Frequently
asked
questions

What do your tours include?

Our tours include as much or as little as you like. The usual format is to include a flight, airport transfer, hotel accommodation on a bed & breakfast basis, welcome drink and race entry. We also send you some exclusive Zest Sports merchandise.

In addition we offer extra services such as meet & greet at the airport, we collect your race pack in advance where we can and have it ready for you at the hotel and arrange a get together the night before so that you can swap last minute tips with your fellow competitors.

On race day we walk the participants down to the Race starting point and then follow their progress round the course with family and friends, so that they can see you and hopefully take lots of photos. After the race we organsie a social event and sightseeing for the supporters (while runners recover).

At no stage do we over organise you. Everyone is free to join in with as much or as little as they like, but if you want the support it is there.

Is race entry included?

No. We do not include the race entry in the package price but it is clearly listed to the side of the package price on every race page.

Race entry tends to vary depending when you book and it is payable in addition to the deposit payment. Friends & family then only pay the package price.

If you already have your running place or are running for charity then you only pay the package price.

Do I have to take a full tour?

No you can break a package down into as much or as little as you like. Just ask us for an individual quotation.

What are your payment conditions?

Usually deposit is £75 (for a package without a flight) or £150 for a flight package. Balance is due 10 weeks prior to departure. In some instances this may be slightly different. Please refer to the particular race page for exact details.

Your package includes flights from London but I live in near Manchester. Can you book flights from other airports?

Of course, just specify your preferred airport on our booking request form and we will come back to you with various options and cost implications.

The race I want to run isn't featured in your list. Can you still help me?

Yes. We are happy to tailor-make tours to any race and contact the race organisers for your entry. Just bear in mind that there will be no Zest representation on site for on the ground support so the little added extras won't be available to you.

Our club want to get together and organise our own tour. Can you help us?

Yes. Please go to the groups section of the website and send us your specific request. We will send you a quote to include travel, hotel/hostel accommodation and race entry. We can also include sightseeing and make restaurant bookings for example. We know how difficult and time consuming organising a group tour can be and you'd be surprised how cheaply we can put a package together for you. Do contact us and let us take the hassle away from you. Special discounts too for tour leaders.

We are organising a race and wonder if you can feature it on your site?

Email us the details and we will put them on our site. We will either feature it in our blog or add it to our Zest newsletter. Whatever we are more than happy to publicise your event. Go to our contact us section and send your details through.

What about travel insurance?

Due to the rules now in place governing the Financial Services Industry we are not allowed to sell you an insurance policy direct. Instead we can put you in touch with our recommended insurance provider to ensure that you receive the best possible cover for your tour. At time of booking we will ask whether you require insurance. If you already have adequate cover in place then we will ask you to sign and return an insurance indemnity form.

Can my family come along and watch?

We would be delighted if you travelled with your friends and family and indeed we positively encourage supporters. We know the sacrifice many partners and families make to support their runners and when they come on tour with Zest we make sure that they are well looked after, We carefully select hotels of a certain standard which are comfortable with plenty of in-house facilities. On race day we take them round the course to support you and look after them while you are involved in the race. Then in the afternoon we organise sightseeing trips so they get to explore the city that we are in.

If you have children travelling with you be sure to check out the Walt Disney Marathon & other events in January. It really is the perfect race to combine a family holiday with a 10k, half marathon or marathon.

I’m on my own. Will I fit in?

Most definitely. We will organise a welcome drink the evening before the race so that you can see who else is travelling with us and on race day itself you will walk to the start with the rest of the participants. After you have competed there are social events and sightseeing trips to get you involved so there is no need to feel on your own.

Should you wish to cut costs we also offer a twin share scheme where we match up single travellers with other like-minded travellers of a similar age. That way you both avoid the single supplement and have some company too. Let us know whether this is of interest to you when you complete your booking request form.

Do I have to be a certain standard to come to training camp?

If you have completed a 5k race and run regularly then you will be fine on one of our training camps. The whole point is to encourage participants to improve their performance and our team of experts are on hand specifically to help everyone, regardless of their ability. Usually participants are split into distances and taken on a short training run so that the experts can personalise their advice and tailor-make the training. Each person has their running gait analysed and there is ample opportunity for one on one advice. But don't let that put you off. The point of the weekend is to enjoy yourself, meet others in a similar situation and receive the support and guidance to complete the challenge you have set for yourself. We guarantee that you won't feel out of your depth.

How does Travel Trust Association provide 100% financial protection for me?

Every Travel Trust Association member deposits your money into the Trust Account. A Trust Account is a bank account designated to hold the customers' money.

Your money remains in the Trust Account and is supervised by an appointed Trustee who is either a banker, chartered or certified accountant or a solicitor. Both the Travel Trust Association members AND the Trustee are required to authorise payments from the Trust Account.

In addition to being held in trust, you also have a financial guarantee from the Travel Trust Association. TTA will guarantee the financial obligation of its Members up to a maximum any one passenger of £11,000. So if you paid £2000 we guarantee we will reimburse the loss of the £2000, where it is not available for you from the Trust Account.

Therefore, the Trust Account plus the guarantee will ensure that all the money which you have paid is safely protected and available to reimburse the money paid. When you make a booking, you will be supplied with a guarantee certificate – you can see the terms of our guarantee on our website www.traveltrust.co.uk/guarantee.

Should the TTA member become insolvent, in most instances your money will still be held within the TTA member’s Trust Account by the designated Trustee, and available to pay for your holiday. If because of fraud or dishonesty the money is not there, then the guarantee is available to reimburse your loss. In some cases your holiday may continue as the providers or suppliers have already been paid. Where you have only paid a deposit and still have an outstanding balance, your holiday may be unaffected and by paying the balance your holiday will continue as planned. Where possible, attempts will be made to ensure that you can carry on with your original holiday arrangements.