Recceing the Arc of Attrition with the routes on this site

The Arc of Attrition runs the coast path to Porthtowan in January, mostly in the dark. Its reputation is not marketing. The course is long-published and the organiser's page is the source of truth for this year's exact line — but three routes in this directory sit on ground the race crosses, and they make honest recce material.

The ground worth knowing in advance

St Just to St Ives is the one to take seriously — we ran and recorded it, and the second half is the hardest ground on the whole course: bog, granite and a boulder field that does not care about your splits. Doing it fresh, in daylight, in summer, took over five hours including a pub stop. The Arc crosses it deep into the race, at night, in January. Draw your own conclusions and pack accordingly.

Penzance prom to Mousehole is the opposite lesson: the flat miles around Mount's Bay are where the race lets you run, and where an over-cooked first night shows up. Practise actually eating at pace here. Godrevy to Portreath covers the exposed cliff line towards the finish — wind training, honestly labelled.

Recce rules

• Winter recces of these routes are the real thing: short daylight, greasy granite, full Atlantic exposure. Take the kit list the race mandates and use it.
• Do at least one leg in the dark on tired legs — the boulder field navigates differently by head torch.
• The GPX files here are planning aids from our lines, not the race course. Course files and cut-offs live with the organiser.

None of this replaces the organiser's information; it is ground truth to train against. The race's own page confirms dates and entries — ours just tells you what the ground underneath it feels like.