COMPANY OF RUNNERS cordially invite you to join us for the Camuplodunum Marathon. Your challenge should you choose to accept it, is to self-navigate on a marathon trail course following the trails and tracks encircling Colchester.
Colchester was known as Camulodunum in Roman times. Derek Keeble conceived the Camuplodunum in 1974 as a 25-mile walk encircling the town. See what he did there: Camu-PLOD-unum. Genius! We’re sticking almost to his route – obviously the urban landscape has changed a little since the 70s plus we needed to top it up to over 26 miles.
There will be no checkpoints on the route, so this is a self-supported race. However, you will pass lots of shops and pubs – and we have listed these on the written navigation. Please study them in advance and plan out your day. We don’t mind you meeting up any supporters if you prefer them to deliver refreshments to you.
Mandatory kit: We will expect you to carry our tracker, mobile phone, and start with a minimum of 500ml liquid and chocolate bar equivalent of fuel.
The race should only be attempted by runners who have completed a half marathon or greater distance race with training beyond 20 miles. The cut-off is nine hours, to allow fast walkers to join us. Participants should also be comfortable with following navigation instructions, GPS files or by reading maps – this course is not marshaled nor does it have tape/arrows to show the way. We will be giving runners trackers; these can be used by participants to check that they are on the correct route, or friends and family can follow you plus we can see where you are.