Mendip Marauder
Saturday 30th August 2025
8:30 am start (50 miler)
10:30 am start (30 miler)
Elevation: - 5,516 ft. for 50 Miler/
4,161 ft. for 30 Miler
"The time and care you've put in to the whole event made it a truly enjoyable and unique experience.
Really appreciated the toilets, snacks, support and clear course marking and how personalised you've made it."
_Mendip Marauder runner 2023
"As a first time ultra runner I was made to feel welcome, being
particularly impressed with the volunteers at the aid stations who went above and beyond to make sure we were well looked after.
The legs have now stopped aching, leaving me with (mostly) pleasant memories and a silly grin of accomplishment on my face!"
_Mendip Marauder runner 2023
In 2024's 30 mile race Rick Nicholls was within just 1 minute of Danny Hawkins' sensational course record from the year before in 4:10:55, showing that it is possible to run fast on this course if you're strong on the hills! He was the clear winner of the 30, but Max Horwood took 2nd in 4:46:47, just 11 seconds ahead of 1st female Becky Raftery and her husband Tom, who shared 3rd place overall. Matt Powell added to his 2nd place at Conquest of Avalon 30 Miler a couple of years back with an impressive 5th here considering he said before the race he'd barely trained since April! Mendip Marauder has a tradition of female runners placing high in the field overall and so it was with Phoebe Aspinall (2nd female) finishing 6th overall and Magdalena Golebiowska (3rd female) being 12th overall. Magdalena was originally due to be running with her partner Leigh Parsons but he was unable to make the start this time and Luke Kendall did him proud by taking his place and finishing 9th overall. 7th was Jamie Thomas (with a very enthusiastic fan club), 8th was George Bull, who had run the race at a more sedate pace previously as part of a group, and 10th was the always impressive Mark Bennett.
In the 50 Miler it was a case of three guys who all really wanted to win racing each other all the way; really exciting to witness! Craig Rumble (previous Flat 50 winner), last year's Mendip 50 winner Oliver Tilling and 'rookie' Joseph Chambers ran into Wells together, and they were within minutes of each other at Draycott too. Craig did open up a 20 minute gap at one stage, a 30 mile runner commenting that he flew past them on a descent they'd described as 'basically unrunnable', but Oliver and Joseph kept pushing him all the way. Eventually Craig took victory in 7:51:03, which was the second fastest time ever for the race. Oliver set a massive course PB in 8:01:11 to take second and Joseph took a really impressive 3rd in 8:08:36. The womens' race saw local legend Emma Challis lead early on but she was overtaken by Beth McLure, who eventually took the win in 11:17:46. Emma, during her 225th marathon, took 2nd in 11:34:06 - she ran a lot of the way with her good friend Sid Green, who is in great form currently. 3rd was Eszter Adam in 12:11:38 - she didn't even seem tired at the end! A few others to mention were Callum Hill in 4th overall, who finished in a really impressive 8:50:18 despite only just making the start on time! Tuomas Tahko paced incredibly to take 5th in 9:02:51. He was about 8th at Wells but seemed less tired than most others. 6th in 9:08:36 was Ed Clements, who had run Berlin 100 Miler two weeks previously!!
Words from Radio 2 Sports Presenter Vassos Alexander (7th in 50 miler, 2017)
"I suspect you may already know this if you live in Somerset, but Somerset is gorgeous. The glorious Ebbor and Cheddar Gorges, the punchy climb up to Crook's Peak, the views over the Somerset Levels to the circular Cheddar Reservoir, the tiny city of Wells with its bustling market and magnificent cathedral... The Mendip Marauder is a happy, low-key, scenic race through some surprisingly spectacular scenery
To be honest I chanced on the race. Six weeks out from attempting the Spartathlon, I wanted to see how my ankle stood up to running 50 hilly miles (having comprehensively trashed it in Snowdonia). It all worked out great!
The Mendip Way is endlessly surprising and rarely predictable - the South Downs Way’s more rural cousin. It leads you between high-rise corn fields, through stinging nettles, down muddy tracks, over grassy hills, and spits you out onto a lovely, sandy beach. I loved it
I would absolutely do the race again and highly recommend it"
The Mendip Way has to be one of the South-West's best kept secrets. Like the Cotswolds' slightly more streetwise, alternative cousin, the Mendip Way features the spectacular Ebbor and Cheddar Gorges, the brutal climb up Wavering Down through King's Wood, incredible views over the Somerset Levels and to the circular Cheddar Reservoir, and then England's smallest city, Wells, with its magnificent cathedral. Thanks to the ongoing work of the Mendip Hills Fund, this area has become better signposted but we do provide additional marking to help you stay on the right track
Starting at the Market Town of Frome (for the whole of the Mendip Way) or from Wells (for the West Mendip Way only) you will run through a real smorgasbord of Somerset scenery. If you like hills then you will find plenty to enjoy here, but either way you will be amply rewarded for climbing the hills with views to breathe life into tired legs and then a downhill cruise to help get your strength back. Some particularly scenic parts of the course are Cranmore Tower (the highest point on the whole route), the amazing panoramic views from Wavering Down, the quarries and forests of Black Rock Nature Reserve, Ebbor Gorge and the lush pine forests of Rowberrow, but this route is absolutely jam packed with stunning locations. There are many wonderfully scenic short runs but all in a sequence one after the other to create a kind of montage of trail running wonderment. Once you've run in the Mendip Hills you'll only have one question - "When can I come back?"
You will finish at the huge sandy expanses of the beach at Uphill, just outside Weston-Super-Mare; there will be a coach to take you from there to the race start in the morning. Here you can relax on the sand and enthuse about the Mendip Way with your fellow finishers until you're ready to move on
With over 5,000 ft. of ascent for the 50 miler, and over 4,000 for the 30 miler, this is certainly not a flat route and will provide a challenge, but with rolling hillside, pretty woodland, quarries, atmospheric villages and a whole lot more you will often be too busy enjoying the views to think too hard about how tired you are. This is quite a similar race to Ham & Lyme; if you enjoy one you are likely to enjoy the other
Cut-off times - 14 hours for 50 miler, 8 hours for 30 miler
PRICES: -
50 miler - £60
30 miler - £35
ENTRIES AVAILABLE VIA OUR ONLINE STORE. ENTRIES ONLY REFUNDABLE IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT THAT THE RACE HAS TO BE CANCELLED, BUT IF YOU ARE NO LONGER WISHING TO TAKE PART OR ARE UNABLE TO THEN IF THE RACE IS FULL WE WILL MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO FIND SOMEONE TO TAKE YOUR PLACE, AND THEIR ENTRY FEE WILL GO TO YOU. IF THE RACE HAS NOT REACHED CAPACITY THEN YOU ARE WELCOME TO TRANSFER YOUR PLACE TO SOMEBODY ELSE AS LONG AS YOU MAKE US FULLY AWARE BEFORE THE DAY. ENTRIES ARE LIMITED BUT WILL APPLY TO ENTIRE FIELD RATHER THAN INDIVIDUAL DISTANCES
A COACH IS AVAILABLE FROM THE FINISH TO THE START ON THE MORNING OF THE RACE FOR ANYONE WHO NEEDS IT
RACE NUMBERS ARE PICKED UP FROM REGISTRATION ON THE DAY
THERE ARE FIVE WELL-STOCKED AID STATIONS FOR THE 50 MILER, THREE FOR THE 30 MILER
FURTHER INFORMATION WILL BE POSTED AS THE EVENT GETS CLOSER BUT IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS IN THE MEANTIME PLEASE E-MAIL albionrunning@hotmail.com
