Pilgrim Challenge 2025 now open for booking!

All 2024 events open for booking!

No. of days 3 days

Distance 97 mi

Ascent gain 3815 m

Accom. yes

Food yes

A three-day, 97-mile ultra marathon along the South Downs Way, passing the legendary Devil's Dyke valley.

Take in some of England's most breathtaking countryside between Winchester, our original capital city, and the distinctive white chalk cliffs at Eastbourne. Encompassing visible prehistory, picturesque villages and stunning wildlife, the South Downs Way is the perfect challenge for those training for events like the Marathon des Sables, long single-stage events like the SDW100, or who simply want to experience some of the best views in the country.

Latest results

We are delighted to support SheRACES and commit to providing a great experience for female participants. Find out more

Included

  • Overnight accommodation
  • Free parking
  • A fully recced and marked route
  • Full medical cover throughout
  • Toilets, showers and changing facilities
  • Breakfast and evening meals
  • Checkpoint food and water at regular intervals
  • Inspiring guest speakers in the evening
  • A quality finishers tshirt and medal
  • Prizes and trophies for overall and category winners
  • Action photos en-route, free to download
  • A great atmosphere and a fun but challenging day out
The winners, runners up and age group winners will receive fantastic prizes or vouchers from our sponsors.

Multi-day event prizes for 1st male and 1st female winners, plus male and female age group prizes & FREE entry to the same event next year!

Route

The South Downs Way National Trail has excellent markings in the form of signposts or post discs to keep you on track.

It's worth bearing in mind that there will be road crossings to negotiate. We also recommend taking the time to explore the route beforehand and carrying a map with you on race day.

Schedule

Day 1

Pricing

Early bird

£160

until 30th September 2021

Standard entry

£190

from 1st October 2021

Late entry

£205

from 1st March 2022

Single day: £65

Accommodation and food: £30 per night

Full event without food and accommodation: £160

There's a 10% discount available for all serving military or emergency services staff. To book with your discount, please email us: info@xnrg.co.uk.

Please note: a 2.5% service charge, levied by the registration software, will be added to your total. We are using a new entry system that takes payment through the secure system Stripe. No payment information is retained by Extreme Energy or our entry system tool. If you need to cancel your entry or transfer to another event, you can do that by logging back into the booking system, Racespace.

If for some reason you are not able to make the event you have entered. The XNRG refund policy is that we will give you 70% refund of your entry fee up to 1 month before the start date of the event. You also have the option (1 month before the date of the event) to get a 100% transfer credit to another one of our multiday events. Both of these options you can execute on your Racespace entry page.

After this time we are sorry there will be no refunds or transfers to future events. Refunds will be to your booking credit card.

Race-day Preparation

Kit List

The only compulsory kit is a mobile phone with full battery and switched on to ring, not silent, and
a water bottle/hydration pack with a minimum of 500ml of water, but it's worth taking a look at our recommended kit list.

Other equipment may be made compulsory by the race director depending on the weather.

Medical

The event is supported by a Course Manager and a fully qualified medical crew will be in attendance. We strongly recommend taking a moment to read our medical page before booking.

FAQ

We've answered a range of common questions in our FAQ. For other questions, say hello on info@xnrg.co.uk.

Registration

Please register and pick up your timing chip from:

Full event/day 1 only entrants

Accommodation

You'll stay at Midhurst Rother College, North Street, Midhurst, GU29 9DT on the first night and Patcham High School, Ladies Mile Road, Brighton, BN1 8PB on the second night, with sleeping accommodation in a large hall.

Don't fancy sharing accommodation during the event? We'll be running minibus shuttles to and from three local hotels during the event. Click the button below for more details.

Accommodation options

More Information

Amazing evening speakers

Hear from the brightest and the best from the world of ultra running with our programme of evening speakers (TBC - keep your eyes peeled as we announce them).

Entries

You can enter the whole weekend event including food and accommodation, the whole event without food or accommodation, or individual days.

There are 150 places available and entries will close one week before the event (or when full). A waitlist option will be available if the event becomes fully booked.

