Over the past few years Camino Coaches have prepared runners for the imfamous Arc of Attrition - you can find previous blogs by searching Arc x
Last year the behemoth UTMB took over Arc and there is now a 25 Mile as well as a 50 Mile and the 100 Mile. This has opened things up like the Spine and Ultra Trail Snowdonia has.

A few days before this years version we hosted a Zoom call for all our athletes and it was a great opportunity for the 100 Mile and 50 Mile athletes to offer some amazing nuggets of wisdom to the 25 Mile gang (although one of these has finished UTMB!).
Seeing these athletes support one another and having the amazing Kate who had been forced to pull out but was going to be in Cornwall and offering beds/transport and the all important 'out of my window' weather updates - Thank you Kate you ARE the BEST x.
So how did these intrepid Caminos get on?
Well we asked them to share their race reflections and top tip advice - much of which is applicable to any big Ultra. Big Camino Love to each and every one of them.

KATIE (25 MILE):
I personally used this race to practice dialing in my nutrition and will take my personal nutrition lessons forward into the London Marathon and UTMB Monte Rosa :)
Tips
* bring a sandwich to the start
* wear gaiters to help keep rocks and sand out, maybe waterproof socks too. My feet were soaked through, changing socks would not have helped since they get wet throughout the race and not just in one spot.
* wear high vis when possible if you'll be running in the dark
* bright headlamp if running in the dark - mine wasn't bright enough
* terrain includes several miles of: mud, sand, rocks, hard dirt, and pavement.
* poles are not necessary but if you feel safer with them then bring them.
* The first half of the 25 has no aid stations so be prepared for 13.5 miles to start.
* race start had loos but no food or drink
* finish line parking was a mud pit
* cell phone service can be limited

* get a sweat test and adjust your nutrition accordingly :)
CAMINO: Congratulations to Katie for a sensational 25 - no doubt much more to come x
DERRICK: (100 Mile)

The Arc of Attrition has a reputation. Words like brutal, tough and challenging get used a lot. A 100 mile winter race along the Cornish coastal path with a notoriously low finish rate of 50% or less. Terrible weather, 4,250m of elevation, rocky, muddy and boggy ground, long stretches between aid stations, tight cut offs and at least 13 hours of darkness.
It entered my consciousness a few years ago when another runner told me they had done the 50 mile version, then I heard it mentioned on a few podcasts but put it out of my mind. I was a back of the pack runner in my fifties with a young family, a dog and a busy job, this wasn’t a race for me. Then someone I knew at work absolutely smashed the Arc in under 26 hours. A friend at work told me she was going to enter. At this point I had completed four 100 mile races and would shortly do another. I was feeling confident at the distance, I got tempted. I wanted a challenge and couldn’t stop thinking about it. So I entered knowing I had over 8 months to prepare.
As it turned out, the Arc 2025 was controversial. Entries for the race did not open when everyone expected, then came the announcement that UTMB had purchased the event from MudCrew. This meant some changes. There were going to be more runners. You needed to have a certain UTMB index score to enter (turned out I did as most of my 100M, 100km and 50km races, including Camino’s EF50 had earned me more than enough points). The course was going to be better marked and crucially for me as an uncrewed runner, there were going to be more frequent aid stations with crews restricted to a small number of aid stations only. Whilst crewed runners were still at an advantage this was greatly diminished and I would benefit from having to carry less food and water.
It also meant it was a bigger more commercial event, with a 25M race added for the first time. Many in the ultra running community were not happy. There was a view that it would lose some of its community spirit and that the sport itself was becoming too commercialised. Some were talking about boycotting the event in protest. I just wanted to run and have an adventure.
I had a good 2024 season. By the end of September I had completed seven marathons, the SDW100, Race to the Stones and an indoor track 100km. It was time to get serious about training for the event. After completing my fourth Epping Forest 50 I contacted Camino about getting some coaching. I’d never had a Coach before but I was starting to worry about just how difficult the Arc was. This was a good decision as David and Darren’s coaching really helped me to prepare and give myself the best chance of success.
So after three months of training, more hill reps and strength work than I had ever done before, I was ready to go. I felt fitter than ever and the data on Training Peaks and Strava was backing that up.
My goal was to finish it. I wasn’t overly worried about my time, but I didn’t want to run too late into the second night, and I really didn’t want to suffer a death march to the end.
The weather on race day was fantastic. Storm Eowyn had passed and Storm Hermania would hit the day after the race finished. The first 16.9km to Lizard Point was great. Sunshine, great views, nice atmosphere, busy but not too packed on the trail. The first aid station was a quick in and out to top up on fluids. Then 22.5km to the next Aid Station. During this section it got quite wet and there was some proper bog to cross. I was glad I had opted for knee length waterproof socks (Dexshell Compression Mudder). My feet stayed dry and warm throughout. Although by the end I had developed a few blisters they only caused me some minor discomfort. As it got dark I delayed getting my head torch out as late as possible to preserve battery time, then onto the Porthleven Aid Station. This turned out to be a real low point for me. One moment out on the trail in the dark, a beautiful starry night, the next a really busy, cramped and chaotic room crammed with people. With barely enough room to even take my pack off I pushed my way to the hot food at the back, forced myself to eat some pasta that I really didn’t want, got my flasks refilled and left as quickly as I could with a worry that all the aid stations were going to be like this.

