What is TrailFest?
It’s a day of moving around wonderful woodland for all abilities, speeds and experiences. Whether you’re an experienced ultra runner keen to get an early season 50 km in or a newbie trail runner looking to do their first 10K TrailFest is for you!
We’ve got 4 distances for you to chose from 10K, half marathon, marathon and 50 km. A distance to suit everyone!
The idea of the day is to bring everyone together and to experience the fun of trail running across an amazing estate. Being around others doing what seems impossible can often make it seem a lot more possible too!! If you want to come and run your personal best or bimble about with your mates we’ve got the perfect distance for you.
We’ve got vey generous cut off times too, to try and remove some of those barriers to new people trying out the sport.
Where is it?
Holdenby House is a private estate in Northamptonshire, 4 miles North-West of Northampton. It consists of a private house and gardens and working farmland. To suggest it’s got “some history” would be a bit of an understatement!
It was built in 1583 for Elizabeth I and at the time was the largest palace in England. Although she never visited James I and Charles I both stayed at the house. Fast-forward to today and “only” 1 wing remains of the original house, full of Elizabethan grandeur.
Parking is free, it’s on grass used all year round for parking. We’ll have clear directions from the road on where to go.
It is 15 minutes from from Junction 18 of the M1, use the post code NN6 8DJ for Sat Navs. It is 7 miles (15 minute drive) from Northampton train station and 5 miles (11 minutes) from Long Buckby train station. No buses service the area.
Can I run with my dog?
Not at these events. As the event is run under a UK Athletics/ Trail Running Association license there are no dogs allowed at any of the events.
Course description
The different distances all use the same parts of the course. The complete course is within the grounds of the Holdenby House estate so is traffic-free trail.
The route starts and finishes between the Basecourt Arches (in 1647 this was where King Charles I was taken by Cornet Joyce eventually leading to his execution!). Once you leave the formal setting you'll go around the outside of fields, a mixture of farm track and field edge. Half-way through the lap is a small wood that is rarely trodden so you’ll be ducking, weaving and leaping over branches and logs.
Throughout the course you’ve got amazing views over rolling Northamptonshire. If the weather is dry and has been dry road shoes will be fine as the ground will be hard. If it’s been unseasonably wet or we’ve had downpours with 24 hours of the start, trail shoes are advised.
The overall elevation of each distance is listed below. There is one noticeable hill but it is mainly the deceptive rolling Northamptonshire hills. You don’t realise it but you’re going up and down all the time! Only 1 other event currently uses Holdenby House for running and they don’t use this route, come and try something brand new!
I will be creating a video in the Spring - winter conditions of the course bare little resemblance to late summer!
VIDEO COMING SOON
What does it cost?
We operate a tiered pricing approach. The earlier you enter, the cheaper the event but never ever will you pay a booking fee!
10K
Before 13/08/2026 £20
After 13/08/2026 £25
Half Marathon
Before 13/08/2026 £36
After 13/08/2026 £41
Marathon
Before 13/08/2026 £51
After 13/08/2026 £56
50K
Before 13/08/2026 £62
After 13/08/2026 £72
Unaffiliated entrants pay £2 extra. Why not join your local running club or sign up the Big Bear Brigade and save 10% off entries for ever! If you were on our Very Important Bear mailing list you could have also saved 20% before the event was launched!
Can I run as many laps as I want?
Not at this event. This may seem an odd question to answer but given the majority of our events are 6 hour lapped events it’s one I’m sure people will have!
Also, to be clear, it’s trail running - it’s a trail event. The 10k may record a little long on your watch… or a tiny bit short. The marathon might be 26.7 miles, I mean it’s only 26.2 miles as the King wanted to see the finish in 1908! I try to get it as close as possible but it’s trail running - a bit of “tax” (extra") or “aggressive cornering” (less) is to be expected. The main point is you are all overing the same distance on the day!
What are the timings for each event?
This is the expected timings These will be confirmed 5 weeks before the event but won’t vary much from this.
