What Makes A Great Trail Race? James Elson Talks Centurion

It takes more than a beautiful route to create a race people come back to year after year. Community, adventure, volunteers, organisation... It's the little things that stack up.

We caught up with Centurion Race Director James Elson to chat about how Centurion came to be, what makes its races so special, why some runners DNF, and his advice for anyone thinking about taking on their first ultra. If you've ever wondered what goes into creating one of the UK's best-loved trail running events, read on.

What made you want to start doing trail running events? How did Centurion come about?

I couldn't find the type of races that I wanted to do personally here in the UK in the late 2000s. There weren't marked, fully supported hundred-mile trail runs. They just didn't exist. So I was going to Europe and the US to do those types of races and thought, you know what? We could have a similar format here. Let's see if it works. It was popular. And the first one was a success and it just went from strength to strength, really. So the short answer is there was a gap in the UK scene at the time, I suppose.

In terms of Centurion races... has your love of adventure influenced how you've designed them?

Yeah, definitely. I'm trying to provide a race at the front end. We definitely focus on that, maybe more than a lot of other race companies. We definitely are looking at the racing side. But I always say to the runners as well, the reason we do so many point-to-point races rather than lots of different lapped events is the spirit of adventure. It's about the journey and the adventure and the different experiences along the way rather than just repeating a circuit. I like lapped races, don't get me wrong, I've done a lot of them. But for me, there's a bit more magic and adventure in that point-to-point course.

What do you think has made the Centurion races so popular?

It probably sounds cliché, but I think community really. I mean, we try to be really, really tightly organised. So we provide a lot of information to volunteers and runners. We try to make sure they feel really informed, so they know what to expect and can prepare properly and then have a more enjoyable race. But the volunteers are the ones who deliver the event. They're the ones the runners interact with. You know, I might have 30 staff at an event, but I've got 180 volunteers. So it's really about empowering the volunteers to act with authority and oversee the race in a sense. And that's community. That runner-volunteer interaction is the single most important interaction on the day.

The volunteers then go run the race the next year because they earn their free entries, and the runners then take their turn in volunteering, and it creates that cyclical network where whichever race you come to with us, if you come to another one, you'll see a lot of the same faces. Of course, there are always new people, but it's that sense of community, and that's why we stayed so local, really. We can rely on and continue to build that community very locally.

What's the biggest thing that you see as the race director, the results in failure at your races? Why do people DNF?

If I put my finger on one thing, I would say pacing. Poor pacing leads to fuelling problems, stomach problems, blisters, lack of energy, and muscle fatigue.

How much of that is a result of poor training or lack of consistency and training versus poor pacing on the day is a hard one to work out. But lack of training, consistency, and volume, combined with poor pacing, really are the things that make someone's day unravel. But ultimately, 95% of the people drop out because of psychology. A few miss the cutoff because they're just moving too slowly. Some have stomach issues, but could persevere. Some genuinely get injured, but the vast majority have a minor issue that becomes several minor issues that just become so uncomfortable that they just don't want to continue. And most of those things are largely avoidable. So I'd say poor pacing or pacing not reflecting training is the number one issue.

Is that a discipline problem then? Lack of experience?

Yeah, I think so. I think the other factor that plays into that is that a lot of these races, particularly our winter races that are the most kit-heavy, runners are fairly neglectful of carrying full kit. Even at South Downs Way 100, they show up with a full race vest and a litre and a half of water because it's a hot day. They just haven't trained with three kilos on their back. They've trained with a waistbelt and a handheld bottle, and all of a sudden, they're trying to work even harder than they have in training, with more weight on their back, in hotter conditions, for a longer period of time. Poor pacing discipline can unravel things really fast when you add in those other factors.

For people who want to up their game and try a Centurion event, which one should they start with?

The easy answer to that is South Downs Way 50K. It's our World Trail Majors short series event. So it's part of this global series of 10 races, but we always say to people, “It might be a big race, but you're still a name and not a number.” You're one of 400 people, not one of 4,000. So you're absolutely going to have an amazing time as an individual, be treated like a human being and have a great community interaction.

It’s a beautiful course, very, very accessible route. It’s 50k point-to-point, so it's a real journey. But the South Downs, and especially the western end of the South Downs, are gently rolling. There are no steep climbs. It's almost all on trail, but lots of running. And then the finish is this great descent down into Queen Elizabeth Country Park. So it's a really spectacular finish, too.

It has all the ingredients of the ideal first ultra for a trail runner looking to step up to an ultra distance. That’s currently the shortest race we organise, but watch this space, we might have something slightly shorter next year to go alongside.

And is there a secret insider's tip for success that you wouldn't know unless you’d already done the race?

There is a huge hill at the end. And actually, some of the elite athletes have unravelled. It's often a hot day in June, and it's very exposed. There are little sections of woodland, but the South Downs Way is very exposed. So, take the time to cool off, water over your head, and make sure you don't overheat.

When we spoke last year, you were talking about getting media coverage out on the course so that people could follow almost in real time. How’s that going?

Yeah, so last year we had a full live broadcast. This year, we went back to producing with a social media team on the ground, creating content and essentially covering the race live via Instagram posts. That works far better, we think, now, than just trying to cover it through a YouTube stream.

But for anyone looking to tackle the race,  there are two highlight films on YouTube, which you can get to through our Instagram link in bio. There's an eight-minute film of the 100 and a five-minute film of the 50k from this year's race. The best way to access all these is through our Instagram, where they can also watch all of the on-the-ground content, which still exists in the grid.