The Lakeland Trails Marathon takes in a complete circuit of Coniston Water along fully marked and marshalled footpaths and bridleways. Taking in the idyllic beauty spot of Tarn Hows and the elevated Beacon Tarn, the whole course gives panoramic views of Coniston Water and the surrounding peaks of the Old Man, Swirl How, Wetherlam and Dow Crags. Described by Runners' World magazine as 'the most scenic trail Marathon in Britain' this event is quickly becoming a classic European trail marathon.
For those wanting a shorter option, the Lakeland Trails Half Marathon utilises the first section of the marathon course as far as Tarn Hows, before heading back to Coniston.
Wanting a quick blast? The new Mini-Marathon 10k route will also take in Tarn Hows for maximum scenery delights!
We'll be returning to the fantastic Coniston Sports and Social Centre which proved popular with its bar and plentiful seating for spectators.
A carnival atmosphere is guaranteed for both spectators and competitors, with live music, race commentary, food and drink all available at the start and finish. So, whether you're new to trail running, an experienced athlete, or simply looking for an unforgettable day out in the Lake District, a family-friendly, festival atmosphere and some amazing trail running awaits you!
07.00am
£49 U25 £26
New lower price
REGISTRATION IS ONLY OPEN ON THE SATURDAY FOR THIS START TIME - this is due to the early time and restrictions imposed on us by stakeholders. If you can only Register on the day itself, please choose a later start time. An event for less competitive runners and fitness walkers. If you want to enjoy the views, this is the one for you. There is a generous time limit of 8 hours for the Challenge and to enter you must be at least 18 years old. Please note that prizes for the Marathon are only available to those in the 9am 'Race' start.
08.00am
£49 U25 £26
New lower price
An event for less competitive runners and fitness walkers with a generous 7 hour time limit. You must be at least 18 years old. We would advise you register on the Saturday to get your race off to a relaxed start but Registration will also be open for a short time on the Sunday morning for this event. Please note that prizes for the Marathon are only available to those in the 9am 'Race' start.
09.00am
£49 U25 £26
New lower price
For the competitive runner, a well marked and marshalled course with fast, graded runnable climbs and descents for those used to off road running. There is a time limit of 6 hours for the Race and to enter you must be at least 18 years old.
10.00am
£42 / U25 £20
An event for less competitive runners and fitness walkers. If you want to take it easy and enjoy the views, this is the one for you. There is a time limit of 4 hours for the Challenge and to enter you must be at least 18 years old. Please note that prizes for the Half Marathon are only available to those in the 11am 'Race' start.
11.00am
£42 / U25 £20
For the competitive runner, a well marked and marshalled course with fast, graded runnable climbs and descents for those used to off road running. There is a time limit of 3 hours for the Race and to enter you must be at least 18 years old.
11.15am
£34 / U25 £15
For both competitive and casual runners, a well-marked and marshalled 10K course with fast, graded runnable climbs and descents for those used to off road running. There is a time limit of 2 hours for the 10K and to enter you must be at least 18 years old.
11.15am
£13.50 / U25 £10
New for 2026, following the first section of the Trail Run 10k up to Tarn Hows Cottage before splitting for a scenic descent through Lags Coppice. A perfect introduction to trail running, with no time limit
If you're familiar with our Marathon and Half Marathon courses, you will not be surprised that the Marathon route was voted as the most picturesque trail marathon in the country by Runners' World!
We had some slight changes in 2024 and for this year have kept all of the best bits, including a circuit of Tarn Hows, the undulating trail on the edge of Grisedale Forest running the length of Coniston Water and the stunning Beacon Tarn as you turn back and head home but do watch out for race route signs pointing in different directions to previous years!
The Mini-Marathon 10k route was completely new in 2024 and it was a real hit! Gone is the flat, boring section of cyclepath from previous years - it's replaced by a beautiful run through Tarn Hows woods, a circuit of the iconic tarns and a fast tree-lined descent to the event village. The views along the course are stunning!
All of the pre-race information is now shown below. Please take time to read it carefully.
The event requires over 50 marshals and stewards, so if you want to volunteer to help us in any way we would love to hear from you. Check out our volunteers' page for more details.
Can you fill your car with someone from your local club or car share? We've set up a Facebook group to help arrange that. Join that HERE to save money and emissions.
Send us a photo / screenshot of your public transport ticket to the event, or a photo of your bike in the event ground HERE and we'll randomly choose someone for a FREE entry.
We won't be holding a Safety Briefing as all of the ESSENTIAL information is covered below.
