This is an event I always look forward to, if you’ve never heard of it before it a series of 4 races that take place every month starting in January. There are adult and youth races, the adult distances are roughly 4 miles and the youth distances are about 2 miles. Each course goes through the woodland surrounding Broughton that we know and love at TeamBR. You receive a score based on your positioning in each race and at the end those scores are totalled to give a final series winner. You don’t have to attend every race but if you’re the competitive type and want a shot at the series crown, you have your best chance when you attend them all. For those non-competitive types, the woodland is great to run round and enjoy the surroundings.
When setting this up, I first got the idea from a trail series I did in the Peak District as one of my first introductions to running in the Peaks. Each race went out in waves, I picked the first wave purely because I was on a time limit and getting the job done so I could get home in time for dinner was a high priority. There were a lot of other people in the same wave as me and over the course of the series we built up a level of camaraderie. Each time turning up on the start line seeing the same people and, yes, we were competitors but it was friendly and I came to really enjoy seeing on the start line and having a bit of banter before racing.
That was back in 2018, which seems like a lifetime ago now. But, the events always stuck in my memory as something I looked back on wistfully throughout my running career and it was those memories which spurred me onto starting the Broughton Trail Series. In 2023, we started the first series. The limit was capped at 50, we weren’t sure how popular it would be or if we could handle the amount of participants in the space we had. So, when we released the event, we were really shocked to see the event sell out, all rounds maxed out!
January came and the first round started. It was, honestly, an absolute joy to be able to see the series beginning. The atmosphere was friendly, just as I’d hoped and this continued throughout the series. The series is now in it’s 3rd year, the cap is set at 100 and we now have a youth series too. The atmosphere stays the same ever since day 1 and long may this continue!
In my humble opinion, this event is a fantastic start to the year. It gives you something to aim for right from the start of the year, you get all those great physical adaptions from running trails as well as the mental benefits from being out in gorgeous surroundings with friendly people. If you aren’t signed up, why not!? 🤣
