The Green Belt Relay is unlike most running events. With 11 runners tackling 22 stages over two days, organising a successful team involves more than simply getting everyone to the start line!
There’s transport to coordinate, stages to allocate, marshalling duties to fulfil and some tricky navigation to prepare for. It’s all part of what makes the weekend such a memorable experience.
This guide shares some advice from years of Green Belt Relay experience to help team captains and runners prepare for a fantastic weekend.
1. Putting Together Your Team
The role of team captain
As team captain, your most important responsibility is getting your team safely around the course. You’ll need to coordinate your runners, stay in touch with the race organisers and attend the captains’ briefing before the event.
It’s a significant commitment, but also an incredibly rewarding one!
Choosing your runners
The Green Belt Relay welcomes runners of all abilities. You don’t need a team of elite athletes to take part, although some stages are demanding and runners should be comfortable tackling the distances and terrain involved.
Each stage has a published difficulty rating and cut-off time to help you allocate runners appropriately. The cut-off times are primarily there to avoid teams being excessively penalised if a runner takes longer than expected, rather than to prevent slower runners from participating.
Everyone completes two stages across the weekend, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. You might expect the second day to be particularly tough, but experience suggests it’s often easier than runners anticipate, even with a few stiff legs!
Commitment matters more than speed
Perhaps the most important piece of advice is to make sure everyone understands what’s involved.
The most successful teams aren’t necessarily the fastest. They’re often the ones whose runners arrive at their stages on time, bring their maps, follow the route and take their marshalling responsibilities seriously.
A little preparation and organisation can make an enormous difference.
2. Marshalling Responsibilities
Every team entering the Green Belt Relay also commits to helping marshal the course.
With 220 miles of countryside to cover, the event relies on participating clubs providing marshals at key points to help guide runners and highlight potential hazards.
Marshalling isn’t particularly complicated, but it needs to be planned carefully.
Your team will need to:
- Provide enough people to cover its allocated marshalling locations.
- Make sure marshals arrive in good time and understand their responsibilities.
- Have any necessary equipment, such as high-visibility vests and warning boards. The organisers can lend these where required.
- Coordinate marshalling duties alongside transporting runners to and from their stages.
- Follow the relevant safety instructions and marshalling arrangements.
The organisers will work with teams to allocate suitable duties. Some clubs prefer to marshal an entire stage and complete their commitment in one go, while others prefer to spread their duties across the weekend.
Don’t underestimate the logistics. Make sure the people assigned to marshal a stage aren’t also expected to be somewhere else at the same time!
The latest marshalling plan will be provided before the race.
Please also familiarise yourself with our Race Safety guidance.
3. Transport and Logistics
Transport is probably the biggest logistical challenge of the Green Belt Relay.
Although public transport is possible for some stages, following the race around the course generally requires cars or minibuses.
Some clubs organise minibuses, while others split their runners between several cars. Either approach can work well, provided you plan carefully.
The secret is to alternate stages.
Unlike a conventional relay, each stage starts at a fixed time, often before runners from the previous stage have finished.
For example, you need to get your Stage 2 runner to their start well before your Stage 1 runner has finished. By the time you’ve collected the Stage 1 runner, it will probably be too late to get someone to Stage 3.
Many teams therefore use two vehicles or groups of vehicles:
- Vehicle A: Stages 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11.
- Vehicle B: Stages 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10.
The same principle applies on Sunday.
This allows one vehicle to get ahead to the next stage while the other collects runners finishing their previous stages.
Plan your journeys in advance
Some changeover points are in surprisingly obscure locations, and relying on a postcode alone may not get you to the correct place.
Before race weekend:
- Review the official driving directions for every stage.
- Check start and finish locations, parking arrangements and postcodes.
- Allow extra time for traffic and difficult-to-find changeovers.
- Make sure each driver knows where they need to be and when.
- Have a backup plan in case a runner or vehicle is delayed.
The course passes along plenty of narrow country roads, and traffic can be heavy in some areas, particularly around St Albans.
Please drive carefully. No stage time is worth risking an accident, and arriving slightly late is far better than putting yourself or others in danger.
4. Navigation – Know Your Route!
The Green Belt Relay is not an orienteering event, and you don’t need specialist navigation skills. However, the route is complex, with plenty of places where runners can take a wrong turn.
The course is marked, but with 220 miles to cover, it’s impossible to guarantee that every marker will remain in place throughout the weekend.
Even a route that looks straightforward on paper can become confusing when you’re tired, running at speed or following unfamiliar paths.
Our advice is simple: prepare before you run.
Read your stage map
At the very least, study your official stage map carefully before the race.
Pay particular attention to:
- The overall route description.
- Junctions and places where runners commonly go wrong.
- Safety warnings and road crossings.
- The final approach to your stage finish.
- Any last-minute route changes.
Watch the stage video where one is available, and listen carefully to the instructions at the start briefing.
Explore the route online
A little time spent studying aerial imagery using Google Maps or Google Earth can make the route much easier to recognise.
Try following the entire stage on the map so that you can identify major junctions, landmarks and changes in direction.
An hour spent preparing could save you considerably more time during the race!
Use GPS as an additional guide
GPS route information is available for the stages and can be loaded onto compatible running watches or phone apps.
Following the route on your device can help you identify wrong turns quickly, particularly in complicated sections.
However, GPS devices aren’t infallible. Signal reception, battery life and mapping accuracy can all cause problems, so always carry and follow your official race map.
Recce your stage
If you’re particularly competitive, or simply want to feel more confident, consider running or walking your stage beforehand.
There’s no substitute for knowing the route from experience, especially if you’re aiming for a stage win!
You can find maps, stage descriptions, GPS information and available videos on our Course Details page.
5. Accommodation and Enjoying the Weekend
There are lots of ways to experience the Green Belt Relay.
Some runners travel to their allocated stages and head home afterwards, while others follow the entire race, supporting their teammates and enjoying the atmosphere along the way.
We’d strongly recommend experiencing as much of the weekend as you can!
Cheering on your teammates, meeting runners from other clubs and following the competition around the course are all part of what makes the event special.
Saturday night in Blackmore
The first day’s racing traditionally finishes in the picturesque Essex village of Blackmore, which also hosts the start of Sunday’s racing.
It’s a lovely place to finish the day, with traditional country pubs and an opportunity to catch up with teammates and competitors.
Blackmore is around 90 minutes’ drive from the Kingston area, so many teams prefer to stay nearby overnight rather than travel home.
Accommodation in Blackmore itself is limited, but there are plenty of options around Brentwood and further towards Dartford.
Staying locally gives everyone a chance to relax, enjoy some refreshments, reflect on Saturday’s adventures and prepare for another day of running.
Just remember that Sunday’s first stage starts promptly, so plan your morning accordingly!
6. Final Advice for Team Captains
The Green Belt Relay is a wonderful event, but good organisation is essential to making the most of it.
Before race weekend, make sure you have:
- Confirmed your runners and their allocated stages.
- Checked that everyone understands their stage distances and difficulty.
- Planned transport for both days.
- Allocated and communicated your marshalling duties.
- Distributed the course maps and driving directions.
- Encouraged every runner to study their route.
- Agreed how the team will communicate during the race.
- Arranged any overnight accommodation.
- Read the race rules and safety information.
- Made sure everyone knows where they need to be and when.
Above all, remember that the Green Belt Relay is about much more than finishing times.
It’s a weekend of teamwork, friendly rivalry, exploring the countryside and sharing an experience that brings running clubs back year after year.
Plan well, look after your runners, enjoy the atmosphere — and have a fantastic Green Belt Relay!