Mark Darbyshire

About

Mark Darbyshire is a British ultrarunner from Birmingham who works as an anaesthesiologist associate and trains primarily by running the five miles to and from work each day — a deceptively simple foundation for one of the most prolific course-record-breaking careers in British 100-mile racing. He ran his first ultra, the Beacons Ultra, in 2017 and placed fifth. Within a few years he had become arguably the best 100-mile specialist Britain has produced in the modern era, collecting course records across the country's most iconic events: the South Downs Way 100 (13:42:54), the Arc of Attrition 100 on the South West Coast Path (18:51:54 — the first person to break 19 hours on that brutal coastal route), the Montane Lakeland 100 (18:45:19), the Ultra-Trail Snowdonia 100, the North Downs Way 100, the Lakes Traverse, and the 13 Valleys. This haul spans every terrain British 100-miling has to offer: chalk downs, Cornish sea cliffs, Lake District fells, and Welsh mountain ridges. He has achieved it while maintaining a full professional medical career, having long since dispensed with a car in favour of running to work. A grounded and self-deprecating figure in a sport that often prizes mythology, Darbyshire has reset the standard for what is possible in British ultra-trail racing.

Notable Wins

• — South Downs Way 100 CR (13:42:54)
• — Arc of Attrition 100 CR (18:51:54
• — first sub-19h)
• — Lakeland 100 CR (18:45:19)
• — Ultra-Trail Snowdonia 100 CR
• — North Downs Way 100 CR
• — Lakes Traverse CR
• — 13 Valleys CR

Race History