Starts / Finishes

Day 1 - Friday

The start times are: walkers 09:30, runners 10:00 and 10:30, with registration open from 08:00 at Chilcomb Sports Ground, Petersfield Rd, Winchester SO21 1HU.

Day 1 finish: Elsted Village Hall GU29 0JY, followed by a minibus shuttle to Midhurst Rother College, North Street, Midhurst, GU29 9DT (our overnight location).

Day 2 - Saturday

Day 2 start: Minibus shuttles to the start at Hilltop Car Park, south of Cocking GU29 0HT.

Day 2 finish: Clayton Village Hall, BN6 9PJ, followed by a minibus shuttle to Patcham High School, Ladies Mile Road, Brighton, BN1 8PB (our overnight location).

Day 3 - Sunday

Day 3 start: Minibus shuttles to the start at Ditchling Beacon BN6 8XD.

Day 3 finish: St Andrew's Prep School, Meads Street, Eastbourne BN20 7RP.

Route

The South Downs Way National Trail has excellent markings in the form of signposts or post discs to keep you on track. The route goes through England's latest National Park, including some of the most spectacular scenery and quintessential villages the South has to offer.

It's worth bearing in mind that there will be road crossings to negotiate. We also recommend taking the time to explore the route beforehand and carrying a map with you on race day. For more information see the full event instructions (click on the 'Download Race Details' button above).

Some of our favourite South Downs Way publications:

Overnight accommodation

As with all of our events, everything is taken care of at the Devil’s Challenge so you can focus on the experience! Overnight accommodation, evening meals, showers, breakfast, food and drink at checkpoints, free parking, and even inspiring guest speakers in the evenings are all included for three day participants, and are also available at a supplement for one day participants.

You'll stay at Midhurst Rother College, North Street, Midhurst, GU29 9DT on the first night and Patcham High School, Ladies Mile Road, Brighton, BN1 8PB on the second night, with sleeping accommodation in a large hall.

Everything is looked after - all you need to do is run (or jog or walk!)

Aid stations

There will be four aid stations each day, between 6-10 mile distances, fully stocked with water, and sweet and savoury food to keep you fuelled.

Due to the risk of cross contamination, we cannot provide checkpoint food to suit all dietary requirements. If you require special food or snacks to suit any allergies or vegetarian/vegan diets, can you please bring your own. Put them in containers, marked with your name and checkpoint number and give them to the checkpoint teams at the start of the race.

We're going green

Help us do our bit to reduce the impact our events have on the environment by bringing your own reusable or collapsible cups for drinks at checkpoints and on the overnights. Some suggestions we love: the Salomon soft cup and the X cup.

Trees Not Tees

As part of your entry fee you will get an event T-shirt, or you can choose not to have the T-shirt and the money we would pay for the T-shirt will go to Trees not Tees and a tree will be planted instead.

For more details visit their website - https://treesnottees.com/

Reviews

Thanks very much for yet another great event. As always the whole team were helpful, encouraging and full of positivity.
The ice was amazing and so welcome, as was the paddling pool.
I love the personal touch you bring to the events and although I enjoy other ultras it’s the XNRG ones I keep returning to. The fact that you support everyone including people like me who are never going to win anything means a lot.
Looking forward to Druid’s

Just wanted to say a massive thank you for all your hard work and making the devils challenge possible - I was so excited when you started this event and it was such an amAzing adventure- all the little touches make all the difference - checkpoints were amazing and you adjusted for weather amazingly - having water dipped caps, ice and that fantastic paddling pool made all the difference In the heat.
Thank you so much - I’m my opinion XNRG have got it all just right.
Hope to see you again soon.

First and foremost from no. 107 thank you for an amazing weekend your support and expertise were way beyond anything I have experienced before.
I finished the third day intact and confident and apart from the soles of my feet I’m all good the day after.
And in the meantime thank you again for making the SDW such an amazing event.

We can't wait to see you there! Questions? Say hello on info@xnrg.co.uk

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