24km to Penzance. Around this time some bad weather hit. Strong winds and horizontal rain coming in from the sea that really stung the side of my face. It only lasted about an hour and gave a real flavour of what bad weather on the Arc can be like.
The coastal path goes onto the road at Marazion a few miles on tarmac then a long section on a concrete promenade.
My shoe choice was La Sportiva Mutants for the grip and support (which was fantastic) but they had little cushioning so my feet were very glad when the concrete was finally over.

Penzance Aid Station was a joy. Complete contrast to Porthleven. Plenty of space and help from the volunteers. I asked for the chicken tagine with rice and chips which turned out to be chickpea tagine, even better. At Penzance, Ivan, the Barefoot Runner made an appearance and I enjoyed chatting with him and marvelling at the state of his feet. (Ivan went on to complete the race but did have to put his shoes on toward the end so he could go faster to avoid cut offs - respect to him). On my way out I passed 20 or so very miserable looking runners who had dropped out and were waiting to be collected.
From Penzance it was 17.5km to Porthcurno which is the halfway point. A few miles from Penzance is Mousehole where I was unexpectedly met by my friend Valerie who lives there. It was past midnight by this point and I had not expected her to wait up for me. Her smiles, hugs and encouragement gave me a real boost.


Just outside of Mousehole you leave the road to go back on the trail and it is here where the race starts to get tough. Very rough ground, lots of boulders, rocks, running water and mud, lots of very wet and very slippery mud. During this section I fell over three times, once going over on my ankle but thankfully no damage was done. The next day you could see that almost everyone must have fallen over, our bums and legs were all covered in mud. In several places, notably at Lamorna you are literally using hand and foot holds to climb up rocks. The underfoot conditions really were terrible and would continue to be so until the end. Although my feet were dry, they really were taking a beating.

It was a beautiful night and a few times I stopped, turned my head torch off and just looked up at the stars. Living in London you just don’t get to see the night sky that clearly. I had been forewarned about this so I knew I wasn’t hallucinating when I saw mice darting out of the bushes and running across the trail. I started counting them and saw 6. Another runner claimed to have counted 20. Each one gave me a little lift and made me smile.

Just before Porthcurno (which is a beautiful sandy beach, but you won’t see it) you climb up the Minack steps. Really steep and exposed but fortunately there is a handrail to help pull yourself up. The Minack Theatre is where the 50 mile race starts from on the Saturday morning but for the 100 mile runners there is a tent with hot drinks, fluids and snacks. From here it's only 7.5km to Land’s End. At places the path is right at the edge and although you can’t see the sea below in the dark you can hear the waves crashing onto the rocks, not a place where you want to fall. You see the lights of the Land’s End Hotel a while before you get there. At 55 miles and with access to your drop bag this is a great Aid Station. I enjoyed some chilli, charged up my watch, phone and head torch and changed into a fresh pair of socks. I was just starting to get organised to leave when a volunteer announced that if you weren’t dropping out you had 30 minutes to leave before the cut off. This caused some general panic and I rushed to pack up and get out along with a big group of runners. I hadn’t really thought about cut offs up until this point. Now that I was only 30 minutes ahead of them, with the slowest and hardest sections to come, I realised that I would have to push hard to make St Ives without being timed out.

13.2km to Botallack just pushing as hard as I could, fortunately feeling strong after the food at Land’s End and determined to not get timed out. It was getting light just as I arrived. A volunteer made me a peanut butter and marmite sandwich( try it, its good) and a coffee and I left now just 15 minutes ahead of the cut off, to eat and drink on the move.

This now was the longest, most remote and hardest section, 24.4km to St Ives with over 800m of ascent. The cut off was 2.30pm so I had 5 hours 50 minutes to cover just over a half marathon, easy right? No, I knew it was very challenging terrain, with lots of steep ascents and descents. If I had to describe the route in one sentence it's basically a steep descent down into a cove, cross a river, a steep climb up out of the cove, run along a narrow rocky and muddy path along the top of the cliffs and repeat - endlessly. The coastline was stunning and the huge waves crashing on the rocks were mesmerising.

