2024 at TrailFest
TrailFest has been a bit of a revelation. Who know people wanted to run 10k’s and half marathons at the weekend!! I think I’ve discovered something new. With the success of the 50k/50 mile events at Salcey Forest and Cannock Chase both events were crying out for some shorter distances. Given the format it meant we didn’t give a medal out for about 4 hours… wasted medal giving time!!!
Adding in the 10k, half marathon and marathon option makes the events so much more accessible. Whether that be purely down to being able to do the distances or just having the time to train or on the day, offering shorter distances allows more people to join in the fun.
Personally, I had a realisation a few years ago that further and faster shouldn’t be the default path when it comes to running. It’s the path to unhappiness in many occasions. Mini challenges and different events are more important. Personally I find a relatively tough trail half marathon is perfect for me. It’s long enough for me to feel like I’ve done “something” but short enough it doesn’t take up a whole day and training is manageable and it works for me. I’ll still do a parkrun or the occasional ultra but I don’t feel the need to keep going further or faster all the time. So I want to put those events on for others too!
That said, the 10k and half marathon distance are also great for those coming in to the sport. The courses I pick are also good for beginners. Cannock Chase is no easy course - for anyone - but under-foot is good, there is virtually zero navigation required and effectively there is no time limit. All great for someone who has never stepped off the tarmac before. I’d hope that someone new to trail running would be looking to sign up for their next trail event (with me or someone else) after coming to a TrailFest event.
I digress, the point is, at TrailFest Cannock Chase especially, the number of people new to trail running was huge. It was great to see. The looks on some of their faces having done a set of “the switchbacks” was priceless! From what I saw they all enjoyed it though.
With bigger events and 4 start/finish lines comes admin and a few little issues though! Hopefully most weren’t spotted by 99% of those on course but both Salcey Forest and Cannock Chase had their own little dramas (the 6 hour events are very drama-free so we all notice the little dramas!).
Salcey Forest dramas – confusion on the course. The 50 mile, 50km and marathon events pretty much went without issue. It was effectively the same as years gone by at the Salcey 50. Easy! The 10k was 1 lap on “this” side of the road. This was also relatively drama free - from memory. The half marathon was where we had a few problems with course navigation! I had a large, A3, arrow up saying “lap 2” and another “finish line only”. Runners where told it was a 2 lap course… but some still came to the finish line after lap 1! This then triggered them on the timing kit as having finished – but I hadn’t worked this out until it was too late to sort out during the event! It all got worked out post-event but it did cause a massive headache at the time. There was also a crossroad junction on the course you came to twice from different directions, both times you turned left. Easy… if you just keep looking straight. If, however, you’re tired and don’t know the course or woods, stand in the middle of the junction close your eyes and spin around 5 times (I’m being dramatic for effect here!) then who knows which way to go!
At Cannock Chase Forest I’d learned some lessons from the Salcey Forest event, and replaced the yellow arrows, that got a bit lost I the green leaves, with purple ones (worked perfectly). However I did create a couple of other issues! The biggest headache came around 60 minutes after the 10k start. The finish line went in both directions… the 10k and marathon runners coming from one direction and then everyone else from the other (reading that does sound ridiculous!). No-one is sprinting at this point so it wasn’t a whacky races type problem – but picking out numbers in crowds going both ways - or stopping at the aid station - was difficult for me doing manual input timing! Again, we got through all the problems post-event. However it did then cause the biggest mistake…!
In the moments of bedlam it meant I missed one or 2 runners on their first lap of the marathon (1 10k lap and 2 10 mile laps). So, when the first placed female crossed the line in the marathon I didn’t realise… It was her first event too so she didn’t expect to be winning and the beauty of these events is that knowing your position isn’t as obvious as a standard road event. So I gave out first place to the 2nd place runner. I felt/feel awful. To make it even worse it was a very regular runner and it upset her. I still feel very bad about this one - this is very much a mistake you make once and never again!!
Given the little glitches in 2024 I’m making a few minor changes to 2025. The first one is to get a timing company in to fully time the events. My system is good and can handle the numbers of runners I’ll have but I’m really the only one who knows how to work it when it goes wrong, which then makes it difficult for me to get out on course if needed. Hopefully there will be no issues on course and I’ll get to sit with my feet up both days chatting but this game is all about planning for the worst! I’ll also be looking to tweak the courses at Cannock Chase so we eliminate a two-direction finish line.
The biggest change will be dropping the 50 mile option at both. It’s a shame as 50 miles is a great distance. It’s a long way but it’s a day out, not a day and night out. Numbers have been low and getting lower though! 22 finished 50 miles at Cannock Chase in 2022, 13 in 2023 and 10 in 2024. I think by 2029 we’d have -2 finish at this rate!! If there is interest in future years then never say never, but for 2025 if you want to run 50 miles with Big Bear you’ll have to do a lot of laps very quickly in a 6 hour event (the overall record is 52 miles by Andrew Siggers so it can be done!!!).
In summary, I love TrailFest events, they’re a mainstay of the calendar and if anything they may happen even more in 2026….