Race to the Stones (RTTS) ultra trail race returned for edition number 12 at the weekend (12-13 July 2025) with 2,000-plus competitors running through history on 'Britain's oldest road', The Ridgeway, to finish at the 5,000-year-old Avebury Standing Stones. RTTS runs from Lewknor, Oxfordshire, to finish at the Neolithic Avebury Stone circles in Wiltshire – believed to be 800 years older than Stonehenge and the largest megalithic stone circle in the world.

The Ridgeway National Trail, a broad track passing through the North Wessex Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, has been used since prehistoric times by travellers, herdsmen and soldiers in a surprisingly remote part of southern central England. The Ridgeway links the World Heritage Site of Avebury with Ivinghoe Beacon, northwest of London, some 87 miles (139 km) following an ancient ridge of chalk hills with fabulous views.

This extraordinary setting was the backdrop to an astonishing performance from the RTTS 100K champion for 2025, Hugh Tibbs, who started at 6.30am and was admiring the Stones less than eight hours later as he crushed the course record in 7:41:56 for a £1,000 bonus!

Tibbs competed in the Non-Stop category, averaging just over 46 minutes for each 10K segment on the 100K route, with 1,350m of elevation gained! The nearest challengers were Joseph Turner (7:53:34) and M40 Nick Hancock (9:08:42), as the top five completed 100K in less than 10 hours.

The first lady, W40 Sophie Power, literally powered through the field in the final third of the race to win in 10:11:21 from W40 Fiona Cook (10:23:40) and Helena Sexton (10:48:03) – the top three women finishing in the leading 13 places.

RTTS can also be raced over 50K on Day One (the Thames Valley 50K, with 716m elevation) or Day Two (the Ridgeline 50K, with 627m elevation) or as a two-day run/trek (the Weekender) with an overnight stop at the halfway basecamp at Lattin Down, near Wantage.

Given the forecast for hot weather, event organiser Threshold Sports provided extra water stations, with crushed ice at some pit stops, and facilitated last-minute changes to run 50K from any 100K entrants, plus an early (5 am) start option on Sunday morning.

Full results via the runABC South race listing here.

Photos courtesy of Threshold Trail Series on Facebook