✅ Follow the postcode LA21 8AL to Coniston and then follow our car park signs
✅ All day parking is £5 for cars, £6 for vans
✅If the ground is soft, use LOW revs and set off in a straight line
❌Only SMALL vans (max. VW Transporter) are permitted on our event parking (anything bigger could get stuck at the entrance and cause problems for everyone else)
❌ NO EXIT before 1pm as both car parks have only one entrance / exit
✅ Race number to be collected on the day AT LEAST 45 minutes before your Start Time (except Marathon Challenge 7am start who must collect theirs the day before between 2pm and 5pm)
✅Your race number must be attached HORIZONTALLY or the timing chip won’t be read
✅ Set off at your allocated time or you won't show on the Results
✅You can swap your entry to the Race, Challenge at least 45 minutes before the earliest Start Time of the two (e.g. if you want to swap from the 1pm Challenge to the 2pm Race, 12:15pm is the deadline).
✅To arrange this you can either: edit your entry online up to 6 days before the event, contact us up to the Wednesday beforehand or do it in person at Registration on event day. The deadline to defer or request a refund has passed.
✅ Carry your own water or bring your own cup for the water stations on course or by the marquee
✅ If you arrive at a closed gate, please close it behind you – there may be lambs in the fields
✅ If you find the terrain is tricky, be prepared to slow down so that you can negotiate it safely
❌No over ear or in ear headphones (bone conducting ones permitted)
❌Snot rockets or spitting on the course
❌No pushing past other runners
✅ Be considerate to other trail and road users - our events rely on the goodwill of others
✅ Have a wonderful day
Please note, registration for each race closes 45 minutes before your scheduled start time apart from the 7am Marathon Challenge (Registration ONLY open on Saturday for this)
Start Lists
Start Lists will be available 2 weeks before the event date and will appear here once published.
Saturday 6th June
14.00 - 17.00 Registration opens in the marquee
Sunday 7th June
06.30: Car park opens at the event parking - follow our signs
07.00: Registration opens
07.00: START: Marathon Trail Challenge (8 hr time limit - register on Saturday from 2pm to 5pm only)
08.00: START: Marathon Trail Challenge (7 hr time limit - registration on Saturday advised)
09.00: START: Marathon Trail Race
10.00: START: Half Marathon Trail Challenge
11.00: START: Half Marathon Trail Race
11.15: START: Mini Marathon 10k
14.15 : Children's Fun Trails
14.30 Après Trails live music with singer / songwriter Pete Lashley
15.30 Prize & Spot Prize Giving
The event requires over 100 marshals and stewards, so if you want to volunteer to help us in any way we would love to hear from you. Check out our volunteers' page for more details.
With bus prices capped at just £3 per journey until the end of 2026, why not relax and take in the views along the route, save on the cost of parking and reduce your carbon footprint?
Coniston is accessible from Ambleside on the 505 bus. You can find the latest timetable HERE
Send us a photo of your public transport ticket for all or part of your journey and we'll award one lucky winner at each event with a FREE ENTRY to a future event. Email your photos HERE
The environmental impact of travelling by car is much reduced if it's full so why not join up with your friends / running club members to travel together? If your car has 4 or more occupants, parking is FREE!
As well as saving £5, for the first time, to encourage car sharing we will award a FREE entry to a runner who sends a photo of them with 4 or more people with their car at the event car park. Submit the photo HERE.
There's always plenty to do in and around our venue and visiting local businesses helps support them too. Visit our Car Share group on Facebook HERE to start planning!
We have bus information under the 'sustainable travel' tab above. With bus tickets only £3 per journey, why not arrive at the event relaxed and enjoy the scenery on the way?
If you arrive by bike, we’ll have a bike rack available (bikes left at your own risk).
All day parking is £5 cars and £6 for vans. Alternatively, fill your car with 4 or more passengers and park for FREE. We prefer payment by card machine, although we can accept cash. Please use our Car Sharing Facebook group to either offer or request a lift.
The car park opens at 6:30am and is located in fields right next to our event centre at Coniston Sports and Social Club (please do not attempt to park at the Sports Club as this parking is for volunteer marshals). Please follow our Car Park signs, be patient and follow the directions of our parking marshals.
Nearly all of our runners and polite and friendly but, for some reason, a few people abuse our hardworking car park crew because they have had to wait a few minutes or they're being asked to park considerately. We have a zero tolerance policy to this sort of behaviour and will not hesitate to ban people from our events if they behave in this way.
If the weather is very wet leading up to the event, please check the event website for any announcements about possible changes in arrangements.
