The date-range is set and the route is, by-and-large, set. However, this challenge is 1000 miles long and over that distance, between now and summer 2023, something is bound to change on the route or otherwise. Sometimes we also have to change plans on account of weather, injury, local conditions or restrictions; or other unforeseen factors. If we do have to change the route, usually these are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. Plus, the odd unforeseen change simply adds to the flavour of proceedings and provides for a good story to tell at day’s end! We do always reserve the right to change the route, however.

We are mindful that people will inevitably have varying distances to travel to Penzance on 3^rd June 2023. Which is why we will commence our itinerary from a pre-designated meeting point in the town for our registration and briefings phase (and not Land’s End itself). This will ensure it is as easy as possible for you to get to Cornwall and to connect with our event itinerary from there, given the various transport connections available to get to Penzance. If you wish to arrive in Cornwall earlier, that is also fine and we would ask that you simply make your own way to the designated meeting point at the appointed time in Penzance on 3^rd June 2023. On the night of the 3^rd June, you will accommodate yourself in the local area, as you may wish to spend the final night before your Epic journey with friends, family or do some final personal kit sorting. The next morning, choose to make your way to Land’s End direct; or choose to meet us in Penzance where we will then seamlessly transfer you and your gear to the event Startline at Land’s End itself.

Upon meeting us on 3^rd June 2023, you will carry out event registration and we will carry out some pre-event briefings. On the night of the 3^rd June, you will accommodate yourself in the local area, as you may wish to spend the final night before your Epic journey with friends, family or do some final personal kit sorting in your own time and space. The next morning, choose to make your way to Land’s End direct; or choose to meet us at our designated RV point in Penzance where we will then seamlessly transfer you and your gear to the event Startline at Land’s End itself.

After that, we will transport you to/ from the daily stage starts and finishes all the way to John O’ Groats!

Yes. We have designed this challenge so that you may travel at your own pace on the foot stages. See below for our notes on route-finding and guidance. Everyone will start together at the beginning of each day and then it’s down to you on selecting your own pace. There will also be some very generous cut-offs, just to ensure we do have a ‘finish’ to the day for you and for our crew. BUT, in the true Rat Race tradition these will be very generous and we will always look to help you to achieve your goals in finishing each daily stage, versus having to pull out. We will give you the maximum possible time window each day for stage completion and we have deliberately scheduled the event in June/ July to guarantee maximum available daylight with which to complete the journey each day.

If you need us out on the course and if you need to abandon the route for whatever reason, we are there for you. The absolute key is that you enjoy this amazing journey across the length of Britain; and that you do so within your own limits. If you do have to pull out of a stage, we will collect you and move you forward to the stage end. You may re-start the next morning from the start of that stage. We regret that we cannot re-start you from where you stopped on the previous day. There is no limit to the number of times we can do this for you – so if you do end up struggling – whether it is through injury or whatever – you may do some miles each day, pull out, saddle up in our support vehicles and re-start the next day – as many times as you like. This policy is of course subject to medical advice.

We want you to concentrate on the views and the hard work of putting one foot in front of the other. So we don’t want you to be staring at maps or navigational aids any more than you have to. The route will not be way-marked as such with big bright arrows. What we will do instead is to give you a navigational aid with the route pre-loaded onto it. You will press go and follow that line.

If you have your own GPS watch or device, you may choose to use this instead/ as well and we will provide the route files in advance so you can download the routes onto these devices.

You will follow this ‘line’ when on the foot-based route and this will be your main go-to resource for the duration of the challenge.

We will augment this system with our staff and vehicles at certain junctions where we feel there may be a risk of going the wrong way. And each day, we will start the day with a daily briefing that describes the route and what you can expect from the stage at various points during the day.

You will also have phone contact with our support team and a satellite texting device, so you can always get in touch with us if you need to – whether that is to check your routing or to tell us about a problem.

Don’t worry – you won’t get lost. But if you do – support is never far away.

We will use a mixture of run guides, stewards, pit stops and support vehicles to support you at intervals by our mobile ‘pit stop’ team. We will also have our medical team with you all the way, monitoring your progress and providing care and advice for you where needed. Our medical team will feature a physio, too, to ensure you have the very best advice on the route in respect of any musculoskeletal issues.

Across the challenge, we will have multiple vehicles at our disposal, plus multiple staff members, snacks and drinks to distribute. So, if it does get too much, if you overheat, get too cold, if you need sustenance, motivational support or otherwise, we will be able to assist. You are in the very best of hands. Our route is well thought out, our plan is heavily developed and our experience in staging this type of challenge is unrivalled.

Yes, but we would like you to speak to us if this is what you intend. We cannot provide accommodation or meals for them as part of our package – owing to the multitude of accommodation bookings we will be dealing with across the full route. However we do understand that for some, family or friends as supporters will be key in their success or failure in this endeavour.

