It might sound a bit boring but it really isn’t, I’ll explain a bit…

It breaks down big goals in to smaller chunks

If you’ve had exam aged kids in the last 15 years you’ll have heard of BBC Bitesize. The idea being to break down the daunting challenge of exams in to smaller bits. This is the same. Rather than working out how you’ll cover 50km just do another 5k, then another, and another…! Breaking down the big task in to small chunks really does help overcome big goals.

You can never really be last!

We’ve all seen the way some of the runners at the back of the pack can be treated at traditional city marathons and events. It’s not nice. We’ve all got (some of us anyway!!) the school trauma of being last. We don’t want to replicate that! The lapped format means that after about 30 minutes it’s very difficult for anyone (except the timekeeper) to know who is last, first or any position. An hour or 2 in and it’s impossible. As you’re all on the same loop you’ll be mixed in with faster and slower entrants. There is no tailrunner checking their watch hoping you’d hurry up! Often the last person to finish is actually the winner… but sometimes they finished 2 hours ago - it’s impossible to know!

You get to actually be with your friends and clubmates

If you’re part of a running group and you all sign up for an event (having annoyed the longer distance and shorter distance runners by meeting in the middle in terms of distance!) after you’ve said hello at the start you’ll likely not see them again. If they’re super speedy they might even go home before you finish. With a lapped event you’ll actually see you’re friends on the course. The speedy ones might lap you a few times. it’s actually quite novel for them to be running with people too - it’s lonely at the front too (I’m told!). If you’re a slower runner and they normally all leave you for dead you’ll actually see your friends, maybe they can slow for a few moments to see how you are too. Best of all you can please the longer and shorter distance runners as they can all do their own distance. The majority of our venues have cafes on-site too so they short distance runner can grab a coffee and cheer you all over the line too! It’s a great social format.

You won’t get bored of the route

Running through an industrial park (just once!) is dull. Running laps around town isn’t much fun either. All of our venues are in beautiful woodland or parks. I promise that you’ll love the venues we use. You’ll spot different things on each lap and every time you return the landscape changes. Having laps means you can settle in to a bit of a rhythm as you know what to expect but it won’t be boring unless you like lots of asphalt and roads….!

Fully stocked aid station (and toilets!) every lap

If you’ve only ever done road running you might expect an aid station every few miles, in trail it’s not really like that. For numerous reasons it might not be feasible to get an aid station in to the wilderness. The majority of trail races don’t have toilets on the route and if they do it is rarely at every aid station. At the end of the lap you know you’ll likely be close to your car, a proper set of toilets and our jewel-in-the-crown aid station! This isn’t just some sweets and electrolyte. We’ll have everything you could ever want during an event. Taking all the best bits of ultra running (the food!) and brining it to shorter distances. The aid station changes throughout the day too so there is variety there but there is no guess work in what facilities you’ll get - every aid station, toilets, access to your kit and all the food and drink you’d want. Point to point events can’t often promise that!

There is no such thing as a DNF

If you complete one 5k lap you’re a finisher. You can take the whole 6 hours! Even if your day doesn’t go as you planned you are still a finisher. There is no worrying about getting yourself home from the middle of nowhere or not coming home with your medal. You start, you finish.

You can push new boundaries

You can “accidentally” break distance or time records with ease. If you are looking to go form half marathon to marathon but you have doubts you can start the day hoping to achieve the distance (having done the training etc etc.!) but you don’t have to have committed to do the distance or fail. If you’re having a good day you’ll get there. If it’s not quite clicked but you go further than ever before - brilliant! You can celebrate the win rather than being made to feel like a failure in a sweaty mini-bus being bought back to the finish!

No pressure

See what the day brings. The only pressure comes from you and your aspirations. We’ll always encourage you to carry on, and make sure you want to stop, but there are no time cut off’s for each lap or a set distance you need to cover - it’s a pressure free event!