Kielder runners chose to plant trees to preserve historic forest

2023 marked the first year that Kielder runners could opt out of receiving a finisher t-shirt after their race, and instead we would plant a tree on their behalf at Kielder Waterside. In partnership with Northumbrian Water, Events of the North began a sustainable initiative to regenerate the forest at Kielder.

Now in its 14th year, Kielder Marathon Weekend has been named ‘Britain’s Most Beautiful’ marathon, thanks to its picturesque route through the forest, and along the lakeside way round Kielder Water, one of Europe’s largest man-made reservoirs. Over recent years, storm damage from named storms Arwen, Desmond and Isha have caused a lot of the forest to succumb to windfall, and further felling has been done to manage the storm damage.

A large area of the site at Kielder have been thinned to open up the spruce canopy to allow more light to reach the forest floor (as seen in image above). These pockets have been created to allow new planting of native Scot’s pine, Oak and Birch, which will grow and provide the cover needed when the rest of the Norway Spruce and Sitka Spruce are felled in the next ten to twenty years as part of the forest management plan.

Northumbria Water are also working with the Archaeological Research Services to conduct a soil study to build a detailed picture of the history of Kielder and the ecology before commercial forestation around 100 years ago.

Donations from Events of the North on behalf of Kielder runners who have opted to plant a tree will go directly towards the planting of new trees, breathing new life into the forest over time. Runners in the following years will walk through the plantation on their way down from Greenside car park to site on race day. The plantation site for the 2023 plantation is at What3Words location ///swimsuits.moves.chips, and contributors are able to view the trees they helped to plant.

Entries for the 2025 Kielder Marathon Weekend are now open, and each entry form contains details for opting to plant a tree at Kielder instead of receiving a finisher t-shirt. Enter here: Kielder Marathon Weekend 2025