Thames Trail Ultra

Thames Trail Ultra

The Thames Trail Ultra is a point to point ultra-marathon of 47 miles that follows the Thames Path from Iffley, south of Oxford, to Henley on Thames. The route uses sections of the Thames Path and the Ridgeway National Trails and passes through towns and villages along the river.

The course is mixed underfoot with about 40.4 miles of cross country trails and riverside paths and about 6.6 miles of roads. Total elevation change is approximately +947 ft and -1053 ft. The event has a cut off of 11.5 hours with progressive cut off points from Checkpoint 3 onward. Some route updates include a diversion around the Donkey Bridge and a closure of the Benson Weir footway; the revised line is provided on the GPX file and race tracker.

Five aid stations provide water, snacks and Go Beyond fruitcake, with Real Meal energy bars also supplied. Toilets are available near Checkpoints 1, 4 and 5. All runners must carry mandatory kit including a fully charged mobile phone, power bank, at least 1 litre of water capacity, survival blanket, waterproof jacket, whistle, headtorch with spare batteries, hat and gloves, a long sleeved base layer or fleece and a debit or credit card. Random kit checks are conducted before the race.

The start location is Mercure Oxford Hawkwell House Hotel in Iffley and the finish is at the YMCA Y Centre in Henley on Thames. Baggage transfer to the finish is offered with a maximum bag size of 56 x 45 x 25 cm. Limited parking is available at Iffley and a courtesy shuttle bus runs from Oxford train station. Real time GPS tracking is provided via Geo Tracks with position uploads every 10 seconds. Visit the organization's website for the most recent information.