The Dark Downs
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The Dark Downs 50k
The Dark Downs 50k is a 50 km dusk till dawn loop on the South Downs, based at Plumpton Racecourse in Lewes, East Sussex. The route is mostly trail with an elevation profile of about 4400 ft ascent and descent and is described as 95% trail and 5% road. The course is fully marked with highly reflective signage and a downloadable GPX file is provided.
The event includes four staffed aid stations offering a wide range of food and drink, including vegan, vegetarian and gluten free options, plus women’s sanitary products. Live GPS tracking and chip timing are provided; all entrants receive a GPS tracker that must be worn and race numbers have timing chips and must be visible on the front of the runner. There is free onsite camping at the racecourse and parking and toilet and shower facilities are available.
Entry is open without a qualification requirement and the published entry fee includes the mandatory GPS tracker. Minimum entry age is 20 years. The race is an ARC permitted event (ARC/26/0735) and is a UTMB Index race awarded 2 ITRA points; results are submitted to UTMB, ITRA and DUV.
Organiser rules note no crew support, no pacers, a 12 hour overall time limit with cutoffs at later aid stations, mandatory safety kit requirements and guidance on low impact travel to Plumpton, which is about 400 metres from the local train station. Visit the organization's website for the most recent information.
