The UK's toughest sporting challenges
Man V Horse, Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys, Wales
Man V Horse began, as all great events should, following a debate in the pub (the Neuadd Arms in Llanwrtyd Wells) over the merits of humans and horses over mountainous terrain. Beers duly sunk, the first Man V Horse race was in 1980, and it’s now become an established annual event where runners pit their endurance capabilities against horses over a 22-mile course in Llanwrtyd Wells, in the hills of mid-Wales.
The course has a six-hour time cut-off and starts outside the Neuadd Arms. The route takes in the trails, roads and hills of the South Cambrian Mountains in mid-Wales.
The runners may have a 15-minute head start over the horses (and riders), but the equine contestants have long dominated this hoof-friendly podium. It took 25 years for a horse to relinquish the top spot. In 2004 Huw Lobb took home £25,000 as the first human victor; the escalating jackpot increases by £500 for every year that a horse wins.
Equine entrants have only lost four times in the event’s 45-year history. But, with human victories in 2022 and 2023, could the momentum now be shifting to those on two legs?
Slateman Ultra, Llanberis, Wales
A 2.4-mile open-water swim before 112 miles on the bike and a 26.2-mile marathon run. Or the equivalent of swimming from London Bridge to Big Ben, cycling to Bristol and then running to Glastonbury.
In less than 17 hours. There’s a reason an Ironman triathlon is seen as the ultimate endurance sport.
Not content with 140.6 miles of pushing competitors’ minds and bodies to the limits, race organisers also offer ‘extreme’ Irons, of which the Slateman Ultra in Eryri is arguably the UK’s toughest.
The action begins with a 2.4-mile swim in Llanberis’ chilly Llyn Padarn before the 112-mile bike leg takes on Pen-y-Pass twice. But the 49.9km run course is the real test, taking on the climbs within the Dinorwic slate quarry UNESCO World Heritage Site before venturing up to the summit of Yr Wyddfa and its limb-shaking descent back to Llanberis.
Cape Wrath Trail, Scotland
Cape Wrath is closer to the Arctic Circle than it is to London – no wonder, then, that it’s one of Great Britain’s wildest walks in a land of ferocious drama and quiet beauty.
Beginning in Fort William in the Scottish Highlands and ending at the British mainland’s highest sea cliffs at Cape Wrath, the unmarked Cape Wrath Trail takes around two to three weeks to complete and boasts an elevation gain of 13,249m (58m per mile) over its 230-mile route.
A lack of services means walkers need to carry food between resupply points as well as camping gear, if the free bothies along the route are full. Sections of the way are pathless, so strong navigation skills are essential, while boot-engulfing bogs and river crossings make the notion of dry feet but a distant dream.
In many ways, however, the hardships of the trail are a reflection of its splendour, and it is perhaps the most isolated sections that burn the brightest in the hiker’s soul.
DW International Canoe Race, Wiltshire to London
Imagine paddling non-stop for 125 miles down the River Thames… well, that’s exactly what determined paddlers have been doing every Easter weekend since 1948.
The Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Race (DW) is the world’s longest non-stop canoe competition; paddlers begin their journey in Devizes, Wiltshire, then navigate 77 locks into the heart of London. There are a few different ways you can complete the race. The Senior Doubles class tackles the event non-stop, which involves paddling through the night in a time-trial-style race. It’s endurance racing in its prime and the current record for completing the DW this way stands at 15 hours.
In the UK’s whitewater calendar, meanwhile, the annual Moriston Enduro is no doubt the hardest race. The one-day event rallies the toughest kayakers to test their skill and fitness against a 500-metre section of whitewater on the River Moriston in the Scottish Highlands. Whoever completes the most laps of the river in three hours is declared the winner.
Lake District Triple Crown, Cumbria
Coniston. Ullswater. Windermere. Home of gentle boat rides and family days out, of course, but these vast lakes also host plenty of open-water swimming events. And the Chillswim Triple Crown is the mother of all Lakeland swim challenges, awarded to entrants who complete an end-to-end swim of all three lakes in the same year.
The distances (5.25 miles in Coniston; 7.5 miles in Ullswater; 11 miles in Windermere) are enough to make many swimmers’ toes curl, but what makes them so testing is the unpredictable nature of the weather and water conditions in each lake. Although it’s the middle distance of the three, swimmers often report that the 7.5 miles in Ullswater is the toughest due to its crosswinds and bracing waters (around 14°C in July).
