The following are hopefully a series of answers to many of the questions you may already have. We will be updating this continually as race day approaches.

If you need any further information or have a question that has not been answered here, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us using the contact details at the bottom of this page.

Yes, as you would expect for an ultra marathon passing through some quite remote stretches of countryside, for safety reasons there is a mandatory set of kit you are required to carry at all times. Please see our Race-Kit Page. This kit will be checked at registration, with further random checks during and at the finish. Failure to produce items will result in disqualification.

As per UKA rules for races of these distances, you must be a minimum of 20 years old on the date of the event. Three Rivers Ultra entrants must have previously completed a trail marathon; Four Rivers Ultra entrants must have previously completed a 35 mile trail marathon; Five Rivers Ultra entrants must have previously completed a 50 mile trail marathon.

The Essex & Suffolk coast may seem like a benign environment, but this can be quite exposed and isolated terrain, so train accordingly and familiarise yourself with running and navigating in the dark.

Further details can be found in our full terms & conditions of entry.

On the 5RU route, there are seven main manned intermediate checkpoints located at Cattawade (20 miles); Shotley Gate (33 miles); Suffolk Food Hall (42 miles); Trimley St. Martin (52 miles); Woodbridge (66 miles); Shingle Street (80 miles); Orford (91 miles). The 4RU course uses the latter five from this list. The 3RU course uses the latter three from this list.

The cut-offs at each checkpoint will be based on maintaining a steady pace consistent with the overall time limits for each course. This means that all three courses can be tackled by walkers as well as runners. The 5RU course will require a consistent route march of ~3.5mph to complete it. The 4RU course will require a steady walk of ~2.3mph to complete it. The 3RU course will require a modest walk speed of ~1.7mph.

You are welcome to use your own crew, however please consider that this race passes through local communities and avoid disturbing local residents by meeting your crew away from residential areas.

You are still required to visit all race checkpoints for safety reasons. Checkpoints are for runners and race officials primarily and we therefore reserve the right to ask crew to leave if space is at a premium. Further guidance on the use of crew and suggested locations will be shared closer to the race.

A full menu will be published closer to the event itself but expect a small selection of cold simple sweet and savoury snacks at the checkpoints out on the course. For the Four & Five Rivers Ultra course, the checkpoint at Woodbridge will also provide soup, warm drinks and a vegetarian pasta dish.

The finish line is at the Blaxhall Village Hall, where hot and cold drinks and snacks will be available for all event finishers. Free Parking is available for friends and family who come to collect you at the end of the event. Free parking is also available for competitors in the adjacent Recreation Ground Field for the duration of the event (at your own risk).

The nearest railway station is at Campsea Ashe 2 miles away (strangely it is called Wickham Market station, even though the town of Wickham Market is several miles away). Connecting train services are available to Ipswich, London, Norwich and Harwich. We will provide a free drop-off service to Campsea Ashe for any runners wishing to travel onwards by train after the event.

Convenient overnight accommodation within half a mile of the finish line includes the village pub with rooms, the Blaxhall Youth Hostel, and campsite facilties (either at the Youth Hostel by arrangement with them, or on the Recreation Ground immediately adjacent to the Village Hall by arrangement with us, charged at £5 per pitch as a donation to Village Hall funds).

If you have a car, a wider range of B&B or hotel accommodation can be found nearby at Orford, Melton, or Woodbridge.

Details of our refund policy can be found in our terms and conditions but in short we are able to offer some sort of refund up until eight weeks before the race and transfer to another runner up until 14 days before the race.

Read our full terms and conditions for further details on our refund and transfer policy.

A commemorative medal will be provided to all entrants who complete their full course (3RU, 4RU or 5RU). The fastest man and fastest woman to complete each course will also receive a larger commemorative trophy.

We have taken the decision to not provide a race t-shirt to all our entrants for environmental reasons. Some people love them, others hate them but one thing is for sure, a large number end up in landfill and with the average technical t-shirt having the same amount of plastic in it as five plastic bottles, this is something we are keen to avoid.

Branded cotton tee shirts will be available to purchase through the website in the run-up to the event, for collection at race registration the evening before the race.

Yes and yes! As soon as we have finished identifying and securing the checkpoint locations along the route, we will update the GPS track and publish this on the website and through OutdoorsActive for all to access.

All of our trail Ultras are self-navigation events, although primarily following designated regional trails.

This means that aside from some markings we may add around the checkpoints, you will be required to navigate yourself using map, compass and the existing signposts and trail markers positioned along the route.

While the signs are fairly well placed, familiarity with navigating in the dark using a map and compass is essential.

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