By this point the sun had come up again, another beautiful day, head down and get one with it. I ran as much as I could but it was often only 5-10 metres at a time before climbing over rocks or negotiating deep and slippery mud. Many of the steep descents and ascents have steps, 20-30 cm high. I understood why David and Darren had me do so many Bulgarian Split Squats. I fell into a natural rhythm with some other runners. I was moving forward well and catching up with groups in front. We then had the pleasure of the leading elite runners, both male and female from the 50 mile race passing us. They were all really polite, asking us to let them pass on the narrow trail and giving us encouragement. Watching them sprint up climbs we were slowly picking our way up really showed how good the elites were.

As I got closer to St Ives I started to realise I would make the cut off but only just. I knew I needed time for food and water so I joined a couple of other runners and we really pushed hard for the last few miles. I really upped the pace when the trail became a good path and then tarmac. Just as we approached the road I was delighted to see my friend Sarah, whom I knew had been forced to withdraw early in the race due to injury. A brief stop to chat with her gave me a lift but I had to push on. I got to the checkpoint with 28 mins to spare. More chilli, flasks filled up and I left with 15 mins ahead of the cut off.

Many runners got timed out at St Ives but from this point on the cut off times were more generous. I knew that barring disaster I had the race in the bag, it was just a matter of how long it would take and how much I would suffer. I resolved to not look at my watch or worry about my time, just to push as hard as I could whilst still pacing myself.
The next Aid Station was at Godrevy 17.2km away. The route went round the Hayle Estuary then through what is known to runners as the “Dunes of Doom.” I got my poles out for the first time, my legs and feet were really feeling it now, particularly on the ascents and descents and the poles helped take some of the pressure off. The Dunes were fine, in fact I enjoyed going through them, the route was well marked, the path was hard packed sand and they were beautiful, peaceful and best of all no mud. It was dark again when I arrived at Godrevy, so for the first time I was now running into a second night. A quick stop at the Aid station for a vegan cheese and pickle sandwich then off into the night.
It was 11.5km to the final Aid station at Portreath. I was well ahead of cut off times now so didn’t have to worry about the time, which was just as well as my watch battery had died. In my rush at St Ives I had neglected to charge it. Most of this
section was fine and I managed to run/shuffle lots of it, splashing my way through the mud and standing water which covered most of the trail. Then came the steep ascents and descents known as “the Bitches.” These weren’t really worse than any I had already done but at this late stage of the race they were tough. I was all about mindset, just head down, use the poles to take some pressure off my quads and get on with it.
At Portreath Aid Station I sat down for 5 mins and ate some crisps and the excellent Naak Waffles. It was just 7.6km to the finish line at Porthtowan. Off I went, now mostly just hiking with poles. I was absolutely spent and without the pressure of a cut off I just couldn’t force myself to run.
I knew there was a long steep climb at the end into the Eco Park but I had forgotten about “Sally’s Bottom.” I could see head torches high above me and realised this was a long and steep climb. Like the Bitches it was all about mindset, just do it. I had by this point developed a technique with my poles planting both on the step above me and using the momentum as I pushed down to take the weight of my legs as I stepped up on the following step keeping the poles planted behind me. They were soon over and then it was easy going down into Porthtowan and a short road section before the final climb to the finish. It was less steep than others but prolonged. Again using the poles I just got on with it until suddenly I’m at the top, round a corner and there is the arch at the finish line, lots of people cheering, music, the announcer calling my name as I run the final 20m through the mud to cross the line.

I was given my buckle, a hug, a can of beer and that was that, it was over and I was standing alone in a muddy field in the dark wondering where to go next.
My finish time was 33:30 which I was delighted with. I had 2.5 hours to spare and although it had undoubtedly been the toughest race I had ever done I had really enjoyed it and I was strong enough that I hadn’t really suffered. Running into the second night gave me a taste of what longer multi day races are like.
If anyone reading this is tempted to do it my advice is to go for it. It’s a unique adventure. But be aware of what you are letting yourself in for. This is not a race to enter on a whim and although it is the first 100M race for some people it’s a magnitude more difficult than other 100 milers. I would advise you to get experience at the distance first. Half of the runners don’t complete it and many only succeed after several failed attempts. Get the right kit, train hard, get coached and make sure you go into it with right mindset.
Enjoy the race itself but also enjoy the journey that got you there, its all part of the experience."

JULIA:
I love running in Winter, and I was super excited for this race, although unsure how I would love running in a potential storm.
The week before, I stopped by Screwfix to grab some safety glasses, just in case the cold-weather kit was activated.
They actually looked pretty cool! Turns out race day was beautiful, so sunglasses it was instead. I feel lucky that it came together on the day, I felt good and had a great day out soaking up the views.
The volunteers were awesome and the support on the course was really special.
Huge thanks to Kelsey getting me ready, and the entire Camino Team for their support & tips.
CAMINO: Julia has an incredible podcast series where she interviews many of the most fascinating and inspirational women in the Trail Running space - check it out here
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