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 Jane Bates who has completed four LDWA hundreds and is volunteering at this year’s event. There are lots of really useful tips here for those who are coming to the event for the first time and aren’t entirely sure what to expect.
Q. Could you briefly introduce yourself and say how you first became involved with the LDWA and long-distance walking?
A. In my working life I was a chartered accountant feeling a bit bored (well I was an accountant🤣) and about 20 years ago saw a programme on the Moonwalk and thought I can’t run a marathon but perhaps walking one is possible. So I trained for that, reignited my enthusiasm for walking and then joined my local LDWA group Sussex for the social walks. Then a few years later I started doing challenge events and then back in 2012 I did my first 50. Then in horror realised I was qualified for a 100; but was I really up for that big of a challenge ??
Q. You’ve completed four 100s, with two on marshal events and two on main events. Looking back, what do you remember most strongly from those finishes?
A. Of the actual finishing it has always been a bit of an anticlimax but then the next day the reality of the success of finishing hits me and I am so chuffed with myself.
Of the walks itself I enjoy the actual walk for the first 50, after that I could be walking anywhere, it is just checkpoint to checkpoint. I have done some of them on my own but always end up walking with other lovely LDWA entrants and the chatting really helps. Every finish was after dawn on the Monday and I just had to accept I would be walking through 2 nights, but that does mean walking through 2 dawns which with hindsight is my favourite time on long challenge walks.
Q. You mentioned that you have also had four 100s where you didn’t complete. What have those experiences taught you about the event, the distance and yourself?
A. My first attempt and my first non completion was the Welsh Valleys. A very respectable one to fail on (but walking 70+ miles in constant rain is definitely not failure) but others did finish so I was just not tough enough. A lot more training the next year led to success on Red Rose. Then I got complacent and again ‘failed’ at 70 miles on Dorset 100 – that followed the rule of should never underestimate the challenge.
Next non completion was the Covid era self created one – that really showed me the importance of support at proper checkpoints. My final non completion was Speyside – just not in the right headspace – again shows that the 100 is not just a physical challenge but is even more of a personal mental challenge – you have to want to finish.
What did these teach me?
Completing one does not mean that you will complete all others, never underrate the challenge both physically and mentally.
Training does matter, the EBB was successfully completed on the back of walking 600 miles of the Camino Norte, repeated by walking 15 miles a day for a month prior to Flower of Suffolk.
Food is key to me. Not eating enough early causes me to run out of energy at 70 miles.
Bigger trainers, and even bigger trainers in breakfast bag, I am not one of those people who can walk on massive blisters. I have finished with no blisters.
Q. As someone who describes herself as one of the slower walkers, what do you think people misunderstand about taking on a 100 at that end of the field?
A. You have to accept that second night of walking. The faster walkers do not understand that at all. At the back the objective is doing what you have to do to finish in under 48 hours and nothing to do with a fastest time. The luxury is taking your time at checkpoints, perhaps having a cheeky little power nap. Checkpoint close times can be tight on earlier checkpoints (a close time that allows 2 mph from then to end can be too tight especially with early hills).
The worst is the lack of food, or the lack of choice. I have had a few occasions when there has been practically nothing left. This can be the difference between success and failure. I have never understood why quantities supplied to checkpoints are so small – I would always prefer to pay another £10 and not have this problem. There are reviews of groaning tables of food from faster walkers; when I get there there is a Twiglet and if I am lucky stories from the marshals of emergency food deliveries that have just arrived
Q. Is there a particular moment during a 100 when things usually become hardest for you, and what has helped you keep going when it has worked out?
A. Oddly the early hours of the first night can be very difficult. So tired but so far to go. What works for me is accepting that a short power nap might help. But once dawn arrives I do feel much better. In general it is ‘ can I have a go at the next stage to next checkpoint’ and not thinking any further.
Q. You’ve experienced both marshal events and main events as a walker. How different do they feel, and do you enjoy them in different ways?
A. Main events have a great buzz to them but do feel a bit impersonal, also more risk of no food. Marshal events can mean walking on your own, but that does not worry me – the route finding keeps me awake. But friendlier checkpoints as marshals have more time for you.
Q. Food can become strangely important on a 100-mile event. What have you learned about what keeps you going and what do you look forwards to?
A. I have learnt that the usual small snacks at CP1 do not work for me. My body says lunchtime. I have learnt to take my own food for this one, a Higgidy pie works well. Then I need to eat as much as I can for as long as possible. That means making myself eat between checkpoints as well as checkpoints. A full cooked breakfast I can’t cope with, but porridge and egg on toast can work.
Then it is just odd what you want to eat, sometimes savoury, sometimes sweet, sometimes bland, sometimes a real desire for something with taste. Often very easy food like yoghurt or rice pudding and tinned fruit just hits the spot. I avoid lots of bread and bought in ultra processed ‘muck’ such as my dreaded Tesco mini flapjacks and brownies, and never drink squash, just water and tea. That helps avoid ‘tummy’ problems.
But what I really look forward to is anything homemade, to me that is real LDWA challenge event catering.
Q. You’ve also helped as a marshal on events including the Flower of Suffolk, this year’s marshal event and the main event. What do you enjoy about being on the support side of things?
A. Giving that bit of TLC that allows entrants to carry on. And of course still being part of the great institution that is the ‘100’ without the effort of being an entrant. 🤣 And its always a learning experience that I can take back to improve our own group’s challenge events.
Q. From a marshal’s point of view, what makes the biggest difference to walkers when they arrive tired, hungry or having a difficult patch?
A. Someone sitting them down, bringing tea and food to them. Perhaps sitting and chatting with them, so they take the time to recover. Many can’t eat anything when they arrive and they just need time to start eating again, often a yoghurt or something else very simple. It’s great to see them recover and go off to the next checkpoint.
Q. What advice would you give to someone entering their first 100, especially if they are nervous about being slow, struggling or not knowing quite what to expect?
A. Train but don’t overtrain. You have done a 50. You don’t need to overtire your body with lots of 30s and 50s just before the event, just walk lots and regularly. Really cut back in the last few weeks – a runners taper. The first 50 is in your legs the last 50 is in your mind. Don’t think of how far you have to go, just concentrate on getting to the next checkpoint. This first 100 aim is to complete not to go fast. Keep the tank full, take the time to eat early on. Later on you will not be able to eat much. Drink more than on shorter challenge events; many people can do 30 miles on little food and water but they are not in good shape to do another 70.
Don’t let the early adrenaline get to you. Keep a sensible pace and don’t rush. Going fast ruins your feet. If it’s hot just drop the pace, it will cool off later on and you can speed up then. Take care of your feet. Don’t wait for a checkpoint to sort out a hotspot. Change socks at 25, change to bigger shoes at breakfast, change socks again at 75ish.
Have confidence that you know what works for you; all those other challenge events have refined your night navigation, route finding, clothing choices etc. Don’t worry about reccy of whole route, the route description and GPX file will be very good, if you have limited time reccy the night sections.