Non-event parking in Coniston is very limited and the roads are narrow so please use our car parks so that residents aren’t inconvenienced. We rely on their support and want to keep them happy. If you were planning to travel in a motorhome or large van, why not park in Ambleside and get the bus in? You can check the timetable HERE.
When you are leaving the venue, please be patient if you’re asked to wait a couple of minutes, either for other cars to arrive or to give priority to runners.
Directions – The postcode LA21 8AL will direct you to Coniston Village then once in the village please follow event signs for parking rather than your sat nav. We will have two car parks in use depending on what time you arrive. It’s really important that you follow our instructions to avoid causing congestion in the village.
Please be very careful when you when you are driving through the village and exiting our car parks as there may be runners alongside the route.
All Race Numbers must be collected from Registration in the main marquee. For the 7am Marathon start, numbers can ONLY be collected number between 2pm and 5pm on Saturday (as stated when you entered).
Registration opens at 7:00am on Sunday. You can collect your number up to 45 minutes before your allocated start time.
Start Lists won’t be on display in the marquee but will be available above and we will confirm your number by email a couple of days before the event.
If you forget what your number is, you can check it on a tablet in Registration.
If you’ve got any questions about your entry, please go to the Enquiries desk on the right-hand side of the main marquee and a friendly face will help you.
There will be a baggage storage adjacent to the main marquee.
Please note there are no entries on the day and entries are not transferrable to another runner. Runners competing with someone else's number will be disqualified and will not be eligible for prizes or appear in the results.
We will also prevent them from taking part in future Lakeland Trails events, such is the safety risk if something were to happen to a person whose details we don’t have on our system.
All contests set off from Coniston Sports and Social Club.
The finish is under our inov8 gantry. When you cross the finish line, it’s really important that your whole number is clearly visible so we can give you a shout out and cross check our timing system in case of any queries. Failure to display your number may result in disqualification
Once you’ve finished, if you've ordered a t-shirt, you will be available to collect it from inside the marquee.
Results will be available in real-time via our website.
Cut offs are in place for your own safety and that of our volunteer marshals, as they will have a long day out on the courses.
The time stated is the time to leave the feedstation / checkpoint.
Marathon Challenge
Hawkshead Hill (High Cross) 17.5k
3h 15 mins after start
Water Yeat 28.8k
5h 30 mins after start
Sunny Bank 35.1k
6h 40 mins after start
Marathon Race
Hawkshead Hill (High Cross) 17.5k
2h 25 mins after start
Water Yeat 28.8k
4h 5 mins after start
Sunny Bank 35.1k
5h after start
Event T-shirts must be ordered in advance on our entry system. You can add one to your order up to Tuesday 19th May.
Your race number will indicate the style (unisex or female) and size of your t-shirt. If you have deferred from last year, we will order you a t-shirt if you requested one when you entered. T-shirts are available in the marquee after you have completed your run but unfortunately cannot be collected on behalf of other people.
Please note - if you are not attending the event and want us to post your event t-shirt to you, we can do so for £5. Please make that payment HERE a minimum of 2 days before the event. We cannot arrange this any later and refunds are not available, in line with our Ts and Cs.
All courses will be well marked and marshalled by our magnificent Lakeland Trails volunteers, all of whom work hard to make your run as enjoyable and safe as possible. The courses have a variety of terrain, mainly beautiful, scenic hard packed trails with the occasional muddy section!
Please stay alert on any road sections and keep close to the right hand side. Our marshals don’t have authority to stop traffic, so please be prepared to slow down and wait if necessary.
Please be attentive at the end of your event as the route takes you through one of our parking fields.
If you think the terrain is too tricky, it’s fine to slow down or walk and take in the views! Some gates on the course may not be staffed so if you arrive at a closed gate, please close it after you – there will be lots of lambs in the fields and we want them to stay there. There are sections of private land which may only be used on race day and please put any litter in your pocket until you reach a bin.
For safety, in ear headphones are not allowed - but we do allow bone conductor headphones which enable peripheral sound to be heard.
Please also be considerate to other trail and road users. We share access with them and we rely on the goodwill of others to make our events possible.
VERY IMPORTANT: DOGS AREN’T ALLOWED ON THE COURSE
As part of our commitment to reduce our environmental impact, please play your part by coming self-sufficient with your own water supplies or bring your own re-useable cup. We will not be supplying cups at the Water Stations so please bring your own to be filled with Lake District water.
Water and Feed Stations are at the following distances:
Half Marathon
8.8k at Oxen Fell (food and water)
15.5k at Tarn Hows exit (water)
Marathon
8.8k at Oxen Fell (food and water)
15.5k at Tarn Hows exit (water)
16.5k at High Cross (food and water; portaloo)
28.9k at Water Yeat (food and water; portaloo)
34.8k at Sunny Bank (food and water)
At the feed stations there will be a selection of sweet and savoury snacks, including bananas, crisps, jelly babies and flapjack. Water and flat coke will also be available.
