Running at Silverstone: My 10k Experience

After only two days from my first 10k of the year at Shrewsbury, I was straight into my second event, and the iconic Silverstone Grand Prix track.

Although of course Silverstone is more widely known as Britain’s principal motorsport circuit, the former RAF airbase is also popular as a running venue and currently holds two major events per year.

One, which has recently returned to the calendar is the autumnal Run Fest, which includes 5k, 10k and half marathon distances, whilst the second is the Silverstone Grand Prix 10k Race, which in 2026 celebrated its 41^st edition.

Although they’re both at the same venue, they feel very different. Run Fest is very much a corporate event publicised by Silverstone and attracts far more entrants, over 5000 taking part in the 2025 edition. Think big stages with bands playing, commemorative t-shirts, trade stands, thousands of spectators crowing the viewing areas. People who may not be into running as a hobby but doing the event as a one-off to experience being able to run on a Formula One track.

The Silverstone Grand Prix on the other hand is a more low-key affair. It’s run by the local Silson AC running club, and is not widely publicised outside of the local running communities. The event forms part of the East Midlands Grand Prix series, a number of locally-based evening road races. With these being evening events, it’s commonly expected that participants have some degree of running experience with the series’ website advising that participants should be able to run at a minimum pace of 8 minutes per kilometre. Purely as being evening events, they need to make sure everyone is finished before the sunset!  

Turning up for the Silverstone Grand Prix certainly felt more low key. There were none of the huge traffic queues from the nearby A43 that we experienced at Run Fest, we simply arrived at the main circuit entrance, and with production of entry documents, drove into the circuit grounds before taking our place near the old Silverstone F1 paddock.

The race headquarters are in the garages of the ‘Silverstone National’ pits. For decades this was the pit lane for the Formula 1 circuit but following major circuit developments a few years back has now been replaced by the ‘Silverstone Wing’ complex, the old pits being kept in place for national and clubman motorsport events.

Whilst I’ve described the event as ‘low key’ it’s worth saying this is still a very popular event and for an evening running race is quite busy, this year saw over 900 participants. As someone into Formula 1, it’s great to be walking around the old pits and race paddock before the start, thinking that this was the same paddock where Nigel Mansell once walked upon before his famous British Grand Prix wins, along with names like Prost, Senna, Schumacher and countless others over the decades. Where Tim Harvey crossed the line in his BMW to win the 1992 British Touring Car Championship, whilst rival John Cleland fumed at Harvey’s team-mate Steve Soper after a collision on the final corner took them both out of the race in one of the most notorious races in the championship’s history.

The motorsport heritage certainly became apparent as the evening went on and more runners arrived. Along with the various jerseys and colours of the local running clubs, there were many runners sporting Formula 1 team shirts. These weren’t race fans, but members of the various teams who are based in the local area, with an internal competition taking place between the teams. It’s a regular theme of the event, and this year I noticed a lot of participants from the Williams, Red Bull, Aston Martin and Alpine F1 teams in particular. Whilst many were in the ‘fun-runner’ category, quite a few of the faster runners were later battling at the front!

On a personal level, this was quite a big occasion for my running club, Daventry Road Runners, who were amongst one of the most well-represented clubs at the event. With this being the first round of the East Midlands Grand Prix series and also one of the point-scoring races in the club championship, there was a big entry of over 30 club members at the event, with plenty of members also turning up to watch and support the club runners.

To the start, and a change in recent years. Previously the start was on the ‘National’ race track grid, and incorporated two laps of the old pre-2011 Grand Prix circuit, utilising a small access road and the discontinued ‘Bridge’ section to complete the lap.

With Bridge now forming part of the new Silverstone karting track, the route now forms a complete lap of the contemporary Grand Prix circuit, with a smaller second loop to complete the 10k. Runners slowly began to filter from the pits, out towards the Wellington Straight, from which the start takes place.

Walking past the ‘Jim Clark’ grandstand, named after arguably the greatest Formula One driver in history certainly added to the atmosphere!

The track was packed as the wheelchair race got underway, and following a short run brief we were off!

The notable thing about running on a motorsport circuit, especially one as vast and open as Silverstone is how spacious everything is. The circuit is very wide, and after only a couple of hundred metres the pack had filtered out nicely and there was plenty of room. Instead of lamp-posts, houses and bus shelters to use as a reference point, you’ve got the various corners of the track, which themselves are very gradual when taking them at running pace.

You’ll often hear motorsport fans describe Silverstone as a ‘flat’ circuit but whilst it’s certainly no Oulton Park, it nonetheless does have a bit of gentle undulation, the run along Hangar Straight in particular having a nice gradual slope downwards. Going back to the Nigel Mansell theme, whilst going down the straight I’m always reminded of his famous ‘dummy move’ to slingshot past team-mate and title rival Nelson Piquet to win the 1987 British Grand Prix.

Out on the track, it’s pretty open and exposed. Silverstone is quite an elevated, open area, this was one of the key reasons it was utilised as an airfield, once away from the cheering crowds in the pits it felt very quiet, with no surrounding buildings. The huge exception to this being of course the ‘Silverstone Wing’ complex where the modern Formula 1 start/finish is located. The pit area is vast and you immediately see the huge podium area where Lewis Hamilton has stood on many occasions in front of his adoring crowd. With the pits on the right, and a huge grandstand and hotel on the left it’s certainly an iconic structure to run past, indeed it was great to see the recent F1 movie set heavily at this part of Silverstone and think… “I’ve run there!”

Perhaps the toughest part of the new layout was the second loop. After running past the finish line, there was still 3k of the second loop remaining, and once getting the boost of cheers from the crowd, it was back to the solitude of the circuit, and with fatigue setting in, a need to dig deep and stay mentally strong to rattle down the last few kilometres and get back to the finish.

As mentioned in my recent report from Shrewsbury, I’m not at 100% right now and was feeling a sub 1 hour run may be optimistic. The clock was ticking down for me as I ran down the pits towards the finish line but I did it, setting a 59:21 time, my best of the year and for me a course PB.

So to the end of the event, and in typical Silverstone fashion, a slow egress from the paddock as everyone queued for the exit gates. Once out though it was time for a personal Silverstone tradition, the late-night visit to McDonalds. It’s somewhere I rarely go to, but Silverstone evening would be complete without it!

Maybe I should have skipped the quarter pounder though as my next 10k will be a tough proposition. It’s the Abersoch 10k on the Llyn Peninsula, North Wales. My favourite event of the year, but with a steep rocky climb, undulating country lanes and the last mile on the beach, it’s one of the hardest!