Well versed in delivering expedition training weekends, Jamie, Clare and the team at First Light Adventure are very pleased to bring you our new trail running weekend in the Peak District.

You are invited to join us for an all inclusive two day (2 night) fun packed trail running weekend, featuring guided trail runs, training sessions, discussions and activities lead by the enthusiastic team.

The weekend will be ideal for those wanting to improve their trail running, gain training insights and build confidence in the off road setting. By opening up 20 places for participants, we aim to keep it intimate / personal and able to factor in your individual requirements as much as we can.

The First Light Adventure Trail Weekend Includes

2 Nights full board accommodation (2 x breakfast / lunch / dinner)

3 Guided trail runs (different distances to suit different abilities)

Strength training and conditioning for trail runners

Navigation and the art of not getting lost

Stretching, mobility & injury prevention / maintenance

General trail advice / kit advice and making the most of your future adventures

Accommodation will be in the twin rooms / dorms of the John Hunt Base at Hagg Farm near Ladybower Reservoir in the Peak District. Full board catering will feature 2 x breakfasts, 2 x packed lunches and 2 x evening meals. (Please do speak to us if you have any specific dietary requirements)

Early bird prices start at £240pp for shared dorm room accommodation to £270 pp for sharing the twin room.

Plenty of car parking space is available on the premises.

Itinerary: (timings may be amended to make the most of the weather conditions on the day)

Arrive at The John Hunt Base on Friday evening between 4pm and 6pm. Get settled into your room and meet fellow participants over a welcome cuppa.

6.30pm: A gentle 6 - 8km headtorch trail run in the surrounding countryside.

Shower back at the base before an evening meal and social around the fire pit.

Saturday

Breakfast.

Strength and fitness exercises for runners, including a discussion on movement and posture.

Guided trail run over the local hills and trails, various distances available. You will have guides on hand for 10, 15 and 20km. You’ll be taking on some beautifully scenic views on these guided runs.

Showers/downtime

Collect picnic lunch, walk to viewpoint and eat lunch overlooking Ladybower reservoir.

Navigation foundation or improver session. Discuss the fundamentals of compass and map work and following a route, as well as planning your own routes.

Showers and dinner back at the John Hunt Base.

Evening talk around the fire pit. Lessons learned during 3 decades of ultras (kit choices and tactics) and mental strategies and developments in the sport.

Optional night navigation session in the immediate surroundings of Hagg Farm.

Sunday

Breakfast

Guided trail run around the climbs, edges and trails of Edale (10, 15, 20km distances). With occasional hard climbs and short technical descents, we will teach you about positioning, energy conservation and staying safe on the trails.

Return to base for showers and lunch

Debrief Q&A

Depart 3pm onwards

Kit required

Waterproof coat and overtrousers.

Fell/trail running shoes.

Running clothing to keep you going for 2.5 days. The vast majority of the weekend will be outdoors.

Good fitting running backpack with waterproof liner.

Drinks bottle – ability to carry 1 litre of water

Head torch and spare batteries.

Mobile phone.

Extra layers for relaxing.

Any snacks / drinks you wish to bring.

About us

Jamie and Clare have been running and climbing in the mountains around the world for over 30 years. Both are mountain leaders and both subscribe to ethical low impact principles, sharing their passion for the environment and caring for it. They have been race directors since 2017 and their First Light Adventure running events are regularly praised for quality, friendliness and value. They keep their events small and low key, whilst concentrating on delivering maximum enjoyment for participants.

Beyond running, they are both involved in delivering training in the outdoors to a wide variety of clients. From people wishing to hone their night navigation skills for events such as the Spine Race to young people on Duke of Edinburgh expeditions wishing to learn how to live and move safely through the countryside. They also lead clients on many of the UK’s mountain challenges such as the National 3 Peaks, Yorkshire 3 Peaks, Welsh 3000’s and Snowdon overnights.

After all that, just to make sure they are getting their outdoor fix, they have two working cockers that insist on exploring every blade of grass in the district, every minute, of every day!

