Icklesham 8K Trail

Race Description

Icklesham's race trades on one of the most photogenic stretches of coastline in this part of Sussex. The course runs out past the village's landmark windmill, a working reminder of Icklesham's agricultural history, en route to Winchelsea — itself one of England's few remaining "new towns" chartered in the medieval period, and one of the original Cinque Ports' limbs.

From Winchelsea Beacon the route drops away steeply, opening up sweeping views across the Tillingham Valley and out towards Pett Level and the coast beyond, before the course asks for one last effort: a genuinely tough climb back up to a hilltop finish. At 8km with 109m of gain and 76% trail, it's a course of two distinct halves — the long, scenic outward push, then a short, sharp sting to close it out — which is exactly the kind of profile that makes for interesting, unpredictable racing rather than a straightforward time trial.