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 four distances for you to choose 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 very 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 postcode NN7 2HX for your Sat Nav. It is located here on What3Words.
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 9 am) 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?
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 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.
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 | Half Marathon | Marathon | 50K |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Before 28/06/2026 | £20 |
Before 28/06/2026 | £35 |
Before 28/06/2026 | £51 |
Before 28/06/2026 | £62 |
| After 28/06/2026 | £25 | After 28/06/2026 | £40 | After 28/06/2026 | £56 | After 28/06/2026 | £72 |
Unaffiliated entrants pay £2 extra. Why not join your local running club or sign up for the Big Bear Brigade and save 10% off entries forever! 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!
What are the timings for each event?
| Event | Registration Open | Event Start |
|---|---|---|
| 50 km | 07:00 | 08:00 |
| Marathon | 07:00 | 08:30 |
| Half Marathon | 08:00 | 09:00 |
| 10 km | 08:00 | 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.
Are there cut-offs?
Yes, but they’re pretty generous! The cutoff for the event is 19:00. For the 50 km event, this means an 11-hour cutoff, or a 21-minute/mile pace. All other events have the same 19:00 cutoff – so that’s 10 hours to complete the 10k!
I’ve heard you do cupless events?
That’s right! Discover how we host 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 a 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.
Summary Details:
TrailFest Salcey Forest – Marathon FINAL
TrailFest – Salcey Forest 50K FINAL
TrailFest – Salcey – HM
TrailFest – Salcey Forest – 10K FINAL