We recommend you wear suitable trail running shoes. The inov-8 Roclite or Trailfly shoe would be ideal for the course - possibly the Mudtalon if it was very wet. In adverse weather a jacket, tights, hat and gloves may be required, so do come prepared, just in case. The Lake District is a mountainous region and the weather can deteriorate at any time of the year but especially in the spring.
Advanced Life Support Medics from Event Safety Group will be in attendance and our in-house Comms Team will provide radio coverage to the marshals and crew. The medics priority is medical emergencies and more severe injuries. With that in mind, they may not be able to help you with minor cuts and scrapes that you’d normally be able to sort out yourself.
If you are unable to finish your event and need to retire, you must report to the finish line or an event marshal and hand in your race number.
Please remember to treat fellow runners, members of the public, our volunteers and crew with respect. We want everyone to have an enjoyable day!
Pete Bland Sports will be onsite providing expert advice, selling a wide range of the latest inov8 products and race essentials with great discounts on all inov8 footwear and clothing – even their exciting new products.
There will be some great food and drink stalls including exciting offerings from our local caterers. Our regular caterers include Fiery Mammas Pizza and Wrap Ninjas, with great coffees from The Coffee Bug and Podda and Wren Coffee. We sometimes have guest traders too! We use all small local businesses who sell locally sourced food.
A PA system with race commentary from our fantastic MC will keep you informed of progress of runners and give you a warm welcome as you cross the finish line!
Portable loos and a urinal unit are also on site.
If it's your first event and you want to find out more about how the event works or have any questions, please introduce yourself to one of our friendly marshals and we will be happy to make sure you get the information you need!
All children Under 12 have the chance to run alongside, or maybe even in front of, Zeraffa, the long-lost cousin of the late and much-loved Gerry the Giraffe. Entry is only available on the day and is free for competitors’ children. The Fun Trails give children the buzz of the race day experience so please give them your support. You never know – they might be the next world champions! All the children are rewarded with a special finishers’ sticker. As the emphasis is on FUN and participation, there are no winners’ prizes. Bring your whole family along to make a great day of it! At the Marathon, the Fun Trail sets off at 2.15pm.
We will have a fantastic selection of NEW merchandise available, including NEW sustainable 100% organic cotton hoodies & tees as well as Lakeland Trails' technical tees and NEW mugs. Check out our SHOP page for further information.
Spectators are very welcome and really help create a fantastic atmosphere in the event village. There is plenty of entertainment at the start and finish arena; bring deck chairs, rugs, cameras and a smile!
We will have James Kirby and Paul Mitchell, our professional photographers on the courses. FREE photos will be available to download from www.Facebook.com/lakelandtrails on the Monday after the event.
The legendary singer / songwriter Pete Lashley will be performing live for an hour with Prize Giving following on at 2.30pm afterwards. This is a great opportunity to meet fellow competitors, the organising and marshalling teams.
There will be a great range of Spot Prizes up for grabs. We’ll choose the winning numbers at random during our Prize Giving ceremony.
Results will appear LIVE on the Results page on our website.
Prizegiving is at 3.30pm and prizes are awarded as follows:
Half Marathon Race
Open Class: First 3 Men & First 3 Women
Veteran Classes: First Man & First Woman (V40, V50, V60, V70, V80)
Marathon Race
Open Class: First 3 Men & First 3 Women
Veteran Classes: First Man & First Woman (V40, V50, V60, V70, V80)
ALL Marathon finishers receive a medal!
Mini Marathon 10k
Open Class: First 3 Men & First 3 Women
Veteran Classes: First Man & First Woman (V40, V50, V60, V70, V80)
Please note that if a Vet finishes in the top 3, they will receive the corresponding Open Class prize. There is only one prize awarded per person.
V70 and V80 competitors in the Marathon or Half Marathon can compete in either the Race or Challenge to be eligible for a prize. In all other categories, prizes are only awarded for runners in the 'Race' starts.
Unfortunately we are unable to post prizes out.
The event requires over 100 marshals and stewards, so if you want to volunteer to help us in any way we would love to hear from you. Check out our volunteers' page for more details.
After the excitement of the race, it can be easy to forget to pick something up. If you think you've lost / forgotten something, please contact us HERE and we'll see if we can locate the item. Items can be collected at a future event free of charge or posted back to you for £5. For the latter, please pay HERE after we've confirmed we've got your item.