The Spring Larmer races are our traditional season opener, taking place in March and perfectly timed for any big Spring races you might have. We’ve been at Larmer Tree Gardens and the Rushmore Estate for a long time, and it feels like a second home.
If you’ve never done the Spring Larmer races before, then you’re in for a real treat. It’s a packed race weekend, with distances to suit everyone as well as two dog-friendly options.
This article will run through everything you need to know about the 2024 running of this event, and we’ve linked to a couple of handy reviews at the bottom as well in case you want to find out more.
A bit of history
We first found Larmer in 2014, when we put on the Ox Races at the Rushmore Estate. Since then, we’ve built up a great working relationship with everyone at the Larmer Tree Gardens and Rushmore. The whole estate is massive, and has working farms, a huge public school, several very large woodlands, lots of cottages, an open garden, a wedding venue, high-quality golf course and a massive flock of sheep.
We’re the only running company that uses this estate and we’ve built up a lot of trust with the estate team over the years. The Larmer Tree races were actually created at their suggestion, as they have a quiet few weeks in March and suggested that something could happen.
What, where, when?
The Spring Larmer races take place at Larmer Tree Gardens, a stunning venue on the Rushmore Estate – good for weddings and trail runs.
We have plenty of parking, but it can get a bit muddy. We’ve had to pull cars out of the field before, so we encourage car sharing so we can park fewer cars safely away from the boggy bits. There’s no camping – it’s March, are you mad?
The 2024 event will mirror the format of the 2023 races as this worked very well, over the weekend of 2nd-3rd March 2024.
Saturday 2nd March
Marathon
20 Mile
7 Mile
7 Mile Dog Friendly
Sunday 3rd March
Half Marathon
10 Mile
10 Mile Dog Friendly
All the races are a bit muddy, a bit hilly and a bit beautiful. These are proper trail races in some really stunning surroundings. The 7 Mile is a great introduction if you’re new to trail running or fancy doing a couple of races over the weekend. The 20 Mile is perfect for a long run if you’re training for a Spring marathon.
A note for dog runners: We love dogs at our races, but we have limited venues where we are able to offer the opportunity to run with your dog. The Spring Larmer races have two dog-friendly options, the 7 mile and the 10 mile. We like to look after your running pal as much as you, so you’ll notice that dog entries are £2 more than standard entries. This covers the cost of sending out your race number (so you don’t have to queue with your pup on the day), a priority parking pass (so you’re close to the start line to have easy access to your car), water bowls at aid stations and a rosette for your dog at the end so they get something for their achievement too. We also have to pay extra insurance per dog runner for each race. Thank you for your understanding.
The medals will be the same this year as they were last year; they were new for the 2023 races and we keep the same for a few years to enable those who want to to collect the full set!
Hopefully this has whet your appetite ready for a wonderful start to the 2024 race season.
ENTRIES OPEN ON FRIDAY 27TH OCTOBER 2023 AT 7PM
Read a review of the 2022 10 Mile and 7 Mile races here