Achievements

Favourite race – Karwendelmarsch (Austria)

Most epic race – Manaslu Trail Race (Nepal)

Favourite road race – huh?

With over 120 ultra trail race finishes between them plus treks, runs and climbs in Asia, Africa, Europe and the uplands of the UK. You can rest assured that you are in capable hands. 

Red Langan Fitness

Having admired the organisation and community of some events I’ve participated in, I decided to organise my own event. Chesterfield didn’t have it’s own ultra race and, given that the Chesterfield Round Walk provided the blueprint for a great route, it should be simple right?

My first meeting at the County Council Headquarters in Matlock saw me spread the maps out on the table…..and then visibly shrink as the assembled officers suggested “we can close this lane off here”, and “put some traffic lights there”. We needed to be on the same page, it was clear that they were thinking of a mass participation event whilst I was talking about a niche event with perhaps 50 people. Eventually, after much explanation, our thought patterns converged and the discussion became much more realistic. The first thing I noted was the encyclopaedic knowledge that they all possessed in their related area. “That footpath comes through the hedge directly onto a road!” Much tutting and frowning as the rest of the route was dissected and tossed about. Several workable suggestions were aired and I agreed to go away and work on it. The parting comment was “We don’t want to make it difficult for you, we just want it to work properly, safely and without incident, that way it will be much easier in future.” The police were also equally thorough and helpful, providing me with conditions to meet and statements to share with regards to responsibility and traffic offences. I’m fairly shell-shocked by the amount of work to do and already have a newfound respect for Race Directors.

The revised route, I walked it, detailed it and lead a few recce runs. I sorted areas where we could post an aid station – it helped that the route went directly past the front doors of several friends' houses. In the case of CP6. Park Gate Cottage, Ann and John have also staffed the checkpoint every year and added their own signature to it - providing fresh fruit, cold drinks and even a hose pipe “shower” during the hotter days! I spoke to all of the farmers en route explaining the date, number of runners and approx times. Likewise, I spoke to all households whose property formed part of the route. It was a lot of effort but every meeting produced a positive tick and all were grateful for the advance notice – some farmers even going so far as to suggest they will keep those fields clear of livestock on the day in question. Having built a relationship, it’s now got to the stage where I can text some of the contacts en route thus saving a bit of time and travel.

Race HQ – it helped massively that Clare had such a good relationship with North Wingfield PC – with the first Spire being a fundraiser for a local charity we were given use of the Community Development Centre free of charge.

Getting the message out to participants – in year 1 it was largely word of mouth and a few emails to local running clubs and a few clumsy Facebook posts. I also went old school and had flyers printed off for distribution at other events in the region.  I went over and above to attract people – goody bags (Chia Charge and Mountain Fuel), Spire Ultra drinks flask memento, medal for all finishers, and finish a meal (veg chilli and rice).

I borrowed all the race signs, the hi-viz vests and the water containers/jugs from North Derbyshire Running Club. By running the event “In association with North Derbyshire Running Club” I was able to get away with just paying for the race permit fee and insurance as a one-off payment. A goodly number of my colleagues from the running club also marshalled (and continue to do so). Indeed some now have a spot that they consider their own.

A photographer was tasked to get some action pics and year 1 promised us the blessing of sunshine. I was up late the night before and extra early on race day to put the Caution Runners signs out and deposit checkpoint materials. By 8 am the first runners started to roll up and register. We had 29 starters for the first year – small enough to cope with but sufficient enough to be able to get decent feedback and imagery for future races. My race brief drew attention to the risk assessment that I’d emailed everyone and the protocols we expect on the course. A five minute walk to the start and at 9 am they are off.