As such, supporters in small numbers are able to travel independently, book their own accommodation and ‘mirror’ our route, linking up with you at Pit Stops and at stage ends.

It is probably worth pointing out that from our experience, the bonds and support forged between participants and crew on such undertakings should not be underestimated. You will have each others’ backs out there on this one and you will inevitably make friends for life. The support and camararderie that the event itself will be immense.

Rat Race require you to be over 18 on the day of Registration for this one.

Each day will have a different mileage and elevation profile, so it will not be a ‘one-size-fits’all. But whatever limit we do put on daily stages will be very generous and we want to state unequivocally that we do not want you to fail. We want you to complete the stages. The Rat Race ethos is to provide extraordinary challenges for ordinary people. You do not need super-technical skills or to be a seasoned endurance athlete. You will of course need a very good base fitness and serious conditioning for this one simply owing to the mileage and the pure attrition that 35 days on the bounce will give you. There is no question that you need to have done the training for this one. We will help you with that. As with all of our challenges, this is still definitely designed to be ‘doable.’ It is not designed as a sufferfest. You do have it in you. And Run Britannia is a journey that is utterly World-class in every way. We will ensure we support you the very best way we possible can. So suffice to say – unless you really are off the pace – we will try not to cut you off.

It is your choice. There is time to do either. if you maintain a fairly consistent 3mph pace, you will get round. Over this sort of distance and this number of days, it very much all tortoise and no hare.

Varied! We have designed this route to keep you off busy roads as much as possible. The route is 50% off-tarmac and the 50% that is on tarmac varies between minor roads and many traffic-free sections of tarmac-ed pathways. All of which means it will be rocky, hilly, lumpy and bumpy in places. It is neither all trail or all paved. Which means your footwear choice is important of course. You may end up in trail shows some days and road shoes the next. Or in both pairs in separate parts of individual daily stages.

Yes. We provide 35 nights’ accommodation and all catering throughout from Land’s End to John O’Groats. You can read all about the provision here.

If you no longer wish to take part, and can give us enough notice, you may be able to use our transfer process. Please see the our transfer policy here https://ratrace.com/transfer-policy/ Transfer requests can be made here. You can find full Terms and Conditions here. This event is a Bucket List adventure and those terms and conditions and transfer policy applies.

You can split this into interest free monthly payments, spread over up to 30 months depending on the date you sign up.

Oh yes. And more. We reckon for an undertaking of this magnitude that we really do need to push the boat out on the bling. Your entry includes a glorious 3-part medal – with segments each for the completion of English, Scottish and Welsh legs of the journey respectively. There will be bespoke and personalised hoodie and event Tee. You will also get a kit bundle worth over £100 on sign-up. Perhaps best of all – if you do finish the entire sitting – you will get the extremely coveted Run Britannia buckle.

We will request your t-shirt size and this will be the size you will be given at Registration.

Watch out for a lovely wee locally-sourced and inspired surprise memento’s en route and some informal ‘prizes’ here and there for derring-do and heroics shown along the route!

You can see a full kit list here.

If you have to withdraw, we will collect you via the Sweeper vehicles and move you forwards on the course to the stage end and that night’s accommodation (subject to medical advice if it is a medical issue that has forced you to pull out). If you need to pull out on a run/ trek stage where we cannot access the route with vehicles as easily, in all cases we will ask you to move to a road location for extraction. In all cases, the best place to pull out of the event is at a designated Pit Stop location, where we will have vehicles and staff. Subject to medical advice, you may re-start on the following stage. You can do this as many times as you wish.

Sorry we cannot accommodate dogs on the route, or in the accommodation.

No. We do not offer refunds but we you are able to transfer your first instalment value if you withdraw prior to the final payment date. We recommend customers hold the appropriate insurance to cover non-attendance for issues such as illness or travel problems. Please see the our transfer policy here https://ratrace.com/transfer-policy/ Transfer requests can be made here. You can find full Terms and Conditions here. For those wanting extra financial protection there is the option to join the Refund Protect scheme when reserving a place in 2022/2023 events. Refund Protect is a separate company to Rat Race and the terms of their refund protection can be seen here.

As part of your entry you can claim a free solo entry in The Wall Ultra 2021 or 2022 and Ultra Tour of Arran 2021 or 2022 to help with your training. To claim your free code for these events please email us on events@ratrace.com after you have signed up and we will issue them to you and your unique 15% discount code for all our events around the world and for the Rat Race store. We will also confirm the address to send your Rat Race kit sign up bundle to which comprises of 1 x Duffel bag, 1 x Great Glen bag and 1 x Merino Beanie, worth £150.