Hugh Tibbs

What a fantastic experience running @londonmarathon again. A privilege to be part of a historic race in which two went under the 2 hour barrier. To see that on a course as slow as London, and in BRUTALLY hot conditions, makes it all the more impressive... I was quite pleased overall with my race, although I didn't hit my goal of 2:25. The first 5k was roughly on pace, but I struggled to find a group hitting the target splits and despite steadily overtaking runners, I found myself going through halfway about a minute down on target pace. From there I decided a negative split wasn't realistic with how I was feeling, so I just tried to manage my effort and make sure I didn't blow up. The end result was 2:27 and my best at London by 4 minutes. The support from the crowd was incredible and really carries you through the rough patches which you always get in a marathon. Thanks for all the cheers and shouts for Cambridge Harriers, even if I couldn't always see where they were coming from! In other news, the UTMB scoring gods have treated me well with the updated scoring methodology (applied retrospectively), with my index jumping from 812 > 885. It seems a lot of the more runnable events have jumped significantly. Whilst I did believe these events were often scored harshly, I perhaps wasn't expecting a score of 914 for last year's Race to the Stones....although it was (actually) hot out there! Next up @centurionrunning SDW100 in June, in less than 7 weeks time, looking forward to getting stuck into training for that. 📸 @benjy_johnson - thanks for getting a photo where I don't look like a zombie!

The carb load is well underway in anticipation of my 8th consecutive @londonmarathon tomorrow (the virtual one doesn't count). London Marathon is now my local event and despite many attempts I've never actually executed a good race here. I take solace in the fact that London is one of the hardest marathon courses on the planet and every year is brutally hot out there... Recovery from the ACP 100k seemed to take longer than the trail ultras I've run previously, it took 3-4 weeks before the body started feeling completely normal again. A consequence of this was missing the SDW50 which was disappointing, especially as it transpired to be fast racing up front, but was definitely the sensible decision to make. Without any marathon type workouts recently it's hard to know what shape I'm in, but a 5k PB of 15:10 last weekend suggests the fitness is there. The plan is to go through halfway in 1:12:30 and sneak a PB around 2:25ish. It's my first time running for @cambridgeharriersofficial and looking forward to my first Championship start, although I am concerned about the extra weight of wearing two bibs. Good luck to everyone who is running!

Anglo Celtic Plate 100k - 6:42:29 | 4th overall and team🥇 I had a fantastic experience representing @englandathletics for the first time last weekend in the ACP 100k in Limerick. It was great to be part of a winning England men's team and witness a comprehensive victory by the women's team too! The rough time goal I had in mind going into the event was in the range of 6:35-40. I think this would have been achievable but for a couple of errors in the middle of the race, in relation to pacing and hydration, which hurt me in the final third. I've learnt early on in this format that there's very fine margins and if you push effort level slightly too high, or you fall behind on hydration, you're likely to get punished. Overall, I was happy with my performance and particularly how I managed my decline, considering I was feeling pretty rough at 75k! Some absolute stand-out performances at the front of the men's race with teammate @davebarrattol6 , along with @tom_runs , running some sensational times on a course that didn't seem particularly quick... The highlight was definitely experiencing the team dynamic throughout the weekend, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I was very grateful to have a (dream) team of @archie.dunne @juliadavis101 @sarah.webster.948 @ultrabritton supporting us throughout. They all went out of their way to make the team feel comfortable, crewed amazingly and shared their wealth of knowledge and experience. It's not everyday a world record holder helps you take off your shoes at the end of a race, thanks Sarah! Next up a return to the trails, if recovery goes smoothly that will be in the SDW50 in just over two weeks time!

