The Essex Way Ultra.
The Essex Way Ultra covers the full length of the Essex Way, leaving Epping Tube Station on a Friday evening and finishing at the High Lighthouse in Harwich, 82 miles and a whole night later. The ground is flat; what makes this race hard is the duration, the lost sleep and the dark, and that is what your preparation has to address.
The Essex Way Ultra 2027: Course, Elevation & Route Profile
The race starts in the evening at an Underground station and runs as a pure point-to-point across Essex to Harwich. The longest climb of the whole route arrives almost immediately: 1.35 km at just over four percent from km 2.4. After that it goes quiet for a long time. Nearly half the distance is flat, the rest splits almost evenly into gentle ups and downs, and until around km 80 rhythm shapes the race more than any single hill.
At km 81.7 a climb of just over a kilometre at about three and a half percent opens the final third. From here the short rises come more often, especially between km 95 and 112, with a last one at km 124. None of them would merit a mention on a fresh day, but they reach you after a night without sleep. Over the whole route the ascent adds up to a little over 900 metres, and the finish sits lower than the start.
Underfoot the course alternates between trail, footpath, track and road, so your shoes and your stride have to cope with all four. Five checkpoints divide the route, and every competitor gets a GPS track to follow, through the night as well. The end point is a lighthouse: the journey from the Tube station closes at the High Lighthouse in Harwich.
| Start | Length | Ø | Max. | Gain | Cat. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| km 2.4 | 1.4 km | 4.2 % | 11 % | +56 m | — |
| km 26.7 | 0.6 km | 3.1 % | 3.7 % | +19 m | — |
| km 81.7 | 1.1 km | 3.4 % | 5.8 % | +39 m | — |
| km 94.8 | 0.4 km | 4.9 % | 8.9 % | +19 m | — |
| km 98.5 | 0.4 km | 7.3 % | 12.9 % | +31 m | — |
| km 102.7 | 0.7 km | 3.8 % | 8.4 % | +26 m | — |
| km 111.3 | 0.4 km | 5.2 % | 7.4 % | +21 m | — |
| km 124 | 0.6 km | 3.1 % | 5.1 % | +19 m | — |
Climb categories follow the road-cycling convention and rate the terrain itself (length and gradient) regardless of sport: Cat. 4 marks the easiest rated climbs, Cat. 1 the hardest, and HC (hors catégorie, “beyond categorization”) is reserved for the most brutal ascents. Short climbs below the Cat. 4 threshold stay unrated.
How to pace The Essex Way Ultra 2027.
Start under control
The Saturday evening cut-off asks for an average of around 5.5 km/h over 24 hours, checkpoint stops included. On ground this flat, though, no hill tells you when to walk, because nearly all of it could be run. Decide beforehand which rises you will walk and stick to it from the first kilometre, even when that feels too easy.
Hold your rhythm
The biggest trap is the first night. The climb at km 2.4 arrives before you have found a rhythm, and in the dark you lose your sense of speed while nerves push you along. Take that first climb calmly and stay well under the pace that feels comfortable until morning.
Spend what is left
The race is decided between km 82 and km 112. If you can still run the flat stretches between the rises there, you save more time than anywhere else on the route. Spend your reserves in the night and you will walk this whole section, watching your margin on the cut-off shrink.
Training plan for The Essex Way Ultra 2027: 12-week build
Build the base
Expect roughly 16 to 23 hours depending on your form. This is an almost purely aerobic effort with no hard spikes: the ground rarely pushes you above threshold, and the limits are tired legs, food and lack of sleep.
Train race pace
The core of your preparation is long sessions on consecutive days, mixing running with brisk walking. Put the hills in the second half of those sessions, because the last third of the race asks for exactly that: short rises on tired legs, then straight back into a run. Practise that switch on purpose, since between km 82 and km 112 it sets your time.
Rehearse the course
The night needs training of its own. Start some long runs in the evening after a normal day and run with a head torch on trail, footpath and road, so you know the changes of surface in the dark as well. Follow a GPS track on your watch or device until navigating becomes second nature. One rehearsal through half the night shows how your body responds in the hours before morning; keep it the exception, because recovery takes a long time.
Arrive fresh
The five checkpoints sit an average of over 20 km apart, which means several hours of effort between them. So practise eating and drinking regularly on the move, at night too when appetite fades, and test your shoes and kit over the full duration of your longest session.
Courses
Download the The Essex Way Ultra 2027 course as a GPX file for your watch or bike computer.
Let YOUB adapt your plan for The Essex Way Ultra dynamically
Ben connects your goal, the course, current load, recovery, and calendar. Your plan stays pointed at race day even when real life is not perfectly plannable.
Everything about The Essex Way Ultra.
How long is The Essex Way Ultra 2027?
The Essex Way Ultra 2027 is 131.97 km long. That distance shapes how much aerobic endurance, pace durability, and race-specific work belong in the training plan.
How much elevation gain does The Essex Way Ultra 2027 have?
The Essex Way Ultra 2027 has around 922 m of elevation gain over 131.97 km. That affects pacing, muscular load, and preparation for late-race sections.
What is the route profile of The Essex Way Ultra 2027?
The Essex Way Ultra 2027 is classified as Flat, averaging 7 vertical metres per kilometre. 49% of the route is flat, 24% climbs moderately (2 to 6%) and 0% is steeper than 6%.
What climbs does The Essex Way Ultra 2027 have?
The hardest climb of The Essex Way Ultra 2027 starts at kilometre 2.4, runs for 1.4 km at an average of 4.2% and gains 56 metres. 8 climbs are mapped in total.
Is The Essex Way Ultra 2027 a loop course?
No, The Essex Way Ultra 2027 is a point-to-point course: start and finish are in different places.
Is there a GPX file for the The Essex Way Ultra 2027 course?
Yes. The The Essex Way Ultra 2027 course is on this page as a free GPX download — ready to import into Garmin, Wahoo, Komoot, Strava or any other app that reads GPX.
How should I prepare for The Essex Way Ultra 2027?
Preparation for The Essex Way Ultra 2027 should account for 131.97 km, 922 m of elevation gain, current training load, and available training time. An adaptive plan helps place key sessions without ignoring recovery and real life.
What pacing strategy works for The Essex Way Ultra 2027?
The pacing strategy for The Essex Way Ultra 2027 should reflect 131.97 km, 922 m of elevation gain, and your current fitness. Start controlled and keep margin for sections where the profile or fatigue makes target pace harder.
When does The Essex Way Ultra 2027 take place?
The Essex Way Ultra 2027 takes place on July 2, 2027.
Where does The Essex Way Ultra 2027 take place?
The Essex Way Ultra 2027 takes place in Epping, United Kingdom.
How do I register for The Essex Way Ultra 2027?
Registration runs through the organiser: essexwayultra.com. YOUB shows you the course, elevation profile and training plan for your preparation.
