Route + Check Points

Brief narrative of the route and maps

The Imber Ultra Marathon is a circular trail run of 33.5 miles. It starts at the Leighton Sports Centre in Westbury at the north west of the Imber Range.

The 2024 event was run in a CLOCKWISE direction. A GPX file and detailed written route notes are both available for free if you want to use them (see below).

Over the first mile runners ascend the escarpment of Salisbury Plain, before joining and following the Imber Range Perimeter Path. TBH the clockwise route makes the first third of the run pretty ‘easy’ in that navigation is simple and it’s mostly mildly downhill on tarmaced or gravel roads with little traffic. The wind is often behind you as well. A fast runner told me that this is where he can get into a rhythm and conserve energy, ready for the hills and mud later; I on the otherhand would be puffing and panting even on this so-called easy section!

Finally you get to Gore’s Cross, where several miles of vaguely pleasant and soft tracks take you onwards to the third Check Point.

At this point you might be wondering where the mud, hills, and bleak windy uplands are.

They are still ahead of you. Sorry…

Bypassing Tilshead you are onto the ‘proper’ Salisbury Plain now and suddenly there is a rather large and unexpected village on your right hand side. Hmmm, it looks inviting… maybe there will be crowds to cheer you on, children handing out free jelly babies and encouraging you to tap on ‘power up here’ signs? Nope, it’s the famously fake ‘German Village’, constructed by the military in 1987/88 so the Army could practise what urban warfare – Fighting in Built Up Areas (FIBUA) – might be like in the event of a battle for the heartlands of Europe.

These are probably the bleakest few miles of the day before you descend again, this time into the village of Chitterne. The fourth Check Point here has a church and also a defibrillator, so if you’re going to pass out it might be worth doing it here please.

Rising again back towards the military training area (don’t worry, you never enter it!), you traverse the first of the enigmatically entitled Breakheart Hills before descending down onto tarmac, close to Siegfried Sassoon’s old house near Heytesbury. Then it’s mud and hills again. The Imber Ultra is a bit like James Brown, who never seemed to be able to decide whether he should ‘get up’ or ‘get down’!

The mud and hills are concentrated in this final 10 mile section, passing over the Iron Age hillforts of Scratchbury (where a final CP lies waiting) and Battlesbury as the path lumps and bumps its way towards and beyond the garrison area of Warminster, via an eclectic mix of tracks, gravel roads, grass footpaths and even ‘proper’ normal roads.

A ludicrously steep unofficial ‘Breakheart’ or ‘Heartbreak’ hill (also known as The Big Dipper) awaits before FINALLY the biggest descent of the day, back to a warm finish and a free banana at the Leighton Recreation Centre.

You made it. You’re amazing / happily average / mad – delete as applicable.

Detailed route notes & GPX file

You don’t have to be an orienteer to run this race. You won’t really need detailed route notes to get around as it is well signposted, and any minor misdirection will not normally result in serious lostdom (is that a word? It is now…).

BUT, some people like maps, grid references, and the like, and TBH we liked writing them and then periodically checking and updating them, so click here to automatically download a PDF file with everything on it – This is for the CLOCKWISE direction (being used in 2024)

A free GPX and FIT file for the CLOCKWISE direction can be found here

Check Points

The event usually has five checkpoints (see details below for the 2024 run in a clockwise direction). A reminder that we changed the Chitterne checkpoint in 2023, which had to be relocated due to a (positive) change to the Imber Range Perimeter Path, which now takes you away from the busy main road where the previous checkpoint was. It’s now next to the Church and Village Hall.

All are led and manned by around 3 volunteers from the Rotary Club of Westbury, with hopefully a representative from Avon Valley Runners as well.

Oh, you want food and drink as well?

OK, well, each will always have water and some snacks as a minimum. Each checkpoint will be different though. Take that as a positive (hopefully). If you want the same corporate snacks at each CP you should have paid £100 to enter a run from a faceless company – LOL.

