Running the Tadworth 10
10 muddy, hilly, rainy, sweaty and wonderful miles at the annual Tadworth 10 race over Epsom Downs
Now in its 40th running, the Tadworth 10 is an annual Surrey running event that’s an excellent way of testing your fitness and blowing away any over-indulgence from the Christmas period. With over 1,000ft of elevation gain across grass, trail, mud and road, through forests, over hills and finishing by the Duchess Stand at the spectacular Epsom Racecourse — home of the Derby — Tadworth 10 always inspires trepidation beforehand but gives a satisfying anecdote to regale your running friends with for the rest of the year.
The 2023 event was my second running, and while the weather was by all accounts the worst it’s been in years, I thoroughly enjoyed the Tadworth 10 and the amazing support and organisation from everyone involved.
So if you’re thinking of taking on the Tadworth 10 next January to get your New Year fitness boost going with a bang, here’s what you can expect.
Pre-race Organization
Entries opened for the Tadworth 10 early, with a pre-race announcement in July for early bird entries. The online registration process was simple and straightforward, with no issues.
In the weeks leading up to the race in early January, event organisers Tadworth A.C. began a social media campaign on Facebook and Instagram publicising a few remaining bibs as well as providing updates on the course. The week prior to the Tadworth 10, the events team did a recce of the route and posted updates on what runners could expect, with a further update a couple of days before race day.
Pre-race organisation and communication was great for what is ostensibly a small-ish local race, and it certainly helped calm any pre-race butterflies about what to expect with regards to weather and mud.
Bib Pick-up
One of the best things about the Tadworth 10 is the bib pickup venue. Located in the massive Duchess Stand at Epsom Racecourse, it’s excellently equipped and provides a mercifully warm location to grab your bib, drop your bag and visit the ‘facilities’.
I didn’t need to queue at any of these three, which meant this was one of the least stressful pre-race processes I’ve experienced anywhere.
Start Line
The Tadworth 10 starts right beside the famous Epsom Racecourse on a flat, grassy section that also doubles as the finish line. There were 517 people running in 2023 and we all lined up in the wind and rain for what was a thankfully, very quick get-go. The race briefing had taken place inside the Duchess Stand prior to everyone filing out into the elements, so other than ensuring everyone was present the race director could get proceedings underway without delay.
After the first few hundred metres of grassy flats, the course turns right over Epsom Downs and climbs for a few hundred metres before heading over the back of the racecourse. There’s a sharp downhill section cutting through the racehorse warm-up area before you hit the mud and trails and are acquainted with Ebbisham Lane.
Ebbisham Lane (aka ‘The Hill’)
There’s always — always! — a beautiful 20m section of mud at the bottom of Ebbisham Lane. While it’s tempting to try to cut round through the trees, all you do is lose time. It’s much better to just suck it up and plough through the middle!
Ebbisham Lane is brutal. Around one mile long with a gradient of 5.3%, it seems to go on forever! With every twist and turn you think you’re at the top, but no, there’s still more to come!
You truly know you’re there when you see the signs for the aid station, which is at the top of Ebbisham Lane, but isn’t, however, the end of the uphill section. As you reach the road, the course climbs just a little further until you hit Walton-on-the-Hill.
Walton-on-the-Hill
Walton-on-the-Hill is a quaint Surrey village that gives you the opportunity to regain your breath on a flat, tarmac surface. The locals always come out to support, which is exactly what you need at this point in the race (even though you’re not even one-third of the way there yet!) Just ignore any early birds slurping a pint as you go past the pub, you haven’t quite earned yours yet!
Downs Way
After leaving Walton-on-the-Hill the course heads left into the woods and back on to trails. At Mile 3 you’re back on to tarmac on The Avenue, then quickly onto Downs Way and two incredibly steep hills… however, these are DOWNhill!
But don’t think that gives your legs some respite, these downhills are every bit as brutal as the uphill sections. Lasting about one mile in total, Downs Way leads on to Downsway Close where there’s a combined 60m of elevation loss. This section is a real test of your quad strength and whether you’re brave enough to let gravity sweep you to the bottom without putting on the brakes.
There’s a vicious 90-degree left turn at the very bottom of this section, which takes you onto a flat road for 100m or so before heading back into the woods and more undulating trail surfaces.
Back of the Racecourse
As you emerge from the woods, it’s a sharp right-hander onto more trails and another long climb up the back of the racecourse. The gradient and total elevation isn’t as brutal as Ebbisham Lane, but with a good 30m of uphill running when you’re now exposed to the wind and rain this section is tough.
