London to Brighton refers to a variety of races, tours, charity

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

rides and rallies that take place between

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

in the United Kingdom. The route often follows the A23 (and, often, nearby minor roads). The route is full of contrasts, (depending on the starting point and exact route) passing through the London suburbs of

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th ce ...

, Sutton,

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

and Purley, past

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

and then into the countryside of

The Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...

, crossing the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the east. ...

Ditchling Beacon Ditchling Beacon is the highest point in East Sussex, England, with an elevation of . It is south of Ditchling and to the north-east of Brighton. It is a large chalk hill with a particularly steep northern face, covered with open grassland a ...

on the South Downs (near but not part of the A23) is a steep climb followed by a gentle descent for five miles into Brighton, where the route finishes on the

promenade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...

by the Kings Road arches. The current London to Brighton Veteran Car Run does not use the route past the Ditchling Beacon but follows the A273 road up Clayton Hill and rejoins the A23 at

Pyecombe Pyecombe is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The name 'Pyecombe' may derive from the Saxons, Saxon "pic" meaning point or pike, in which case it may mean "valley marked by a projecting hill". Pyeco ...

London to Brighton Veteran Car Run

The route was originally popularised by the

London to Brighton Veteran Car Run The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is the world's longest-running motoring event, held on a course between London () and Brighton (), England. To qualify, participating cars must have been built before 1905. It is also the world's largest g ...

begun in 1927 for cars built before 1904 and re-enacting the original 1896 Emancipation Run, which was held on 14 November 1896 to celebrate the passing into law of the Light Locomotives Act which raised the speed limit to and did away with the need for a person to walk in front of a mechanised vehicle waving a red flag to warn other road users. In 2007 531 cars participated and over ninety percent of them finished the course; in 2008 there were 550, with 126 international entries from as far away as Australia, Canada, USA, Argentina and South Africa.

London to Brighton Bike Ride

Several fundraising bike rides take place between London and Brighton each year. The most famous is the

British Heart Foundation The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is a cardiovascular research charity in the United Kingdom. It funds medical research related to heart and circulatory diseases and their risk factors, and runs influencing work aimed at shaping public policy ...

event which has taken place each summer since 1976, and in 2014 involved an estimated 30,000 riders. The event starts on Clapham Common and the 54 mile route finishes on Madeira Drive in Brighton. Despite most roads being closed to cars, the number of bikes is such that traffic jams occur, especially at hills. The toughest part of the route is the climb over

which once featured in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

; having already cycled some , cyclists must then tackle a climb with an average grade exceeding 1 in 10. Several sections are somewhat steeper, and whilst the fittest will try to cycle up, the vast majority will walk. To date, over 650,000 riders have taken part and have raised over £40 million for the British Heart Foundation. In recent years, the BHF have introduced a night ride and an off-road ride. These are on separate dates, and some competitors will ride all three routes in the same year.

Challenge Cancer Bike Ride

Challenge Cancer is a

bike ride to raise funds for

Macmillan Cancer Support Macmillan Cancer Support is one of the largest British charities and provides specialist health care, information and financial support to people affected by cancer. It also looks at the social, emotional and practical impact cancer can have, a ...

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

and

Breast Cancer Now Breast Cancer Now is a charity in the United Kingdom which was formed in 2015 by the merger of Breast Cancer Campaign and Breakthrough Breast Cancer. It is the United Kingdom's largest breast cancer charity. Its declared "Action Plan" is "by 205 ...

and

Prostate Cancer UK Prostate Cancer UK is a prostate cancer Cancer research, research, awareness and support organisation which is a Registered Charity, registered charity in England and Wales, as well as in Scotland. History The organisation was founded in 1996 a ...

, with each rider choosing which charity to support. Following a 67-mile route through Central London, over

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule and Suspended-deck suspension bridge, suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones (architect), Horace Jones and e ...

