Ben Hunter

Case Study: Power, Lighting & Heating for UKUltra’s Running Event

February 10, 2026
, 4:34 pm
, General, Generators, Heaters, Lighting, Marquee, Winter Events

The Infrastructure Behind the Start / Finish Arena for UK Ultra’s Hibernal Hills Event

Following the success of previous overnight running events, Grizzly Bear Events has continued to develop its event lighting and power rental package supplied to the UK Ultra event team. What started as just a few hundred metres of festoon lighting hire has grown into a complete finish-line lighting and event infrastructure setup, helping create a memorable experience for runners crossing the line.

Event organisers quickly recognised the impact of a well-lit finish area, with participants sharing more social media moments and finish-line photos thanks to the warm glow of festoon lighting and feature installations.

Supporting Ultra Marathon Events in the South Downs

UK Ultra organise a range of ultra marathon events in the South Downs, with distances typically ranging from 50km and 50 miles through to 100km and 100 miles — an incredible endurance challenge equivalent to nearly four marathons back-to-back.

Many of these events, particularly winter races, begin at dusk and run overnight. This makes reliable event power, lighting, and heating equipment essential for both participants and event crews. Finishers often arrive after dark, making the finish line atmosphere even more important for motivation and safety.

One event we regularly support for UK Ultra is the Hibernal Hills ultra marathon, held each February at Queen Elizabeth Country Park, Hampshire. This overnight endurance event requires dependable event equipment hire to ensure safe operation throughout the night.

Grizzly Bear Events supplied a complete event power, lighting, and heating solution to support the start/finish area and early section of the course.

Start Line

Finish Line

Medals

Event Equipment Supplied

For this overnight running challenge, we provided:

20kVA event-spec generator hire
Event power distribution and cabling installation
Indirect marquee heater hire (x2)
250 metres of festoon lighting for start and route illumination
4-metre walk-through star feature light
Delivery, installation, late-night setup, and equipment removal

Our giant walk-through star and festoon lighting helped create a welcoming and highly visible finish-line feature, giving runners a memorable final moment after hours on the trail – check out the photos below!

Our Timeline

Delivering professional event equipment hire involves far more than delivery and setup. From planning and logistics coordination to installation and collection, here’s a start-to-finish schedule overview for this event.

Thursday
Load the 2 x vans with equipment
Test all cabling and lighting
Load and strap the star onto it's flatbed trailer
Purchase fuel for the heaters
Ensure heaters have clean filters and test them

Friday
10am warehouse meeting time for the team
12noon client meeting on site to reconfirm layout
Generator unhitched and distro board set up
Cabling from the distro board installed to final locations
Star feature set up
150m festoon onto 1m high hooks up the hill from the start line
Floodlighting set up onto the toilet area
Heaters located, set up and fueled
Last minute amendments and additional plugs added into the marquee

Saturday
8pm warehouse meet to set off for collection
10pm start to remove heating
Lighting removed and reloaded onto vehicles
Feature star dismantled and reloaded
All cabling coiled back up and reloaded
Festoon removed from hooks and coiled up into crates

Lighting The Way

Grizzly Bear Events work across different budgets and visual styles. For this client, the focus was on balancing costs with creating a memorable, impactful finish-line experience that works equally well in daylight and after dark.

Our festoon lighting installed on 1m shepherd’s hooks provided a clear visual guide, a subtle physical boundary, and practical, atmospheric event lighting.

We installed around festoon lighting along the start/finish line, extending onto taller overhead poles to illuminate the space between the finish line and the heated marquee reception area.

Our 4m-high illuminated walk-through star continues to prove popular as a race finish-line feature, creating a strong focal point for participants and event photography. Its mesh construction, pegged base, and guy-rope supports make it reliable and stable in all weather.

For essential functional event lighting, we also installed several floodlights mounted on 3m poles to safely illuminate the toilet facilities area.