Now the day becomes more dynamic – there’s a relief that this stage has been reached, it’s now a case of keeping ahead of the situation. I had to get to the busiest main road crossing sharpish. As it was a 50mph road I had to wear a full hi-viz body cover. Running to my point my phone rang, it was Ann who was supposed to be at the crossing with me – I’d left her near registration. “Where am I going?” - “With me” – “And where’s that?” Oh crap, thinking things is not the same as actually saying things, these are the domino-falling scenarios that can easily pan out in a race if you have not been thorough enough in the step checks. I apologised and gave rough directions before my eye caught sight of the first runners approaching. The traffic was not as busy as I’d feared and the crossing itself posed no difficulty. It was only after guiding the last runners over and giving Ann an apologetic hug that I returned to my car 5 minutes away. On unlocking the car I spied 2 runners who looked vaguely familiar – yep they were Spire runners and they had missed an arrow and run straight on, adding almost 2 extra miles to their day. More insights into the RD role – people going off course and in some cases getting lost.

At 34 miles the route was much longer than the events that North Derbyshire hosts and this impacted on the Runner’s signs available to me. I had to pick up the signs from the early stages and place them in the latter stages before driving to the finish for the first cuppa since breakfast and to greet the winners. I was also blessed to have friends serving food thus giving me the chance to mingle and get really useful feedback. To say it went well is an understatement, I loved it, the runners all loved it and the marshals all loved it. That first event raised £400 for Fairplay children's charity in Chesterfield, and it sowed the seed for future events that ultimately helped shape the direction of the business. Yeah, it can be a tricky, plate-spinning role, but being a Race Director is a rewarding role.

Trail running continues to grow in popularity and there’s little wonder. Training, whilst having a micro-adventure and enjoying nature through all of your senses, creates a lovely cleansing, meditative effect. A run on the trails banishes all thoughts of the humdrum existence back behind the walls.

Yes, trail running is trickier than road running in a physical sense. You will run slower as the hills, obstacles, and uneven terrain you encounter will dictate a constant moderation of pace. Then you also factor in additional mental and physical effort to ensure progress remains safe and steadfast as you negotiate the route.

The beauty of trail running is the freedom to run as fast or slow as you like and to feel you are doing it without too much pressure.  You no longer feel the need to compare yourself with others – there are far too many variables to make a valid like-for-like comparison in any case. The experience of nature has moved itself to the forefront and this does so much for your well-being. A win-win situation with rewards that last well beyond slipping off your trainers at the end.

But where to start? Just head out on a footpath near your home and walk a bit, look around. Go with a mate. Venture a little further each time. Then start jogging/running it. Then begin looking at your nearest country park – we have loads of reclaimed old colliery sites locally which, having been planted with trees over 30 years ago, are a delight to run around.

Then once you appreciate that extra flexing your ankles endure and the gait/posture changes required for steeper up and down sections have a think about even grander ventures. I’m privileged to live minutes from the Peak District and, despite having been in the area all my life, I’m still finding new adventures and experiences in this beautiful National Park. Most of our guided runs take place here and they prove an excellent adventure for folk. Many people turn up on their own and appreciate the chance to run with someone for a sense of reassurance – they won’t get lost, and there’s someone on hand if they experience difficulties. There’s also the sociable side, the adventure is shared, friendships are made and future plans are discussed. It’s amusing to see people quickly follow each other on Strava at the end so that they can keep in touch and swap photos.

What should people expect? Based on what people have said in the past I’ll use this as an opportunity to explain;

Guided runs are not races – there’s no Start / Finish arch or race-related signage, and there’s no marquee/registration tent. We gather at the agreed point, chat, warm up, and run.

Guided runs are not mass participation – we’ve had people think they are looking for hundreds of runners. Typically there’ll be 8 to 20 people on each run with the guides leading and tail running.

Guided runs are at a sociable pace – there’s nothing to stop people from doing the occasional fartlek-type burst of pace but in the main, we are jogging/running at the pace the group dictates. There will also be photo stops to capture those memories and the occasional walking moment when we negotiate trickier sections.

There’ll also be hints and tips passed on as we progress. These could be kit-related, posture or technique-related, and discussion about further trail adventures in the locality.

By the time we return to the starting point, we will have had an enjoyable, sociable run with many laughs and many side discussions. Often there’s a cheeky cafe or pub stop there too but go carefully, you don’t want to undo ALL of that good work.