And congratulations to John Babajide who completed the LDWA 100 in around 47 hours, which is some going.
Sarah Heal noted:
“At the finish I told John we had been watching him for a while as he looked a bit lost in the wood .. turned out he lost his hat and spent an hour looking for it .. he then went into the local cricket club and asked if he could buy a hat and a man gave him his and said “no charge you need it more than me today” – a lovely 100 story”
The kindness of strangers and imagine the stress of having to spend an hour looking for something in this heat and knowing how far left there was on the route. So brave.
This was Peter Jull (on left) announcing that the 2026 Hunnypot LDWA 100 event had come to an end. For organisers, this is a hugely emotional moment after hundreds of hours of work. The application to hold a 100 in Kent was received by the NEC in 2019, originally planned for 2024. Norfolk & Suffolk group’s application pushed Kent back a year and then Covid did the same, hence why we’re here in 2026.
There’s a huge amount for an organiser to do and Peter has worked tirelessly. Hopefully he’ll get some well earned rest as I’m not sure that he got much during the event itself, the years of planning have ensured a great event for so many people. It’ll go down as likely the hottest 100 that there’s been, which has produced some huge challenges for entrants, but at least it’ll be memorable. Peter and the team should be enormously proud of what they delivered, even if it may take a little while before any of them can hear the words “event planning” without needing a quiet sit down.
There are many heroic people in the LDWA and here’s Richard. Many thanks for his driving me to checkpoints along the route and for also willingly taking part in the one mile history walk at one of the villages, I’m pleased to say that he remained strong and confident at the end of that expedition and no medical assistance was required.
Richard was surprised rather than delighted at the chicken pies at the event, which more suited my advanced palate. He was mostly quite calm about the lack of an English breakfast, it’s that sort of bravery that we saw from the entrants as well during this challenging event. Some people walked 100 miles and Richard faced a morning without sausages. Courage takes many forms.
I was pleased with the pies, working my way through a number of the chicken and steak pies, making it exciting by sometimes having mushy peas and sometimes having gravy. That is a proper balanced diet, covering several of the major food groups that are pastry, meat, peas and optimism.
Many thanks to all the catering staff at the event, and yes, chicken pie for breakfast is acceptable, as I discovered twice during the event in the interests of research. And the fruit salad was also delicious and I’m prepared to admit trying it.
Phoebe Smith is an award-winning travel writer, adventurer, photographer, presenter and broadcaster, with a particular focus on walking, wild camping, sustainable travel, family adventure and wildlife conservation. She’s also the President of the LDWA and here she is completing the 2026 LDWA 100 with Helen Strong, the LDWA General Secretary, on the right.
But, as for so many entrants, there is a story here. Phoebe was battling checkpoint times throughout her walk, meaning that she had to keep up a pace in the blistering heat and at times it looked like it might just be too much. However, Phoebe is steadfast and tough, she didn’t give up and her mental and physical persistence saw her complete the event.
Phoebe is a huge friend to the LDWA and it was a marvellous moment to be able to take these photos of her arriving back into Meopham.
What a way for Simon to celebrate his 60th birthday weekend, walking around in this heat. However, his much younger wife Jane keeps him young and youthful and, if truth be told, I didn’t really ever doubt that he would get round. Simon can be very stubborn, which in normal life can be occasionally inconvenient, but over 100 miles definitely becomes a recognised endurance strategy.
And here he is, at the very reasonable time of just over 34 hours, making Simon the 24th fastest* completion of the event. Given that he’s a walker and not a runner, this was a really quite impressive pace.
Simon and I think that there need to be more pies at checkpoints and he very much deserved this one.
I hope that he enjoys his birthday cake, but completing an event like this shows some considerable style. *-Simon reminds me that he was joint 23rd with Kim…
Simon kindly answered a few questions after the event:
Q. What are your main memories of the Hunnypot 100?
A. The heat! The temperature, mixed with the challenges of the route, especially the later parts, made for a brutal event at times. That said, the marshals at each checkpoint did a brilliant job in trying to keep us all hydrated, fed and motivated.
Q. You completed the event and came in 23rd place, which I mention as that is a very fast pace for a walker. What strategies did you use to get around what appears to have been the hottest ever 100?
A. Set a sensible pace that reflects the conditions, keep hydrated and put one foot in front of the other.
Q. Which part of the walk did you enjoy the most?
A. The last 100 metres! All joking aside, I enjoyed all the route, but given the heat I was more focused on making sure I kept on moving.
Q. Will you be doing it again? Or is it too early to say?
A. Absolutely. It’s an addiction!
Q. Do you have any suggestions for organisers of future LDWA 100s?
A. The value of making sure there are sufficient checkpoints along the route cannot be overstated. Keeping walkers hydrated, fed and motivated is a critical part of the event’s success.
This is checkpoint 13, managed by David Findel-Hawkins, located at Hodsoll Street & Ridley Village Hall at it was at about 96 miles into the route.
This is one of those checkpoints where there is beer available. This is a rather lovely way for entrants to perhaps momentarily forget the absurd distance that they were walking.
Some of the little snacks available although entrants at this checkpoint know that the end isn’t far away and so not many linger for too long here.
Richard cheered up after eating several Jaffa cakes. Here he is gossiping with Elizabeth after his chocolate boost, looking very much like a man restored to polite society.
And here’s Lisa coming in, the first entrant to arrive at the checkpoint. It was clear here that she had a chance of finishing the event in under 24 hours, the only entrant at this checkpoint that was in a position to do that.
We think that this is the hottest 100 on record and that is evident in the number of retirements, 243 entrants have now retired which is over half of all the entrants. This is also the highest percentage of retirees at an LDWA 100 event, showing just how extreme heat is making this such a tough walk. Huge credit to all those who have walked as far as they did and to those who are still out in the countryside making their way around.
Neil, one of those entrants who has been inspired by me (but I don’t go on about it other than in conversation, writing and most available public forums) didn’t make it this time round as the heat was just too much. But he was very brave and in typical Neil style, he was full of positivity and remained upbeat.
