Cotswold Hilly 100

2026 Race

The 2026 race celebrated 40 years of the Cotswold Hilly 100 race. The race was capped at 40 teams and quickly sold out. It was another fantastic day of racing and team camararderie. A huge well done to everyone who took part on Sunday 31st May. Thank you for making yet another Hilly 100 day a memorable one! The winning team was Stratford AC in 10:38:20. Full results can be found here..

Race Information

The Cotswold Hilly 100 is a 100-mile road relay race divided into 10 legs each of approx. 10 miles. The race starts at the American Fountain, Market Square, in Stratford upon Avon and finishes at the Stratford Sports Club. It follows a route of mainly minor roads that meanders through the Cotswolds.

This year sees 40 years since the 1st running of this event, the iconic race has only had minor tweaks to improve the safety of the runners, the overall route is largely unchanged. As the name suggests, there are a number of undulations throughout the route.

The course record is held by Massey Ferguson Running Club, who in 1989 ran a combined overall time of 9:24.

Teams start at either 5am, 6am or 7am depending on their predicted overall time with a view to finishing between 5 – 6.30pm.

To ensure all teams finish at a reasonable time, there is the option of the flexible ‘mass start’. This involves the leg 8 runners starting at either 12pm, 12.30pm or 1.00pm regardless of the leg 7 runner finishing.  The leg 7 runner’s time will be recorded so that the overall team race time can be calculated.

Shields are awarded to the first men’s team, first women’s team, and first mixed team.

However, it is the club spirit this race generates that is the main attraction. Teams are responsible for supporting each runner on their leg (e.g. marshalling and first aid as required) and ensuring a successful handover at the end of each leg creates some logistical challenges. Despite the best laid plans, its not unknown for runners to lose their way or to have to continue onto the following leg because their colleague hasn’t arrived!

2026 Results

Route descriptions

Leg 1 Leg 2 Leg 3 Leg 4 Leg 5

Leg 6 Leg 7 Leg 8 Leg 9 Leg 10

Maps