, and south through Oval, Clapham, Balham, Mitcham, Wallington, Coulsdon, Caterham-on-the-hill, Outwood, Smallfield, Copthorne, Turners Hill, Burgess Hill,

and Brighton seafront before finishing at Brighton Racecourse. All roads were open to other traffic, and a vehicle fire on the Mile End Road delayed a number of riders. All participants were timed from start to finish line. The published results (which included time spent a rest stops) indicated that nearly 1000 riders took part Challenge Cancer 2015 was a fund-raising bike ride in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

organised by

Breakthrough Breast Cancer Breakthrough Breast Cancer was a United Kingdom charity whose mission was to "save lives through improving early diagnosis, developing new treatments and preventing all types of breast cancer". In 2015, Breakthrough Breast Cancer merged with anothe ...

and Prostate Cancer UK. It expands on the inaugural event of the previous year by adding a second route between

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. Both routes are described as 60 miles long. A 120-mile "there and back" option is also available on both routes.

Running events

ultramarathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

running race used to take this route each October, starting on

Westminster Bridge Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side. The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats in the H ...

in the centre of London, and finishing at The Level in Brighton. This is a distance of 54 miles, 198 yards (87.085 km). The race was organised by the Road Runners Club from 1951 to 2005. However, the course had been raced over at least since the early 19th century, and regularly since 1899. In its later years the race was low-key with just over one hundred runners taking part. The fastest would finish in well under 6 hours, whilst there was a time limit of 10 hours after which the course was not marshalled. The race was discontinued after 2005 because of increasing road traffic and difficulties in finding sufficient marshals. In 2010 the ultra-running organisation Extreme Running staged an off-road London to Brighton Trail Race from Blackheath in London to Brighton sea front (56 miles). The winning time was 8 hours 32 minutes. The race was next planned to be held in 2011. Since 2011, the compan
UltraChallenge
has organised annually a mixed road/trail 100K race from Richmond in West London to Brighton's racecourse. The course can be run or walked. From Piccadilly to Brighton there is a marathon route.

Motoring events

The London to Brighton Mini Run takes place on the 3rd Sunday in May. It celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2010. In 2009 the event broke the world record for the longest convoy of Minis with a Guinness-verified total of 1450 cars. The London to

Mini Run features a large number of

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

s both classic and

modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

. It is organised by the London & Surrey Mini Owners Club. In 2005 this tradition was copied in the United States. The SotaMINIs car club organized the New London to New Brighton Run in the state of Minnesota (Mini-sota). Minnesota is the only state in the US that has both a New London and a New Brighton. The distance between the two is exactly twice the distance from London to Brighton. The first year it was attended by 20 MINIs/Minis. It has since doubled in size. The club, SotaMINIs (new MINIs) has since merged with the Classic Mini club called MMPE&PSHE (the Mini-sota Minis Pizza Eating & Psychiatric Self-Help Association). The new club is called Minnesota United Minis Minnesota United Minis (M.U.M.) and the tradition of the New London to New Brighton run is still going strong in 2016. The London to Brighton

Land Rover Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...

Run is an annual gathering of Land Rover enthusiasts organised by the South London and Surrey Land Rover Club. The event started at

Crystal Palace Park Crystal Palace Park is a Victorian pleasure ground located in the South London suburb of Crystal Palace which surrounds the site of the former Crystal Palace Exhibition building. The Palace had been relocated from Hyde Park, London after the 18 ...

until an extension of the London Emissions Zone forced it to move. Since 2012 it has been held at Hook Road Arena in

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

and the Land Rovers drive down to Madeira Drive in Brighton. The event takes place on or around the first Sunday in October.

Other events

Other London to Brighton events include those for MGs, air-cooled Volkswagens, 2CVs, vintage motorcycles, Smart Cars, vintage commercial vehicles, and

electric vehicles An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...

. Most events, especially motoring events, finish at Madeira Drive on the seafront.

References

External links

London to Brighton Veteran Car Run official siteLondon to Brighton Mini Run organised by London & Surrey Mini Owners ClubThe 100-miler – Part 5 (1902-1926) London to Brighton and BackExtreme Running London to Brighton Trail RaceLondon to Brighton Land Rover runBritish Heart Foundation London to Brighton Bike RidesCycle Rides Ltd: Managers of the London to Brighton Bike RideVideo of Centenary Year Run 2003Capital to Coast Cycle Challenge
{{DEFAULTSORT:London To Brighton Events Brighton and Hove

Ultramarathons in the United Kingdom Sport in East Sussex