Farnham Pilgrim Marathon is a challenging trail Marathon with beautiful scenery and outstanding views in the Surrey Hills. Mainly off-road, multi-terrain, multi-surface.  This race is entering its 12th year. It has become a Very popular and successful event. It is renowned for the large number of friendly marshals, has frequent water / refreshment stations, Free parking and many other facilities.

Farnham Pilgrim Marathon is possibly one of the toughest, but prettiest trail marathons in the UK.  It is set to be one of the “must-do” events of the year again! The route is challenging and hilly -after all it is the Surrey Hills! This is no ordinary marathon. It is a unique, bespoke event with the option of a half marathon.

The event is organised by The Rotary Club of Farnham Weyside (Registered Charity no. 1053391).

Sunday 13th September 2026.

All net proceeds go to charities.

Early Bird Offer- £40

Affiliated – member of a UKA-affiliated Club £42

Unaffiliated (price includes processing fee)  £44

(price includes processing fee)

Free, supervised parking.

First Aid 

Start Time – 8.30am

Marked and well-marshalled route (the maximum distance between water-stations is 6 miles!)

Start/Finish: The Sands, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 1NE. OS Grid Reference SU 883464

Final Race Instructions 2025.

These instructions are in 3 sections.

1 – Pre-Race Information.

On behalf of Farnham Weyside Rotary, thank you for entering the Farnham Pilgrim Trail Marathon or Half Trail Marathon.

Running Kit

It is important to wear the right kit for trail running. We would recommend running in kit you have trained in so that you know it is comfortable.

The recent weather has been very dry. We do however strongly recommend trail running shoes. The trails are rocky and steep at some points and if it is raining there are plenty of slippery tree roots. If you wish to run in road shoes you can too.

This year we are going cupless. This means you need to bring with you your own cup or drinking bottle. Water to refill your cups is provided at Marshall stations. Carrying a hydration pack, bottle or folding cup is required this year. We recommend you carry a minimum of 500ml with you at all times.

We would also recommend you carry a charged mobile phone and the what3words app.

Please feel free to add the Course Director’s numbers to your fully charged mobile phone – for emergencies only – Lynda 07808 988250 or Philip 07962 398282.

Race Numbers.

There will be a pre-race number pick up both on Friday 5th September and Saturday 6th September, 10am to 4pm at Howden Insurance, 18 West Street, Farnham, GU9 7DR. If you are picking up your race number from Howden on the Saturday we recommend using the two car parks around Waitrose in Farnham. Please check before as Farnham is experiencing a number of short notice road closures at the current time as the town centre is redeveloped.

Alternatively you can be collect your number on the day for which the event village will be open from 7am. Please ensure you give yourself plenty of time to collect your race number as the start times will not be delayed.

Please ensure you fill out the details on the reverse of your number.

Planning how to get there?

The event car park is opposite the Farnham Golf Club and the location for the car park is as follows.

The start is at Sands Recreation Ground which is a 5-minute walk away. We will direct you between the two.

The car park is free but there will be a bucket for donations to The Rotary charity.

2 – Race Day.

Parking.

The event parking will be open from 7am. Early risers will be able to purchase a pre run coffee from the event village.

Marshals will guide you to a parking spot and then onto the event village.

There will be a bag drop at the event village so you can leave kit behind, but we would recommend not bringing valuables to the bag drop either leaving them at home or in your car.

There will be a number of food and drink options for you at the event village and also portaloos.

Start Times

The Full Marathon start time is 8.30am and the Half Marathon start time 9.00am.

Please make sure that you leave plenty of time before the start time to park and familiarise yourself with the surroundings, but there will also be plenty of marshals to help you find your way around.

This year we have a separate field for the car park which is next to the start finish and event village area.

A pre-race warm up will be provided 10 minutes before both start times.

Both events will have a tail runner and if you have any questions along the way there are Marshalls to support you at each Marshall station.

Running Marathons and Half Marathons are strenuous events. Do not leave home if you are feeling unwell. We will have a medical team available on the start/finish field and a further medical unit at the halfway point.

We would recommend considering insect repellent and sun cream as you deem necessary. This is a trail run so you will be out with the wildlife.

We are very pleased to be supported by Farnham Town Running Club this year along with sponsorship from Birdworld.

Marshall Points.

There are plenty of Marshals along the route, but below are each of the marshal points that will have water available for you to top up your drinking cups or bottles. Please make note of these water points so that you can plan ahead.

Marathon Water Stops.

Half Marathon Water Stops.

The course.

The course will be marked with Pilgrim markings – black arrows with orange circle on a white background. There will be marshals at critical points throughout the course – please listen to any instructions they provide particularly at the road crossings.

Please respect other members of the public who are also using the course paths. 

Bin bags will be in place at the Marshall stations and at registration.

The Finish

All finishers will be awarded with our colourful Pilgrims medal.

3 – Post Race.

After the race our event village will have plenty of food and drink for you to purchase and we look forward to hearing your running stories.

There will not be an official photographer, but we will have someone taking photos at the start and finish and will share these with you after the race.

Feel free to share your own photos and videos and lastly please support us on Instagram via ‘farnhampilgrimmarathon’. We will be posting plenty of interesting stuff and pictures and videos before, during and after the race.

Lastly, watch out for early bird discounts for our 2026 race.

We hope you enjoy the race and keep safe.

Best wishes,

Lynda –  Rotary Club of Farnham Weyside

Philip – Chair Farnham Town Running Club

Contacts

Email address: farnhampilgrim@gmail.com

Very well organised race with plenty of support, aid stations and more than enough marshalls.

This is a really excellent event. Superbly organised with loads of water stations and marshals (all sorts of sugary snacks at the water stations too). The route is beautiful: fairly hilly, but beautiful. Not one for a PB, but a fantastic run.

This event is brilliant organised and very friendly. I was slightly apprehensive of the course knowing there were some stinker hills but nothing too horrendous with lots of downhills to make up your time.

A once in a lifetime marathon, never to be repeated! A brute of course but will leave you with a sense of achievement. Feed stations and their volunteers were top drawer. Organisers and marshals make this a special race.