New Forest Trek Fest Weekend and Beaulieu: 5km,10km and half-marathon trek or run challenges

After breakfast we transfer to the New Forest Showground ready for our day of trekking ahead.

You leave all the fuss, busy life and smooth asphalted roads behind, to be greeted with peace and fragrant nature. How beautiful is the sound of water! It may be a lively forest brook, a pond, maybe a lake, or a mighty river. It is a different world that lives right next to you and gives your mind a chance to rest and become stronger. The forest helps us remember who we are and where we come from. Being a National Park, the New Forest is packed with diverse habitats, welcoming many kinds of wildlife within its boundaries. Much of the park has been awarded Special Area of Conservation status due to how rich in wildlife it is, with New Forest wildlife finding its home within the hundreds of miles of bogs, woodlands and open heathland. The New Forest is home to not one but five different species of deer, with only two of these being native to the UK. Fallow deer are the easiest to spot; the females flecked with white spots, and the males sporting impressive antlers. The native species are the roe deer and the red deer, which are much fewer in numbers and more elusive. Sika deer and muntjac deer can also be sighted if you’re lucky. Dawn and dusk are the best times of day to look out for deer.

All routes will start and finish from New Park Showground, Brockenhurst and wind through the heart of the New Forest National Park. The multi-terrain courses offer some of the most scenic running experiences in the country, with a mix of forest enclosures, open roads, far reaching views and of course the famous New Forest ponies, so is an event not to be missed. On the first day we will cover 13 miles or 21km. There is a 10km version available for families and those not wishing to go so far. Armed with a packed lunch and water bottles which can be filled up en route we will take on this challenge, immersed in the beauty of the forest. Our guides have an intimate knowledge of the forest and ready with binoculars and laminated photo sheets we will explore and discover what this bountiful area has to offer.

We provide a celebratory dinner at a local restaurant the end of the day and challenge certificates/medals for those who would like to savour the experience in this way. For groups we also offer a fauna spot list, see how many you can get!

Night: Campsite/Accommodation

Trek: 21km or 10km

B,L,D

This morning we will pack our things back into our vehicles and enjoy a hearty breakfast. We will undertake a 5km walk and there will be some quiet time to just sit and absorb the sounds and fragrancies of the forest. There will be a talk on how the SOE worked and your chance to imagine how people can hide in this kind of terrain, and what they would take with them. We will go to Beaulieu for lunch and uncover Beaulieu’s history as a top secret training establishment for special agents of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War Two.

Over 3,000 SOE agents were trained in the dark arts of warfare at Beaulieu before undertaking daring and dangerous missions behind enemy lines.

THE AGENTS

This will also prepare you for further escape trips with us to France to see where the agents operated and undertake the famous Freedom Trail or the Freedom Trail Experience long weekend where you can follow the route of escapees over into Spain.

We then bid our farewells around 16:00 and depart.

Trek: 5km

(B,L)