Virtual National Trails - SDW
South Downs Way National Trail
Organised by UltraBritain Virtual
The deadline for entering this event has passed
1st - 31st March 2021
Take on a Challenge for March along the South Downs Way. Choose 110km from Winchester to Jack and Jill, cover 100 miles to Eastbourne or do the full out and back for 200 miles during the month
Virtual National Trails - The South Downs Way
We covered the North Downs Way in February and now you have the chance to complete the Downs Double and take on the South Downs Way virtually during March.
The South Downs Way stretches from Winchester, the first Capital of England to Eastbourne on the South coast. It's a route well-trodden by our ancestors as far back as history records and beyond.
It's an open, varied landscape of chalk hills, yew forest, heath and grassland where you can find rare plants and wildlife and enjoy buzzards soaring on the thermals.
Our shortest route stops at Clayton windmills (known as Jack and Jill). They command fine views across the Sussex Weald, It's Jill's 200th birthday this year (Jack is a mere 155 years old).
How does it work
All walks, runs and hikes count towards your total during the entire month. You can join in any time before the close of the 15th March and backdate any activities from the 1st of the month.
Register your miles either manually or with Strava (a free Strava account is all you need) and we'll plot your progress on our live map.
We're starting from the trail head in Winchester and there are three routes on offer - pick a challenge to suit you (make your choice in the entry form)
- 110km (c.68 miles - a little over 3.5k or 2.2miles per day) - Winchester to the Jack and Jill windmills
- 160km (c.100 miles - 5.2km or 3.2miles per day) - Winchester to Eastbourne, the full length of the trail
- 320km (c.200 miles - 10.4km or 6.4miles per day) - The round trip Winchester to Eastbourne and back again
The furthest challenge is a step up from February's longest, but you do have an extra 3 days to do it. And, the days are lengthening (isn't it great!?), the mornings are getting lighter and there's even some vague evidence of warmer weather so don't be shy!
Changing Goal Distances
We allow you to switch routes up until the closing date of the event on the 15th March, so if you're finding you're crushing your challenge and want to push harder, or time constraints mean you can't put in the miles you'd hoped - no problem!
To do this, go to My Account -> Tickets and Entries. Click the 'entry form' tab under the ticket for the event and make your changes to your form.
NEW FOR MARCH
We are all missing the chance to get out onto the real trails and it's easy to take them for granted in normal times. These priceless resources take a huge amount of maintenance, which relies on an army of volunteers and never-ending battles for scarce budgets.
We will donate £1 from each entry to the National Trails to help support their upkeep and make sure they are available for us and future generations.
Awards
It's important to us that we support local businesses and reduce the environmental impact of our events as far as possible.
Complete your challenge and we'll send you a bespoke, etched wooden medal to commemorate your achievement.
We will also send you a real postcard through the mail featuring a stunning shot from the trail taken by professional photographer Ally Whitlock, with your challenge achievements on the back.
We're proud to be supported by our local sports store - Apex Sports - who are offering all entrants a very generous 15% off all non-sale items (we will send you a discount code with your joining instructions).
You can recoup the price of this event with the savings from a single pair of shoes!
Important : Apex are currently only shipping to UK addresses
We're also proud to partner with Trees Not Tees who plant native trees in their managed forests to offset CO2. If you don't want a medal posted out to you, you can exchange it for your very own tree!
Trees Not Tees will email you a certificate of ownership, a photo of your sapling tree and even the exact location in what3words format. You can even go and visit (when we're allowed out!) This is a fantastic way of doing something positive for the environment and we'll add your tree to the event map.
You will need to complete your challenge to receive a medal. If you have opted for a tree, one will be planted for you whether or not you complete the challenge.
Awards will be posted out around the 8th April to allow time for everyone to log their final miles.
Logging Your Miles
It's very simple to record miles either manually, or automatically if you use Strava.
With Strava
- You need a free Strava account
- Below the map on this page find the orange 'connect with Strava' button
- Click that and you'll be taken to Strava to approve the connection
- That's it!
Note that - we request read-only access to your Strava account which means that we cannot write to your page and we can only read public activities from public accounts. Ensure your activities are recorded as one of 'hike', 'walk', 'run' or 'virtualrun'. It may take up to an hour to collect your data from Strava and update the leaderboard.
Logging Manually
- Log in to your Ultrabritain account and return to this page
- Above the map you will find a blue 'Your Activities' button
- Click that and a popup will show all activities we've recorded for you to date and let you log more
- Recording is simply a matter of clicking the date on a calendar and entering the distance in either km or miles
You will have up until the 7th April to log miles accrued between the 1st and 31st of March.
- Essential Information
- This event can record your activities automatically via Strava, Garmin Connect or Fitbit
- Date: 1st March, 2021 to 31st March, 2021
- Start Time: 00:00
- Event Format
- Virtual Event
- Virtual run on the South Downs Way - choose 110km, 100 miles or 200 miles