Why are the Copthorne Races so hard?
- 5 days ago
- 8 min read
The Copthorne 100 has gained mythical status over the years. It’s a 103 mile foot race in the Surrey countryside, up and around Box Hill. The finish rate is extremely low. Ahead of the 2025 edition of the race there was a 13.5% finish rate amongst men and a 22% finish rate amongst women. Of 81 male entrants, 11 have finished and of 23 female entrants, 5 have finished. However the 4th and 5th female finishes belong to me, the only person to have completed the Copthorne 100 twice. So why is it so hard? I feel I am in a good position to write this article what with my intimate knowledge of this infamous course and explain to you why it is so hard and how you can conquer it!
Being a bit of a mindset master (not my words, I quote from Eddie Sutton and Gary Thwaites from Tea and Trails podcast!) I am also going to give you the keys to unlock this course and equip you with the knowledge needed to beat it, all using the power of your mind!
Quick course guide
10 x 10.3 mile laps equate to a 103 miles course with 22,000 feet of elevation and a 32 hour cut off. For more route information see the Canary Trails Events website.
The Copthorne Races
The Copthorne Races consist of four distances – the 50km (3 laps), the 50 mile (5 laps), the 100km (6 laps) and the 100 mile (10 laps). These four different races all start at the same time. Some of these runners are ‘only’ doing 3 laps, they can afford to race off the start line, avoid the bottle neck on the first climb and run as fast as their little legs will allow. As a 100 mile runner, you could be intimidated by this fast start, you might feel you are missing something and you need to be racing off like the clappers too. You might find yourself in conversation with one of the 50km-ers and before you know it, you’ve done a 2 hour lap. Hooray for you. But they only have two more laps to go, you my friend, have another nine.
How to use this to your advantage: make the most of the course when it is busy, on your first three laps there will be plenty of people to chat to. Keep an eye on your pace, enjoy the crowd and make a friend. Tick each race off in your head, use the first three laps as a milestone. Then the course will be noticeably quieter, next goal is four laps as that’s when the 50 milers finish. Next milestone is five and then finally six. You’ve actually got the first six laps in the bag, by thinking of your fellow comrades in the other races, allow their energy to carry you through. Then my friend, you are on your own and you’ll need to conjure up some of your own mindset tactics to get you from the end of lap six to the end of the race, be creative!
The Cut Off
32 hours is tight. The Beacons Way 100 mile is similar distance (107 miles) and elevation (20,154 feet) however the cut off for the Beacons Way is 40 hours, that is an extra 8 hours to play with.
Yes, the cut off for this race IS tight, but plan your race well and it is doable. Don’t spend too much time in the comfort of the two indoor checkpoints, have pre-prepared bags of food for each lap to take with you and eat on the lap whilst walking rather than sat still in the cosy warm checkpoint.
How to use this to your advantage: it’s worth doing a recce of the course ahead of the race and establishing where you can walk and where you can run. You are doing ten laps, use this to your advantage, you can work out a pretty accurate lap time by ensuring you always walk and run at exactly the same places, use benches, steps, trees and turns as markers. You’ll notice if you are falling behind schedule so you can throw in a few extra little shuffles and have something extra to eat to catch yourself up. Bear in mind you will likely slow down during the hours of darkness.
The False Sense of Security
Box Hill, Surrey is known for being a bit of a beast of a hill but at the end of the day, it’s a hill, not a mountain. There are lots of steps too so they will help guide you up and down the hills… actually, it’s those steps that are not to be under estimated.
Typically when you walk up a hill, you choose the length of your stride and where to place your feet. When you walk up a staircase, the steps determine how long your stride will be and where you are to put your feet. The more tired you get, the more strides you will take up and down those steps. I will move from one foot/stride per step, to two. This means I end up not only taking shorter strides but double the amount of strides too. It is slower. Much, much slower.
How to use this to your advantage: this is where mindset really can affect your race. Did you know it is possible to re-train the brain? If you are familiar with neurolinguistic programming (NLP) then you will indeed know this! You can keep telling yourself something until you believe it. Most people once across the stepping stones and seeing those Box Hill steps looming above them (or Satan’s Staircase for that matter) will immediately think negatively.
“Oh no, I am not looking forward to this.”
“These steps are hard.”
“I don’t like these steps.”
“I can’t do it.”
“I am so slow going up here.”
Try to retrain your mind. Re-frame the situation. You should be grateful to these steps. They are delivering you somewhere, somewhere you want to be! The Box Hill steps are delivering you to the fabulous Box Hill trig and view point and beyond there you have the most glorious runnable downhill once over the Donkey Field. Satan’s Staircase will deliver you to the downhill that takes you into the Mickleham checkpoint. Tell yourself you enjoy the steps. It may well be a lie at first but keep telling yourself you enjoy them, they are fun, you love it… until you believe it. And don’t forget that you chose to do this and each step is closer to the top which is where you want to be.
