#durhamdales

This was my 3rd ‘Ultra’ distance race but stayed comfortably in the 50k bracket I’d done in the previous 2 (one being this event in 2017). Most people I know, including the majority of my running club, think that this distance and the terrain sound awful even if they do acknowledge the achievement; for me, though, it’s a day out, seeing some amazing scenery & getting to experience environments that I wouldn’t normally encounter.  The Durham Dales Challenge is an LDWA event run by the Northumbria group and offers both a 14mile or 30mile option so attracted 280+ walkers & runners across the 2 events for 2018. Starting in Wolsingham, the 30 mile route  takes you from Weardale over to Teesdale to the half way point at Middleton-in-Teesdale then back again via some quite remote fell.

So 280 people with varying amounts of gear gather in a park, in Wolsingham, on a Saturday morning... all (or at least I was) aiming to have a bit of an adventure that day. Knowing only a few people on the start line I set off at a comfortable pace & found myself in the 2nd group of runners heading through the 1st & 2nd checkpoints. The first 10 miles to the 2nd checkpoint includes 1500ft of climbing, some rough under foot conditions across heather & rocky paths and an epic descent in to the valley of Hamsterley Forest.

Coming out of the very sweaty forest you hit a fell path that takes you across a quite remote stream & then gives a fast 2 mile downhill section to Eggleston. My watch ticked over these two miles in 7:59 & 7:51 which made me worry as I was aiming for a 6 hour pace which is 12 minute miles.... I didn’t doubt I’d lose this time later on though, knowing there was some big climbs coming. Crossing the river Tees and through Mickleton I was soon in to the half way point at Middleton where the buffet on offer was, as ever at LDWA events, amazing. Re-fuelled and back out with a small group of myself, Lee & Peter we went on to the hardest section of the course.

The next 6 miles comprised of a series of climbs, navigation errors, falling down hidden holes in the heather and questioning the sanity of what I was doing. It also offered some amazing scenery and that sense of exploring I’d set out to do 4 hours earlier. A 3 mile climb out of Middleton lead to the high point of the race and brought a group of around 10-12 of us together making our way over the fell. Feeling nauseous I ended up at the back of this group and watching on as one by one the smaller groups disappeared out of sight. 

Coming down a descent in to the last checkpoint at mile 25 I found a second wind & decided to get it done as quickly as I could for the last 5 miles... this still wasn’t exactly rapid though. I passed 7 people in the last 5 miles along a fairly flat stretch that followed the river Wear back from Bollyhope to Wolsingham and ended up with a time of 6hrs37mins and 13th place out of 119 finishers... being number 13 for the race & finishing 13th was weirdly satisfying for someone who works with numbers on a daily basis. The 2 other people I knew on the start line were Gary Thwaites & Darren Gee... they finished 1st & 2nd... talented bastards they are. 

This has to be my favourite event that I’ve ever run & this years course provided all the challenges and sense of achievement that I was looking for. At £14 with amazing support, organisation & especially food, it’s an event I can’t recommend highly enough. In 2019 it won’t be on as there is the Hadrian Hvndred which gives me around 11 months to plan how to run/walk/crawl 100 miles... Next up though is 39 miles across the Pennines on 7th July.