At the top of the hill you take a left and run into the wind, where you can also survey the pack of runners behind you coming up where you’ve just conquered. After a few hundred metres dodging puddles you’re back at the top of the racecourse and take a left to go back down the sharp downhill section that leads you back to Ebbisham Lane… and Lap 2!
Lap 2
From the top of the racecourse, Lap 2 is pretty much identical to Lap 1, taking you back up Ebbisham Lane(!) to Walton-on-the-Hill, through the woods and down Downs Way/ Downsway Close then back up to the top of the racecourse. If your legs can manage near even splits at this point you’re doing extremely well, as you really take a pounding on the second lap.
When you find yourself back at the top of the racecourse, instead of turning left to go back towards Ebbisham Lane, you take a right and it’s downhill towards the finish line.
Finish Line
If you have any energy left in your legs, now’s a good time to start using it. You can use the downhill section towards the finish straight to your advantage to eke every last bit of energy from your muscles, before taking a left and heading back towards the Duchess Stand and the finish line.
Time your sprint finish well and you’ll be welcomed with water, bananas and a snazzy medal, then a short hobble over to the Duchess Stand to grab your gear, warm up and contemplate how you’re never going to do that again… until next year!
Race Strategy
A Tadworth 10 race strategy is tough because there are so many variables to consider. You’ve got the constantly changing surfaces, incredible elevation (up AND down!), horrid weather and your own fitness after a celebratory holiday period to consider. Running by feel is arguably the best way to approach running the Tadworth 10, however there are a few pointers I used from my new running club the Sutton Striders to help with my race strategy.
Getting out reasonably quickly is a good call as if you’ve got the pace you can get to the front of the pack before the course starts to narrow at Ebbisham Lane. Ease into a comfortable pace over the first flat few hundred metres then dial it back a bit up the hill to the top of the racecourse. Over the back of the racecourse you can open the throttle and attack the downhill section leading into the mud bath at the bottom of Ebbisham Lane. For this first mile I clocked 6:50 mins/ mile, which is roughly my marathon pace.
Going up Ebbisham Lane, you need to dial back the pace quite significantly. On Lap 1, I got up this hill in an average time of 7:40 mins/ mile, which dropped to 7:48 mins/ mile in Lap 2. As long as you know you need to dial it in going up here, you don’t need to get too despondent after such a speedy start.
I managed to clock 6:58 mins/ mile through Walton-on-the-Hill on Lap 1 and a similar time on Lap 2, which shows how much Ebbisham Lane takes out of you.
The downhill section at Downs Way was incredibly fast — I hit 4:54 mins/ mile at one point — and I find it better to go with the flow and try not to brake, just let your legs cycle round and take you there. You’ll likely risk an injury if you try to slow down, so my best advice is to decide if you’re going to go for it or not, and if you are, then commit 100%.
Over the long slog up the back of the racecourse I managed a pace of around 7:20 mins/ mile on both laps, but again I knew that I’d need to slow here so it was fine.
That last mile on Lap 2 has a decent downhill section to pick up some speed and with a sprint finish my final split was 6:30 mins/ mile, which was about everything I had.
In the 2023 event, I managed to beat my previous year’s time by 1 minute, placing 32nd out of 517 runners.
Reflections
Running the Tadworth 10 is an incredible annual event at an iconic venue. It’s something local runners all talk about for the rest of the year, sharing our trials and tribulations and lamenting the fact we were naïve enough to sign up (again!) when the weather was bright and sunny during the summer, when on race day, it’s inevitably cold, windy and wet.
But do it every year we do, because this is an excellent race to have in your diary. The organisation is always top notch and the support (both during the race and on social media) is phenomenal, especially considering those aforementioned weather conditions.
There’s probably not much I’ll do differently when running the Tadworth 10 next year, other than hopefully have a stronger base fitness with some more hill-specific training in there too. Running my first Tadworth 10 I’d run the Athens Authentic Marathon a couple of months earlier, and training for the 7-mile long hill in that race certainly carried over to the Tadworth 10. Having ran the pancake flat Berlin Marathon and Chicago Marathon in the autumn prior to my second go at the Tadworth 10 didn’t help massively on the hills, but I think they certainly gave me better base fitness.
So will I be doing the Tadworth 10 next year?
Oh yes.
And will I complain about it beforehand?
Absolutely.
But will it be worth it afterwards?
Without a doubt!
If you’ve liked this race report, you can check out my other reports on Running the New York Marathon, Running the Berlin Marathon and Running the Athens Authentic Marathon.
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