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 in an amazing forest. 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?
Salcey Forest is a Forestry England site with a café and toilets near Northampton. Use the post code NN7 2HX for Sat Navs . It is here on What 3 Words.
You do have to pay to park (between £3.80 - £9 at the time of writing). That said, be a hero and car share, save money and the world!
The number 33 bus stops inside Salcey Forest (just after 9am) and goes between Northampton and Milton Keynes (check for Sunday times)
It is 18 minutes from Northampton and 9 minutes from Junction 15 of the M1. The closest train station is Northampton.
Can I run with my dog?
No, our canicross season runs from October to March.
Course description
The different routes all use similar sections of the forest. The majority of the routes are along well maintained pathways. There isn't a meter of asphalt (except 2 road crossings for the longer events!) and the pathways are mainly crushed stone or very well trodden open forest floor.
The ground will be hard, the grass green and the canopy thick. Hopefully you’ll experience the best of UK summer trail running! Of course if it rains heavily in the lead up, or on the day, the ground could be sticky and slipp- that’s trail running!
The courses all take you away from the main visitor centre and off the beaten track a little, but it is all FULLY marked and flows well.
If the weather has been typical of the season you could run this event in road shoes, although a light trail shoe is probably ideal given the uneven stoney surface that covers most of the route. Personal choice of course!
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 27/05/2027 £20
After 27/05/2027 £25
Half Marathon
Before 27/05/2027 £35
After 27/05/2027 £40
Marathon
Before 27/05/2027 £51
After 27/05/2027 £56
50K
Before 27/05/2027 £62
After 27/05/2027 £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 measure a little long… or short. The marathon might be 26.7 miles, I mean it’s only 26.2 miles as the queen 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?
50 km
Registration Open – 07:00
Event Start – 08:00
Marathon
Registration Open – 07:00
Event Start – 08:30
Half Marathon
Registration Open – 08:00
Event Start – 09:00
10 km
Registration Open – 08:00
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!
Is there mandatory kit?
No. HOWEVER - there are NO CUPS at the aid stations. If you are planning on running 50km with no liquid, frankly, you’re stupid! However if you want to just pack a collapsible cup in your waistband and run, that’s up to you.
It is suggested to carry, bottles, a cup, a foil blanket and a mobile phone. All of these can make your day more comfortable and help in an emergency but there will be no kit checks for any mandatory kit.
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?
Yes! We’ve run at Salcey Forest many times. You can read the reviews here
I’m unsure what to expect at TrailFest?
It’s a great day of trail running in the forest. 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. Of course if you’re more experienced you’ll be getting a fully supported professional event that holds it’s own with any other trail event in the UK. 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 are examples of previous medals - expect something similar!
What do I get when I finish?
All finishers will get one of the above medals and choice of Big Bear drink 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.
What are your refund/withdrawal rules?
You can find them here
I have a question.
No problem, check out our FAQ’s
