 KM or complete the furthest 'point-to-point' distance whilst keeping inside the 9 hours. As you can imagine in the lockdown prone world that we are living in this is the closest that you may come to a "fool-proof" ultra race format!
1. How can I sign up? – You can enter all Camino Ultra events through our partner Race Director https://www.racedirector.co.uk/events
2. Can I walk this race? There are cut-offs for all our events (mainly because we hire the venues and we need to keep to strict times for our licences) So whilst you will definitely be able to walk sections of our ultra events they are not suitable for pure walkers
3. This is my first race – what happens if I don’t finish? One of the great things about our events are the accessibility of easy public transport. You are never too far from a bus or train station – dare say that a taxi could be called out to most places too.
4. Is there any mandatory kit? For Camino events the answer will mostly be no. However please do read any emails that are shared or community/social media posts – especially ones that may be helpful around weather warnings.
5. This is my first Ultra – what do I need to consider that I may not have done for a road marathon? Probably the biggest impact will be the amount of food/hydration that you may need. We have some unique ideas for this Centre of the Universe ultra regarding the nutrition we will be looking to get you but you will need to factor this in to your run route. We can help you with some advice.
6. Is there a question 6? We are expecting many wonderful questions for this unique event - so please send them to us at info@caminoultra.com and we will continually update these FAQs and our channels.
7. What does the Centre of the Universe ultra include: Finisher bag in the Camino style World-class TRACKING and timing from Race Director One-off designed Centre of the Universe item You will receive a ReRun vs Camino Finisher clothing stamp Warm drink and delicious food at the finish Specially designed Prizes by local Artist Full insurance from UK Athletics
8. What happens with RACE NUMBERS and can we get drop bags to you: These are being explored at the moment in the Camino Think Tank!
9. What happens at the finish? There will be volunteers towards the end of the race that will inform you how close you are to the finish – so that you can be prepared to sprint it home. You will clearly see the finish banner (for Centre of the Universe 2022 this will be by the Here East zone near the Hackney Olympic park) . There is a station at Hackney Wick which is a 10 minute walk from the Barge. There are plenty of amazing places to meet your friends and eat – we recommend the Crate for beer and pizza.
10. Is it possible to leave a car at the finish? You can park all day near Hackney Wick from less than £8 using https://www.justpark.com/uk/parking/hackney-wick-station/
RACE REFUNDS You can process any Race refund through the existing functionality on the Race Director website. We will constantly update the signed-up runners through emailed newsletters. However there will be a clear date where we will be no longer be able to process refunds due to the need to pay for committed spend for this race.
Medal Monday with a difference... no medal but trees planted and the most wonderful memories made from a fantastic weekend with @camino_ultra Reflecting on the weekend I think I enjoyed it more than a marathon. No pressure, taking in all of the amazing views, enjoying the wonderful world before us. It was lovely seeing families boating, enjoying ice lollies and just being happy to be alive! Would I do it again. One million percent yes!
Heidi - Fusion_OCR