Every young child dreams of representing their country at the Anglo Celtic Plate 100k... Privileged to join a fantastic England team to take on the other Home Nations at the ACP 100k in Limerick next weekend. Recovery from the Arc 100 has been relatively smooth. I was back to feeling normal and resuming typical training after 2-3 weeks. I strongly believe these longer races give a huge boost to fitness/durability, and these benefits outweigh the costs of a few weeks of disruption to training. I think racing regularly over the last year has definitely accelerated my progression, whether it's a sustainable approach longer-term is another matter! This will be my first road ultra and it's difficult to predict how it will go. Not sure if the body will enjoy 100k of flat running....also not sure the mind will enjoy 50 x 2k loops either....but will try my best for the country!

@arcofattritionbyutmb 100 mile 🥇in 19:10  I’ve been captivated by this race for a couple of years and it's very special to win at the second attempt. The awful conditions underfoot, coupled with extreme weather and huge ocean swells just added to the challenge. Upon entering Penzance, not only were facefuls of sea water messing with my low-sodium nutrition strategy, but the sea was also intruding onto an already rerouted course. Well done to everyone involved with making sure runners got through safely in conditions which seemed pretty extreme (to a city boy).  I ran with @arunnerssi for first 7 hours, steadily moving up in position, until he dropped me on the technical section after Mousehole. It was great to run the entire section from Land’s End to St Ives with @samonthetrails , this part of the course is relentless and so good to work together to keep each other going. I’m bad on the technical sections and despite taking it cautiously, I fell many times - thanks for your patience, Sam!  We arrived into St Ives in around 15:15, probably around 35-40 minutes behind Juuso and Simon. I knew the rest was relatively good running and would play to my strengths, but with the big gap my focus initially was on breaking 20 hours. Upon reaching Lelant I was informed Juuso had dropped and Simon was just over 30 mins ahead.   This gap shrank until I finally got a visual on Simon approaching the final aid station. I knew Simon had seen me as he was getting harder to catch. I caught and passed him on the steep road climb out of Portreath, 7km from the finish. After 15 minutes of pushing hard I finally built a gap which I knew was sufficient for the win.  What an incredible experience racing your good mate at the end of a 100-miler. It’s a shame there was only one winner, but another hand holding fiasco at the finish would have left both our reputations in tatters! I’m confident that Simon will be back to win this event soon, an incredible runner with enormous potential.   Massive thanks to my crew @jonnorthover , who I couldn’t have done it without, and all the volunteers who’s support was amazing as usual. 📸 1 @willhp.studio / 🎥 @elliott.waring

MOINS DE 20 H D’EFFORT POUR VENIR À BOUT DU TEMPÉTUEUX 100 MILES D’ARC OF ATTRITION POUR LE BRITANNIQUE HUGH TIBBS Après 19 h 10 d’effort, Hugh Tibbs s’impose au bout de la nuit et du vent sur le 100 miles de l’Arc of Attrition by UTMB, qui reliait Coverack à Porthtowan. Le Britannique, 3e l’an dernier, a dompté le sentier des falaises et l’implacable côte des Cornouailles. En 2024 et 2025, il avait pris la 2e place du Centurion South Downs Way 100, en Angleterre. Également 3e (ex-aequo) en 2025, Simon Withers s’offre la 2e place, seulement 4 min derrière Hugh Tibbs (19 h 14). Cet été, il avait été aperçu en France, d’abord sur le Grand Raid des Pyrénées (12e), ainsi que le Serre Che Trail 5e du 60 km). La 3e place revient à leur compatriote Samuel Skinner. Il boucle l’épreuve en 20 h 14. En 2024 et 2025, il avait bouclé deux top 10 sur l’ultra-trail Snowdonia by UTMB. 🤳: @aurore_tarenne #trailrunning #ultratrail #trail