50 km
Registration Open – 07:00
Event Start – 08:00
Marathon
Registration Open – 07:00
Event Start – 08:15
Half Marathon
Registration Open – 07:00
Event Start – 08:30
10 km
Registration Open – 07:00
Event Start – 09:00
Can I have crew or pacers?
Yes and no. You can have crew, they’re really helpful for longer events but you cannot have pacers. To be clear, that means no-one can run with you or walk alongside you for any period of time except in the final 100m or so.
We actively encourage spectators and supporters but they must not move along the trail with you. They can pop up all over the course though - or just stay in the cafe all day!
There is a large grass area near the HQ that can be used to put a gazebo up if your team, club, or supporters wish to. Just let us know beforehand if you plan to do this.
Are there cut offs?
Yes, but they’re pretty generous! The cut off for the event is 19:00. So for the 50 km event that means an 11 hour cut off - 21min/mile pace.
All other events have the same 19:00 cut off - so that’s 10 hours to do the 10k!
Our cut off’s aren’t mean to be punitive, we just have to let volunteers and medics when they can go home! In the last 3 years only 1 person has been within 1 hour of an 11 hour cut off on this course and they had about 30 minutes to spare.
I’ve heard you do cupless events?
That’s right! Read all about how we do cupless events here. For clarity that means there are zero cups at the aid stations. If you want liquid, you need to bring a cup or purchase our special TrailFest collapsible cups here (COMING SOON)
Is there mandatory kit?
This is different for different distances and strictly enforced for each piece of mandatory kit missing 1 hour will be added to your finish time.
For 10k entrants there is no mandatory kit although a cup/bottle for water is strongly recommended. There are NO CUPS at this event. If you don’t carry a cup you cannot drink water!
Half marathon/Marathon/50k entrants a cup/bottle capable of holding 200ml minimum is mandatory.
It' is strongly advised to carry a foil blanket and a charged mobile phone.
These are mandatory minimum’s if you want to carry more or extra kit then please do so, this is to make you safe not to make you run to your best ability.
What if I need to withdraw?
It happens. Injuries, life events… forgetting you’ve booked it! You can see our specific withdrawal policy for the TrailFest events here. They are a little different to our other events but still much better than most other events companies. I think they are fairer than most and as such they will be adhered to.
Has the event been run before?
We’ve held many TrailFest events in the past at Salcey Forest and Cannock Chase but this is the first at Holdenby House - join us at the first one!!
I’m unsure what to expect at TrailFest?
It’s a great day of trail running in the countryside. The format means it’s great for clubs and groups to support people doing varying distances and the generous cut offs mean it’s great for those looking to increase their distances. Whatever your experience or ability we’ll do everything we can to support you for the day.
We’ve tried to make as much video content as possible so you can see what our events are like. Have a look at our YouTube channel. The key is that these event are for everyone. There is no such thing as too slow!
I’ve heard you do nice medals. What will it look like?
These were our medals for TrailFest Salcey Forest in 2025 - expect something similar for TrailFest Holdenby House!
What do I get when I finish?
All finishers will get one of the above medals and choice of Big Bear Alcohol-Free Beer or Apple Juice too.
Is there a gpx of the route?
The routes can be found at the bottom of the page, you can click on them to download the gpx. To be clear, the course will be heavily marked on the day so the gpx files should only be necessary as a back up.
I still have questions…
Then why not join our Big Bear Events Facebook group and ask our ever so experienced runners in there or email us directly here. We want you to enter with the confidence you’ll have a great (if not tiring!) day so are happy to answer any question we’ve not covered off here.
All of the distances will be based on this 10K lap. The route will be finalised (woodland sections especially) in the spring/summer and then full gpx files will be created for the 10K/HM/M/50K. This will give you a very fair indication of the route and elevation. Note the vast majority of the route is on PRIVATE land and as such can not be recced. Do not run the route outside of the event or our permission will be revoked.
What are your refund/withdrawal rules?
You can find them here
I have a question.
No problem, check out our FAQ’s
