I’ve dusted off my previous page at https://www.julianwhite.uk/ldwa-100/ all about the LDWA 100 to bring it up to date for 2026.
This interview is with Anne, the 100s Coordinator, and she completed the marshals’ event in early May with her husband Vaughan. Here they are in the photo on Pooh Sticks Bridge which is on the route of the 100. There’s some great advice here!
Q. Could you briefly introduce yourself, your role as the national 100 organiser and how many LDWA 100s have you entered?
A. Hello. I’m Anne Wade. LDWA 100s Coordinator on the NEC. This means that I support and help future 100 organising committees to organise our annual flagship 100-mile events. Since these take place all over the country, the role involves a lot of travelling, a lot of sharing of documents and information, and responding to lots of requests for advice and to carry out specific tasks. I have now completed 22 100s and they have all been very different in terms of location, ascent, terrain and weather. What remains steadfast is the warm, friendly welcome at checkpoints and the delicious food.
Q. From your perspective, what are the biggest challenges for a local group in putting on an event of this size?
A. Finding a suitable HQ with adequate spaces, parking, catering facilities and changing rooms. Finding able and enthusiastic volunteers for the various committee roles and the long lead-in time.
Q. What do you think makes a really good LDWA 100, both for entrants and for the volunteers who make it happen?
A. As an entrant, the 2 most important things are the route and the food:
Route – well-thought-out and designed to be scenic and to visit places of interest. Not too many steep hills or stiles, especially in the last quarter. Nice clear footpaths and tracks.
Food – range of plentiful and good quality food. Sweet and savoury at every checkpoint. Variety of hot meals.
As a volunteer, it’s so rewarding to see entrants achieve their goals. Smiling, jolly and grateful entrants make volunteering worthwhile. There are so many roles to be filled in organising a 100-mile event and over both weekends, there is certainly a job for you! Why not be an entrant on one weekend and be a volunteer on the other? Best of both worlds!
Q. You completed the marshals’ event with Vaughan. How did you find the route, and did anything particularly stand out from walking it together?
A. Yes. We always walk together. Now that the trees and bushes are in leaf, the route was even more beautiful than on our recce in March. There were plenty of bluebells, wild garlic and birdsong to keep our senses busy. Walking the route together gives us another shared experience for our memories and reminiscences.
Q. What do you think entrants should most look forward to on this year’s route?
A. Views and variety. The views from the tops of the hills and variety (fields, forest, heath and down). The warm encouraging welcome and amazing food at checkpoints.
Q. Was there a particular stretch that felt mentally tougher than expected, even if it was not necessarily the hardest on paper?
A. When it rained and was foggy during the night. Makes route-finding more tricky and being outside less pleasurable. The descent from the Downs to Kemsing (CP12) immediately followed by the ascent back up to the Downs felt particularly challenging.
Q. How do you get through moments where things feel tough, tiredness creeps in and you start to question your sanity on why you entered?
A. You don’t question it, you just keep going. Surely you know that LDWA walkers are powered by tea and fuelled by cake!
Q. Food becomes rather important on a 100 and is the highlight of the event for many. Are there any particular checkpoint foods or walking snacks that you find especially helpful on a long event?
A. Vaughan eats constantly throughout the event. He takes stashes of food from every checkpoint, munches his way along and is starving again by the time we get to the next one. I tend to eat lots at the checkpoints and that lasts until the next one. Initially, I like sweet foods and coca cola. Then I prefer savoury foods and anything dairy-based. I like to drink milk or weak tea. I especially like the hot meals.
Q. What advice would you give to someone taking on their first LDWA 100 this year?
A. Footcare is going to be the most important factor in completing the event with some degree of comfort. The Weald clay has dried into lumps, which are not kind to 100-mile feet. Top tip – stick sanitary towels to the insoles of your shoes – the extra padding works wonders!
Do not go out too fast. Save some energy for the relentless steep hills in the last quarter.
Eat plenty right from the first checkpoint. You will burn around 10,000 calories and you cannot run on empty.
Q. Finally, when you look at the amount of work that goes into each 100, what do you hope entrants remember about the people behind the event whether it be the organisers or the marshals at the checkpoints?
A. Smiling and encouraging from the start all the way through to the finish, even though they will be just as tired and will have had very little sleep.
Walking and eating are the easy parts. While rewarding, marshalling at HQ and the CPs is really difficult at times and there are always crises to deal with, of which entrants will be blissfully unaware. Then there are the unseen heroes, like the control team, media team, transport team, baggage team, sweepers, as well as the caterers and cleaners.