50-mile and 50-kilometre self-navigation ultramarathons in the Mendip Hills
The official Butcombe Trail is a 47-mile route around six pubs in the Mendip Hills, a designated area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB). The route is mostly off-road and takes in beautiful running country and fantastic views as it criss-crosses the Mendips. It was devised as a hiking trail by local walker and writer Sue Gearing in 2007, in collaboration with Butcombe Brewery, and was first run as a single-day ultramarathon in 2016, organised by Bristol’s Town & Country Harriers trail-running club.
2026 will follow the same format as 2025 with 50km and 50miles races running anti-clockwise from our Race HQ at Mendip Activity Center.
The Entry Fees include £5 increase from 2025, which will go towards the cost of tracking devices. We decided to bring in tracking to improve accuracy of runners’ timings, help spectators follow them around the course and help us find a runner in the unlikely event someone gets injured and needs assistance.
Both races will be qualifying events for the UTMB® and sister races : the 50 miles being a 100 km ‘index race’ and the 50 km being a 50 km ‘index race’.
The organisers, marshals, and checkpoint crews are all runners, many of whom regularly run ultras and know what’s needed to make a great race and help people get to the finish. This is evident in the comments we receive from runners after the race, and you can read some full race reports and other feedback here.
Although runners will be well supported during the event, it is not to be taken lightly.
For the 50 mile race only runners who will have run a trail marathon by race date (either as a race or in training) since 1 January 2025 should apply.
For the 50 km race we do not require this but you should nevertheless be confident you can run this distance self-navigated.
The races are organised by volunteer members of the Town & Country Harriers (TACH), a Bristol off-road running club, for the benefit of the Mendip Hills Fund. This is a community fund set up to conserve and enhance the environment, communities and economy of the Mendip Hills. The fund is a partnership between the Mendip Hills AONB and the Somerset Community Foundation. TACH is proud to have donated a total of £18,800 to the Fund from the proceeds of the race in previous years.
New Prize Categories for 2026
TACH wants its races to be as inclusive as possible. So, while the Female prize category is only eligible to those who meet the England Athletics criteria for Female category competition, we now have an Open prize category available for all competitors irrespective of gender. Please select your prize category when entering the race.
This is an evolving area in sport, and TACH will continue to investigate ways to improve the inclusivity of our races.
For more details, see the various pages on this site, and to ask questions please visit our Facebook page.
Butcombe Trail Ultra 