It's been a busy few weeks of racing and my Instagram hasn't kept pace!  Last weekend I really enjoyed my first @freedom__racing event - the Hurtwood 50k. After doing lots of longer races it's easy to get complacent and forget 50k is still a very long way, especially if you set off too quickly, as I did trying to stay with eventual winner Anthony who was flying up the hills! I was happy to finish under 4 hours and hang on to 2nd from a charging @alexhamlert . Thanks to the excellent volunteers and @willhp.studio / @nolimits.photos for the photos (I really need a new mid-run pose). Two weeks prior I took on the @torinocitymarathon and managed to get a new PB of 2:26. I was pleasantly surprised with that, especially as I haven't focused much this year on doing intensity in training. As a heavy sweater, I think I massively benefit from colder conditions, it was -2 at the start and meant my inability to drink from the tiny plastic cups wasn't punished! I'm planning on introducing more structured training to improve my speed and ultimately get that marathon time down further in 2026. To help this, after 38 years I've finally joined a running club - @cambh_middledistance . I'm really enjoying it so far and already learnt that trail shoes are not ideal for cross country races... Next up for me it's the @arcofattritionbyutmb 100 miles in just under 6 weeks. I'm looking forward to seeing if I can improve on this year's joint 3rd place.

🎙️ In this episode I speak to @hughsthatrunner , about his recent win at the @centurionrunning Autumn 100. Not only did Hugh win the race, he also broke the previous course record and set a new British 100 mile trail record! As always, we find out Hughs superhero story, and how he got Into running. We find out about his previous successes in trail running and how he prepared to run lightening fast at this years A100. I think we will be seeing more of Hugh as he now takes on the @arcofattritionbyutmb in January next year! HT 🔗 links in my story above ⬆️ #trails #run #podcast #autumn100 #centurionrunning #ultramarathon

Will we see a British man in the top ten at Western States in the near future? Check out the latest episode of Feet First for the full chat with new UK trail 100-mile record holder Hugh Tibbs.

Hugh Tibbs 13:03 finish at Autumn 100 was the fastest ever UK trail 100-mile finish time, by almost 40 minutes. Tune into the latest episode of Feet First to find out more about Hugh's historic run.

What a pleasure to welcome Hugh Tibbs back to the podcast after a frankly outstanding summer of running. We last spoke after Hugh set a new course record at North Downs Way 50. He followed that up with a second place finish at South Downs Way 100, then ran a new course record at Race to the Stones. Anyone would be forgiven for taking it easy after that, but a few weekends ago Hugh ran the fastest ever UK trail 100-miler at Autumn 100, running 13:03:59. Tune into the latest episode of Feet First to find out more about Hugh's astonishing 2025 and his ambitions for the future.

@centurionrunning Autumn 100 🥇 in 13:03 (high) What a special event! I had been looking forward to this event for a while and it didn't disappoint. It's set in a beautiful part of the country and the course is relatively flat and very runnable. Going into it, conditions were looking perfect, so I knew this would be a good opportunity to run a fast 100-mile trail time.  Great to run the first 50 miles with @kallumpritchard1993 , chatting away makes the time go so much faster and by 50 miles I still felt mentally quite fresh. Such a shame that Kallum had to drop due to injury as he was looking so strong - he would have run a cracking time no doubt. On leg 3 (50-75 miles) I got into a really good flow and I was moving well - the lack of gates on this leg was also much appreciated! I returned to Goring Village Hall at the end of leg 3 ahead of schedule for a 13-hour finish and feeling strong. Leg 4 started in darkness and it quickly became much more of a grind, nothing to do with my wonderful pacer Mark of course! For most of leg 4 I was feeling quite nauseous, at some point near the turnaround in Reading I decided sub-13 was probably gone and focused on getting back in one piece instead! I was very happy with the finish time and more importantly a PB of zero sicks during a 100-miler! Huge thanks to the @centurionrunning team and volunteers for another flawless event. Their support in Goring and out on the course was incredible, and the attention to detail in every aspect makes these races the perfect setting for chasing fast times. The out-and-back format added a unique dimension — being able to see and share encouragement with so many other runners was inspiring and a real reminder of the incredible effort everyone puts in out there. Next up for me, a brief return to the road for the Turin marathon in November, followed by @freedom__racing Hurtwood 50k in December to finish the year. 📸 @further.run