No. of days 2 days
Distance 66 mi
Ascent gain 2374 m
Accom. yes
Food yes
A two-day, 66-mile ultra marathon over the legendary North Downs Way!
Run, jog or walk your way across the impressive North Downs Way - firmly established as one of our most popular events. Follow in the footsteps of pilgrims travelling to Canterbury as you pass through stunning landscapes steeped in history. The race soaks up ancient countryside, picturesque villages and areas of outstanding natural beauty.
As with all of our events, everything is taken care of at the Pilgrim Challenge so you can focus on the experience!
The Pilgrim Challenge has been awarded a GOLD race award! Thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a review.
We are delighted to support SheRACES and commit to providing a great experience for female participants. Find out more
Included
- Overnight accommodation
- Breakfast and evening meals
- Transport to and from Farnham station
- A fully recced and marked route
- Full medical cover throughout
- A quality finishers T-shirt and medal
- Toilets, showers and changing facilities
- Checkpoint food and water at regular intervals
- Free tea, coffee and cake at the finish
- Prizes and trophies for overall and category winners
- A great atmosphere and a fun but challenging weekend
- Action photos en-route, free to download
Route
The North Downs National Trail has excellent markings in the form of signposts or post discs. We recommend you familiarise yourself with the route before the start of the race and download the GPX file or OS Maps route onto your watch or phone.
Download printable route information including checkpoint locations and overnight accommodation.
Day 1
Day 2
Pricing
Early bird
£150
until 30th June 2023
Standard entry
£175
from 1st July 2023
Late entry
£190
from 19th December 2023
Single day: £75
Accommodation and food: £30 per night
Full event without food and accommodation: £150
Please note: a 2.5% service charge, levied by the registration software, will be added to your total. We are using a new entry system that takes payment through the secure system Stripe. No payment information is retained by Extreme Energy, or our entry system tool. If you need to cancel your entry or transfer to another event, you can do that by logging back into the booking system, Racespace.
There's a 10% discount available for all serving military or emergency services staff. To book with your discount, please email us on info@xnrg.co.uk.
If for some reason you are not able to make the event you have entered. The XNRG refund policy is that we will give you 70% refund of your entry fee up to 1 month before the start date of the event. You also have the option (1 month before the date of the event) to get a 100% transfer credit to another one of our multiday events. Both of these options you can execute on your Racespace entry page.
After this time we are sorry there will be no refunds or transfers to future events. Refunds will be to your booking credit card.
Race-day Preparation
Kit List
The only compulsory kit is a fully charged mobile phone, a minimum 500ml of water, a waterproof jacket and a head torch if you are likely to finish in the dark (once darkness falls, if you don't have a headtorch you will be withdrawn at a check point). It's also worth taking a look at our recommended kit list.
Other equipment may be made compulsory by the race director depending on the weather.
Medical
The event is supported by a Course Manager and a fully qualified medical crew will be in attendance. We strongly recommend taking a moment to read our medical page before booking.
FAQ
We've answered a range of common questions in our FAQ. For other questions, say hello on info@xnrg.co.uk.
More Information
Entries
You can enter the whole weekend , or individual days.
Entries will close one week before the event (or when full). A waitlist option will be available if the event becomes fully booked.
Start / Finish
Registration will be open from 06:30 on Saturday at Sandy Farm Business Park, Sands Road, The Sands, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 1PX.
Start on day 1: Sandy Farm Business Park, Sands Road, The Sands, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 1PX
Finish on day 1: The Warwick School, Noke Drive, Redhill RH1 4AD, (TQ 285 508)
Finish on day 2: Sandy Farm Business Park, Sands Road, The Sands, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 1PX.
Aid stations
There will be four checkpoints each day, fully stocked with water, and sweet and savoury food to keep you fuelled.
Due to the risk of cross-contamination, we can't provide checkpoint food to suit all dietary requirements. If you require special food or snacks to suit any allergies or vegetarian/vegan diets, please bring your own. Put them in containers, marked with your name and checkpoint number and give them to the checkpoint teams at the start of the race - we'll make sure they're waiting for you!
We're going green
Help us reduce the impact our events have on the environment by bringing your own reusable or collapsible cups for drinks at checkpoints. Some suggestions we love: the Salomon soft cup and the X cup.
As part of your entry fee you will get an event T-shirt, or you can choose not to have the T-shirt and the money we would pay for the T-shirt will go to Trees not Tees and a tree will be planted instead.
For more details visit their website - https://treesnottees.com/
Accommodation
Don't fancy sharing accommodation during the event? We'll be running minibus shuttles to and from three local hotels during the event. Click the button below for more details.
Getting there
Whether you are joining us for the full event or just one day, it's easy to get to both days' start points by train or road.
Click on the button below for details.
Testimonials
I've completed events all over the world, and XNRG events are some of the friendliest, best organised events I've ever done. I can't recommend them high enough.
Nick P
The best thing about this event for me was the inclusivity. Whether you are a hardcore ultra runner or fancy a long walk in the country this event caters for everyone and you don't feel any pressure to approach the race in any particular way. The reception on the Saturday for the last finisher, who must have been out for 12 hours, was fantastic. The Q&A in the evening as well, featuring 4 fantastic female athletes, was also great. Excellent event and well done to all involved, and thanks so much for all the volunteers!
Jonathan B
We keep on coming back year after year. XNRG crew couldn’t make you feel more welcome or look after the runners any better. The route is always brilliant, wet or dry. Extra kudos for the shuttle service to and from the nearest train station !
Ilona M
I ran Pilgrims for this first time this year. The pre-race info was really good and made me feel pretty relaxed about race day travel/ registration/ start. The atmosphere of the race was fantastic from start to finish. The other runners were very friendly, navigation was easy and everyone at the checkpoints were super helpful and encouraging. I would recommend this event for anyone who may be running on their own looking for a safe, fun and relaxed but challenging adventure!
Rachel S
Thanks for a great weekend I enjoyed myself immensely, the camaraderie and willingness to help the runner’s needs at all costs was superb. Met some lovely people working alongside at the checkpoints ( a great laugh at checkpoint 4, day 2 lads !). So just to say thanks again to the XNRG team.
I just wanted to say thanks to you and all your team for a fantastic weekend. I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to ultra running!!! I'm amazed how much fun running 66 miles could be and a lot of that is down to your team’s hard work and enthusiasm. Looking forward to the next one now!!! Many many thanks.
Pilgrim challenge was fantastic and I am glad I decided to do both days after only doing one last year. I was so happy when I beat my time from last year and I got really emotional when at 26.2 miles I realised I was still under 5 hours. That was so cool and I think one or two tears were probably rolling down my cheeks....lol
We can't wait to see you there! Questions? Say hello on info@xnrg.co.uk