Fred Whitton Challenge, Cumbria
A tussle with topography! A wrestle with the weather! The infamous 113-mile Lake District cycling sportive that is the Fred Whitton Challenge has been tormenting cyclists since 1999 with its 3,170m of climbing over the major Lakeland passes – hello Kirkstone, Honister and Hardknott – and is not for the inexperienced cyclist.
Climb-heavy throughout, the tension cranks up towards the finale with the calf-shredding trilogy of ascents at the 98-mile marker, starting with the almost comedically steep 30% gradient of Hardknott Pass. The Tarmac terror continues with the 393m-high Wrynose, before Blea Tarn adds a final sucker punch, which is similarly steep and savage on both the approach and exit.
But the course does offer the greatest scenic hits of the Lake District; there are worse places for a post-event gingerbread and nap than Grasmere.
Parkrun Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
From the humble beginnings of 13 runners and three volunteers at London’s Bushy Park in 2004, parkrun has become a global phenomenon. The 5km timed and free events (they’re not known as races) are held in parks, woodlands, hills, beaches and open spaces across the globe on Saturday mornings for adults (5km) and Sunday mornings for juniors (2km).
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Not all parkruns are equal, however. They can vary widely in difficulty and many offer a challenge to even experienced runners. While Whinlatter in the Lake District is the hilliest parkrun in the UK (with 200m
of elevation gain), the Great Yarmouth North Beach Parkrun in Norfolk is considered to be the toughest course due to its energy-sapping sandy terrain. Runners come from far and wide to face the nation’s slowest parkrun, which has an average finish time of 38:35.
Mourne Mountain Marathon, Northern Ireland
A hiking event with some orienteering thrown into the mix, the Mourne Mountain Marathon in Northern Ireland will celebrate its 46th edition in 2025.
A host of categories are on offer, with the second-toughest ‘B Class’ option tasking experienced hikers, orienteerers or trail runners with a 45km route over two days. On paper, not so hardcore perhaps. In reality, the organisers make things devilish by only providing the two-person teams with a route card on the morning of each day, only identified by six-figure map references.
Pairs must also be self-sufficient, camp overnight and carry all of their kit with them. There’s also the matter of the remote and impenetrable Mourne Mountains, the granite range of peaks that looms over County Down and includes Northern Ireland’s highest mountain, Slieve Donard (850m).
Montane Summer Spine Race, Northern England
The Pennine Way from the Peak District to the Scottish border is Britain’s classic National Trail; 268 miles of remote uplands and some of England’s natural wonders. Expect to take 15–20 days to walk it. For the time poor and athletically gifted, however, there is another way.
The non-stop Montane Summer Spine Race has a reputation alongside the Dragon’s Back Race in Wales as Britain’s toughest ultra-running event. It demands runners finish the trail in just 6.5 days. The route starts in Edale in the Peak District, before runners traverse the national parks of the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland to reach Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders. Some 10,732m of ascent needs to be sprinted, shuffled or crawled, and it’s all unsupported.
Endurancelife Exmoor, Somerset
Endurancelife has been offering hugely testing coastal trail runs around the UK for years, but this marathon-length brute has long been touted as its toughest British challenge. As Raynor Winn's book (and consequent film adaptation) The Salt Path highlights, Exmoor is an underrated and hilly terrain: a land of towering sea cliffs, rugged moors and wooded combes, all of which feature on this 26.7-mile beast of a race.
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Starting near Martinhoe in the quieter western area of one of England’s least visited and smallest national parks, the route includes stretches of the South West Coast Path – at its most vertiginous in Countisbury and the Valley of Rocks – as well as deep inland valleys. And all on an unforgiving underfoot terrain of rocks, grass and forest trails.
The mighty elevation gain of 1,850m ensures a long day out at both ends of the field; the winners take around four hours and the final athletes will be closer to the eight-hour mark. Don’t forget to pack your blister patches.
Discover more sporting challenges
- Sleep deprivation, extreme weather and more ascent than Everest – this ultramarathon is 'Britain's most brutal race'
- These are the toughest open-water swimming races in the UK – would you take on the challenge?
- Inside Britain’s most remote ultramarathon – the race accessible only by boat or foot
- What’s a good marathon time? Here's what you should be aiming for at your next road or trail marathon
