Race to the King

Before you make plans

Several distances share one venue. The headline price from £35 is a charity place, and “25+ hours” is not a cutoff for every route.

Pick the route before the weekend

Race to the King on 19 June 2027 is several courses from West Dean Gardens, not one shared loop. The page also offers a 30 km Monarch’s Loop. That distance is not an ultra, so it does not appear in our distance filters.

The organiser describes the Coastal 50K as the flatter option, around Chichester Harbour, and the Castle 50K as the more undulating South Downs route past Arundel, returning to West Dean. The 80 km is the Coastal 50K plus the 30 km loop, finishing back at West Dean. The 100 km takes in the coastal and castle loops. Ascent for each package is not on this page.

Those are the organiser’s route descriptions. “Ideal first ultra” is their wording for the Coastal 50K, not a recommendation from us. Compare the hills, the cutoff and the trip home before you treat any package as a first race.

Prices, and the line that says from £35

The page headline says prices start at £35. That figure is a charity place. On 3 October 2026 the super early bird tier was marked sold out for every distance.

The remaining published tiers were £80, £85 and £90 for either 50 km, £130, £135 and £140 for the 80 km, and £170, £180 and £190 for the 100 km. A sold-out label on one tier is not proof that the later tiers still have places. Check the package you want.

Bags, parking and cutoffs

The series page says a bag is transferred to your finish, and that parking and shuttles cost extra. It does not publish a separate start and finish for every distance, so confirm where your package begins and ends before you book a train.

The same page gives the cutoff as 25 hours or more. That is not a limit for the 50 km. Find the cutoff attached to the distance you enter. No qualification standard is stated on this page.