Check point	Distance from start (miles) *	Name	OS Grid Ref	What 3 Words – http://www.what3words.com	Opens at	Closes (and cut off time)
5	5.35	Bratton Road Gate	ST929508	legend.alleyway.sting	09:15	10:15
4	10.75	Highland Cottages	ST996509	hazy.taps.zest	09:45	11:15
3	14.40	Tilshead	SU022474	stands.galloping.enthused	10:25	12:25
2	19.20	Chitterne	ST992440	strapped.wolves.survived	11:15	14:15
1	26.50	Scratchbury	ST910447	values.fall.flattens	12:00	15:30

Cut off times
Please note the cut-off times above. Due to the length of this event we feel that it is unfair to ask check point volunteers to stay out so long that they may become uncomfortable or not want to help next year. We hope you understand.

Notes for Spectators

The race organisers are very supportive of spectators. For Southern England much of the course is fairly remote and bleak, so runners could well appreciate friends and family finding / supporting them. Below are a few suggestions of where you might be able to spot your runner.

The Imber Ultra course is not though the easiest to follow in a car and some parts are a long way from any road. To follow the course by car you may need access to an OS map or good road map.

Start & Finish

You can happily support your runner at the start and finish at the Leighton Recreation Centre but please do not park here. Parking is limited and will be needed for race volunteers. The Centre is also open to the public from 9am to 2.30pm and we think it’s fair to allow local users to park there instead of run spectators.

Before CP5

From the B3098 on the west side of Bratton, take ‘Castle Road’ up to a large car park for the Westbury White Horse & Bratton Camp. Runners will come close to this area.

CP5

From the B3098 on the east side of Bratton, you can drive up ‘Stradbrook’ and ‘Imber Road’ to get to CP5.

Between CP5 and CP4

Just to the west of Earlstoke Golf Club take a rather hidden turning (at an ‘almost’ crossroads) south off the B3098 and drive up the wooded ‘Coulston Hollow’ to the summit where you’ll find some parking at a T junction. The runners will be coming down the paved road from your right (the west).

CP4 & environs

CP4 is a circular layby and is easy to get to from either direction, but it does feel a bit weird driving there, especially from the North, as although the road is a byway open to all traffic (BOAT), and tarmaced for much of it, very few cars use it, and you feel like a thief driving on it.

Not long after CP4 the runners will emerge near Gore Cross (just off the A360) from the North. It should be easy to spot runners coming down the hill and also easy to park.

CP3

This CP is part of a substantial carpark / layby opposite the imposing Water Tower on the other side of the road.

Between CP3 & CP2

TBC

CP2

There is relatively ample parking in the vicinity of the newish CP2, by the Church (which doesn’t usually have a service in early March) and Chitterne Village Hall.

Between CP2 & CP1

As the runners descend down off the Plain near Heytesbury, there is a good spot to see your runner. East Hill Road is a dead end road off the A36, opposite the turning into the east end of the village. The road leads up to East Hill Farm, but you could park in a dirt layby on the right hand side, barely 150 metres from the A36 and walk a little further along the road. The runners will be coming towards you on the tarmac road before a sharp right, up the steep footpath and back into the mud and hills. Oh what fun…

CP1

Sorry but we don’t really recommend that you drive to CP1. The parking is limited and could jeopardise both runner safety and the goodwill of local users and farmers.

Between CP1 & the finish

After the final CP the route goes through Warminster Garrison. From central Warminster take the Imber Road. After about 1 km you will see the Garrison Church of St. Giles on your left, at the corner with Elm Hill. This is an easy area to park and to spot your runner, or go further up the road if you prefer, past the high fences of the Warminster Training Centre on the left; they will emerge from the muddy hillfort section on your right, as the hill gets steeper.

FINALLY, those of you adventurous with maps may be able to navigate farm tracks just to the east of the A350 (opposite Upton Scudamore) to find either the bottom or the top of the final hill of the day, unofficially entitled ‘Heartbreak Hill’. Whilst there may only be a few km’s to go, that hill is brutal (if short) and final words of encouragement and chocolate bars could be well received!

Between CP1 & the finish may also been the best time to play ‘Ultra Bingo’ – listen out for runners saying phrases like ‘Never again’, ‘Never, ever, EVER again’ [yet they’ve already put 2nd March 2025 in their diary…], ‘Why did you sign me up for this???’ and the classic, ‘We must be close to the end now… [Long plaintive pause]… right???’.