Salisbury Plain Marathon & Half winter edition

What was good: course was marked out well, plenty of free car parking, a mix of terrain, some road, some gravel, some bog if that’s what you’re into. Decent number of marshals about and a nice medal too.

What was bad:
On the day the weather was awful, strong wind and rain which made some areas very tricky to navigate so don’t expect a PB here, this is a trail run really. Car park was huge but the access road was awful, bring an SUV/similar if you have one. There’s only one checkpoint in the HM and they don’t provide cups so you will need to carry your own / bring a bottle/camelbak. The HM course was too long at just under 14 miles, didn’t bother me but I guess if you want to compare the time with other events it would be annoying.

All in all a well organized race and I would definitely do it again.

I will start with the negatives. So firstly the weather will make or break this event. The 2024 event was run during storm Darragh and the wind and rain was horrendous!! So bad that my wife got her first ever DNF which is a real shame. The previous year it was freezing fog apparently so when booking this event make sure you purchase some decent winter running kit and prepare for a potential battle against the elements. The route overall is a good one. It has a good mix of runnable areas with some hills chucked in for good measure. It was well marked even with a few of the route markers being blown down. It has plenty of hard tracks to navigate as well as some very muddy areas for us this year. Unfortunately due to the extreme weather I found the atmosphere to be very muted. Normally runners are a lot more supportive of each other and chatty, but this year it was almost like you were running a solo event as everyone was just in their own world of pain and survival, again this is purely down to the poor weather conditions out there on the training area. The course Marshalls were brilliant. All were cheering you on and they deserve a medal themselves for standing out in those conditions for hours, so well done team. Aid stations I would say also had the very bare minimum in them, but not sure if this is normal or was just because of the weather? I would recommend this event to anyone looking for that little extra in their marathon challenge.

Course was pretty easy to follow although lots of bits were frozen including quite deep tank tracks which were hard to navigate. Had to slow down quite a lot here to avoid rolling ankles etc. Some fairly gentle hills, one brief set of steps and a few annoying road crossings. Would've been nice to have mile markers too

It was my first marathon and it was definitely tough! I really enjoyed it though!! Definitely worth doing of you want a challenge

Great venue for a scenic route. Great organizers and overall nice experience. Definitely coming back again!

What a wonderful route around Salisbury Plain, and beautifully organised. The organisers effortlessly and efficiently sorted out the issue of bibs on the day in spite of the problems caused by the postal strike.

Thoroughly enjoyed the run. Good views, only one impossible climb (which was very short) and a very friendly atmosphere created by organisers and runners.
Rolling start was a curious novelty. Will definitely put on calendar next year.

A really well organised event.. I chose to do this event as my 2nd Marathon as it was nice and local to me but also all off road. Knowing there was a hill or 2 thrown in was exciting.

The organisers were very welcoming and explained everything so there was no misunderstanding. The rain few days beforehand made for some technical areas but as a trail event you expect these.

The aid stations were all well stocked no matter how many people had passed with a great range of food and drink. Being a cupless event meant there was no litter risk which is always a bonus.

The marshals and crew were all enthusiastic and kept you going. At the road crossing they were loud to make sure you knew if it was clear and were always safe with no worries of traffic.
The medals at the end were not the traditional metal ones but wooden and engraved which makes for a lovely change and really moving with the times!

All in all a great event and would highly recommend it, I know I would do it again!