Living close to the Dun Run route, I can confirm that - in non-Covid years - it bears no relation to the event of the early noughties. I would guess that at least 10 times the number of riders back then are now participating, the candles in jam jars along the route are no longer a feature, and every burger van in Essex and Suffolk turns out for the night! That doesn’t mean it’s not still fun, but it is different. Many more of the participants are racing snakes going for a 5 hour time, and the legions of chain gangs haven’t made many friends for the event. Every racing-oriented cycling club round me has designs on the Kom for the entire ride, and plans for how to spike their ‘competitors’.
I won’t be doing it again.