The Long Night
With sunset around 4pm and sunrise around 7:30am, you’re looking at around 15 hours on a head torch. That is a long night indeed.
How to use this to your advantage: there is something rather magical about running through the night. The quietness and stillness. The sound of your breathing and footsteps. Your breath floating out in front of you. The owls. The moon and the stars (if it is a clear night), 2023 saw the most incredible lunar halo (rainbow around the moon). When you hear that first birdsong in the morning, and see the faint glow of the sun as it begins to rise, that is a feeling you wish you could bottle. Embrace the night, look forward to what it brings.
The Winter Conditions
2023 saw freezing cold conditions where the ground never thawed and some of the steps were slippery with ice. 2024 saw Storm Bert making his mark. The stepping stones being fully submersed before the forth lap and the ‘long’ route needing to be taken.
How to use this to your advantage: There was a chap on the 2024 Copthorne Races called Brendon Fletcher, he told me then that I was “on a noble adventure”. You are. A winter ultra is not for the faint of heart. You knew it was going to be hard. Use your mind to remind yourself – you are tough, you are resilient and this is what a tough and resilient person such as yourself thrives on!
The Laps
Ten 10.3 mile laps can get rather repetitive. Due to the other races finishing after six laps, and there not usually being a massively high field in the 100, coupled with the high drop out rate, it can get pretty lonely out there on those laps, especially as the bulk of the laps are done in the hours of darkness. You can get to those Box Hill Steps on the sixth lap and all too easily think to yourself, “I cannot do these another four times.” Maybe your quads are starting to scream at you. Maybe the downhill steps hurt more than the uphill ones. Maybe Elmo’s cute little face on the ‘Hail Satan’ sign is really starting to p#$s you off. Maybe you get into that cosy warm checkpoint after the sixth lap when all the other runners are finished and think that you can’t possibly go out into the cold dark night again… and on your own. You see how it can escalate?
How to use this to your advantage: I mentioned earlier that you can learn where to walk and where to run. The repetitiveness of the laps mean that you can become your own metronome, take comfort in the familiarity of the laps. There are no surprises on this route as you know what is coming next, you know where there is an uphill and where there is a downhill, you know where the flat bits are. Learn where the tricky bits are and fuel accordingly before them. Make sure to remember your favourite parts of the laps, don’t make the mistake of focusing solely on the bits ‘you don’t like’. As the race progresses, you’ll also develop fond memories, “I remember on an earlier lap I was chatting to X about the subject of Y when we passed through here.” “There’s the spot where I saw the friendly dog walker earlier.” It’s really important to focus on the positives, no matter how small they may seem, the more you can focus on the positives and the less on those negatives, the higher the chance of your success at this race.
The 200 – how far will you mind let you go?
Starting ahead of the Copthorne Races a few days before is the Copthorne 200. The first running of this 200 mile event was in 2024, Mark Cockbain is quoted to have stated that the 200 is impossible to finish. In fact, several other high profile ultra runners agreed with Mark. However, of the 15 entrants in last year’s 200, there was one finisher, Alan Risk. It’s worth noting that there was one DNF at 112 miles, and three DNFs at 100 miles. Therefore five people completed 100 miles or more, the others ranged from 20 up to 90 miles.
Five people completed 100 miles or more. This to me is absolute proof beyond reason of a doubt that the Copthorne Races gets into people’s heads, those people were able to compete 100+ miles as they had started the event with the mindset to do 200.
In a nutshell, why this race can be completed:
Use the other races as mental milestones to spur you on.
There are indoor checkpoints every 5 miles.
You have access to your drop bag every 10 miles therefore you do not need to weigh yourself down with copious amount of food and fluid.
Having a drop bag ensures there is no need to DNF due to kit failure, i.e not enough socks, shoes, waterproofs, warm layers. You can take your entire running wardrobe if you wish (I do!).
You have access to hot food and hot drinks, this is a luxury ultra – no soggy crisps at outdoor checkpoints!
The repetitive laps means you can establish an accurate average lap time.
There is something rather magical about running through 15 hours of darkness.
It’s a winter ultra. It will be hard, but you are on a noble adventure.
You are allowed a pacer on the tenth lap, rope in your most motivational running buddy to crack the whip and get you round those final 10 quick smart.
The Canary Trail Events staff and volunteers will support you throughout and they will make it fun!
Further Reading
My race report from 2023 – click here
My race report from 2024 – click here
Copthorne Races 2024 Video
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