The sixteenth edition of the Autumn 100 kicked off into a bright clear day with close to optimal running temperatures and good underfoot conditions. A chance for a really fast race, PB's and for those chasing cut offs to potentially have their best chance to make it home within the 28 hour cut off. In the end, 178 runners crossed the line from a field of 247 starters, a finish rate of 72% which is extremely good for any 100 mile race, higher than average for the A100 and speaks once again to how well suited this one is as a debut 100.
We had several past champions of our races in the womens field. Anna Brown, Jennie Dunkley, Sam Hudson Dos Santos Figueira had all won the Thames Path in years gone by, a route which obviously shares 50 miles of this A100 route.
Sam unsuprisingly led from the start. She is by far the most accomplished athlete in either the mens or womens field when it comes to flat running and the 100 mile distance. The leading margin increased throughout leg one.
Sam Hudson Dos Santos Figueira
Jennie Dunkley started very conservatively, she was a full 16 minutes back of Sam at CP2/ 12 miles in and well over half an hour back of the lead at mile 25 and the first return to Goring. Over Leg 2 she began to reel runners in, Sam was 21 minutes ahead of Jennie and by the end of Leg three, the gap was down to 6 minutes. The pass was made and Jennie didn't look back as she came home for the win in a huge PB of 16:45.
Jennie Dunkley
After finishing Spartathlon only a month prior, Anna Brown had a sensational run here too, picking up second in 17:55. Third place went to Kirsty Matthews in 18:43. Sam crossed the line in third but was missing an item of mandatory kit so received a one hour time penalty. Always a tough thing to here at the end of the race.
Anna Brown
In the mens race, the pace was hot from the start, with close, exciting racing right down to the final mile. James Bennett initially led things out as is his usual style, before David Gaskell gravitated to the front coming in off of Leg One, the first out and back on the Thames Path to Little Wittenham and back to Goring. The flattest section of the course. Matt Duckett joined David in the aid station there and took less time to move on, but David held the lead out on Leg two. The danger man who paced it incredibly sensibly given his resume, Kim Collison, sitting just back of the front group and past Winter Downs 100 champion Harry Pickering.
Kim Collison
Out onto Leg 3, Kim and Matt ran strong and gravitated into the lead, running really close together. The beauty of this race from a tactical perspective is of course the out and back nature allowing runners to mark each other and of course, look each other in the face at least four times! Back at Goring mile 75, Matt took slightly longer to leave than Kim. Kim's aid station efficiency was a key aspect in his eventual victory here. The running pace between the two over leg four was extremely similar, but Kim didn't stop at at any point and it just allowed him to hold that bit of a margin. He crossed the line for his first win with us in a time of 14:17, just under 9 minutes ahead of Matt in what was the previous Piece of String Fun Run Champion's finest performance to date. Harry Pickering came home for third in 14:48. Fantastic to see three guys going under 15 hours at this event.
Mens Podium: Matt, Kim and Harry (L to R)
First FV40 was race winner Jennie Dunkley. First FV50 a fantastic run from Tamsin Neale who came home in 20:54. First FV60 went to Barbro Julin in 27:08. Always a brilliant outcome to have FV60 runners crossing the line at our 100s.
First MV40 was race winner Kim Collison. First MV50 went to Victor Vinyals in 16:29. First MV60 to Bruce Mclaren in 19:44 - that is a huge new age category record, replacing Ken Fancett's 20:48. Our only MV70 starter Iain Walker sadly dropped out during the race.
James Bennett won the Grand Slam 100 Mens as well as collecting his 500 mile Autumn 100 buckle at the race
This race marked the conclusion of the 2026 100 Mile Grand Slam.
James Bennett capped off an astonishing year, he has raced so many other long events in between our four whilst still averaging a finish time of 18:47 across the TP100, SDW100, NDW100 and A100 for a final cumulative time of 75:09 for the mens win.
Leading lady Flic Archer had a similarly remarkable year, closing out this final race in fifth for the overall womens Slam win in a time of 90:18.
There were 14 Grand Slam finishers and the final results are here.
As always a huge thank you to all of our volunteers, staff and sponsors. This is such a special event.
