We're delighted to bring you the entire Virtual Lakeland Trails Series, taking you on a single virtual journey along a route at each of the Lakeland Trails' venues. Two routes, one scenic (virtual) run through the Lake District National Park along with the Lakeland Trails' community, six weeks to complete.
Our three previous Virtual events have proven incredibly popular and the runners love sharing their adventures in the exclusive event Facebook group which captures the essence of the Lakeland Trails' community spirit. What better way can there be to get some motivation and (virtual) company whilst you're running this winter?
We've gone the extra mile to make it as easy as possible for you to track your progress, with automatic syncing from Strava so you don't have to manually upload your activities to see your cumulative miles. Your progress is plotted along actual routes - no straight lines from A to B like you might see elsewhere, and with photos from the actual course at specific waypoints, it's the next best thing to running with the amazing Lakeland Trailers but from your doorstep. One runner's feedback that ours was the best virtual mapping out there!
The Longer One: 250k following the longer 14-18k Lakeland Trails' routes, the full Marathon and 100k Ultra (a totally achievable 4k a day)
The Shorter One: 150k following the 10k Lakeland Trails' routes, 1/2 Marathon and Ultra 55k
NEW for 22: The Mini One: 75k following the 5k Lakeland Trails' routes at Staveley, Keswick, Cartmel and Helvellyn; the 10k at Hawkshead, Coniston, Mini-Marathon & Ullswater and the 14k at Ambleside
Which will you choose?
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Following the 14-18k routes at each of the regular Lakeland Trails' venues, along with the full Marathon and 100k Ultra, you'll take in all of the classic Lakeland Trails views, climbs and venues. Whether you're running on the dreadmill with Pete Lashley on in the background, on your local trails or further afield, you'll be able to share your progress on the actual course maps and share your running with the Lakeland Trails community via an exclusive Facebook page group for the event.
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Following the 10k routes of each of the regular Lakeland Trails' venues along with the half Marathon and 55k Ultra, covering a shade over 150k in the 6 weeks, you'll experience the really stunning virtual scenery as your travel around the Lake District. Whether you're running on the dreadmill with Pete Lashley on in the background, on your local trails or further afield, you'll be able to share your progress on the actual course maps and share your running with the Lakeland Trails community via an exclusive Facebook page group for the event. Suitable for runners 12 years old and over.
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**NEW for 22** Perfect for younger runners or those who don't run that far or that often, the 75k option runs the 5k courses at venues where it's an option, the 14k at Ambleside and the 10k routes everywhere else. Whether you're running on the dreadmill with Pete Lashley on in the background, on your local trails or further afield, you'll be able to share your progress on the actual course maps and share your running with the Lakeland Trails community via an exclusive Facebook page group for the event. Suitable for runners 9 years old and over.
*In the case of any issues with the Strava sync, you will be able to manually add your activities in our system.
Last year's year's tees are shown below and we'll be updating them to offer a choice which will include one bright colour.
If you prefer, we can donate the cost of the t-shirt to our Tees for Trees initiative instead. You can find out more about that on our Environment page.
We'll send out information to the entrants a week-or-so before the event explaining how they can sync their Strava profile and sign up to the exclusive Facebook group. In the meantime, if you've entered already, why not download your Virtual number to customise?
Virtual Lakeland Trails number 150 K
It's really straightforward to sync your Lakeland Trails account to your Strava one. We've created a simple 'How To' Guide which can be downloaded from THIS LINK.
Nearly all of our previous competitors found the process very simple as we've made it as easy as possible and our system has an extremely high uptime. We'll be able to give a few suggestions if you're struggling to get the tech to work and we'll sort things at our end in the unlikely event there are any technical glitches but unfortunately we can't provide a tech support service if you have specific issues.
We set up our first Virtual Lakeland Trails during the pandemic to capture the spirit of the real events via an exclusive Facebook group and help everyone keep in contact & ticking over during the winter months. The overwhelming feedback was that people wanted to see the virtual events return as a regular feature of the Lakeland Trails' year. Of course, if you're new to the Lakeland Trails, you're most welcome to take part too!
Our Virtual Lakeland Trails 150k will sequentially follow the 10k courses at our regular Lakeland Trails events along with the 1/2 Marathon and 55K Ultra. Taking the longer option, the 250k route takes in the 14-18k courses, the full Marathon and 100K courses.
As you take part in the event, your progress will be plotted on a map of the course and you'll move from one venue to another automatically. There will be a selection of photos along the routes so you can see where you'd actually be running.
Your entry will grant you exclusive access to a private group on the Lakeland Trails Facebook page.
Never run off road at all? Want to be able to run up the mile-long 'Coffin Trail' hill at Lakeland Trails in Hawkshead? Are you in awe of the speed at which some people fly down the fast descent from Latrigg towards the end of Lakeland Trails in Keswick? The regular Lakeland Trailers will be happy to share their experiences to help you develop your skill and enjoyment of running the trails.
As well as seeing your own progress on the virtual map and in Results' tables, you'll also be able to pit yourself against a friend, other members of your running club or even one of the elite inov-8 athletes. The great thing is, you're in control of your own goal and challenge - it might be that competing 150k in six weeks would mean you'd run further than you'd thought possible or that taking part gives you motivation to get out of the house in the dark (and we all know how much better you feel once you've gone out when you really had to force yourself!). If you like the challenge of seeing how far you can run, you'll be able to continue going around the route for the duration to see how many miles you can rack up!
Saturday 15th January
00:01 START of the 2021 Virtual Lakeland Trails Ultra
Sunday 27th February
23:59 END of the event
We've had a few questions about our Virtual Ultra so we thought we'd respond to them as FAQs
Since we're not able to run together on real courses, a virtual run gives you the opportunity to run wherever you are and watch your progress on a map of the virtual course you have chosen to take part on.
Unlike the real events, there's no cut-off time so you can take as long as you like over the six weeks that the event will be running for.
The simple answer is no! Every run (or walk) you do will count towards your total mileage so you could do fifteen 10K runs or fifty 5K runs - or any combination that works for you. Please follow all laws and guidelines about exercise in your local area.
Like our Challenge events, it's perfectly fine to walk or run to cover the distance.
If you've got a Strava account, you'll be able to link it up before the event so that our system will automatically updated your progress. Don't worry if you don't as there'll be the option to submit your efforts manually too.
Whilst we offered this in the past, it's logistically very challenging so unfortunately we can't offer this.
The t-shirt's are 'Finishers' t-shirts but as we need to order and send them out all at the same time, we'll get them dispatched as soon as we can after the event has ended.
Of course! If you can't select the option you want, please DROP US AN EMAIL
