The Dovedale Dash is a 4¾ mile

cross-country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

race held annually along the banks of the River Dove, along

Dovedale Dovedale is a valley in the Peak District of England. The land is owned by the National Trust and attracts a million visitors annually. The valley was cut by the River Dove and runs for just over between Milldale in the north and a wooded r ...

, and between the villages of Ilam and Thorpe in the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorla ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The event attracts over 1000 runners each year. It is one of three long-running annual races held in the Peak District national park where performances count towards the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

Peak District Fell Running Series Trophy, alongside the Longshaw Sheepdog Trials Fell Race and the Lantern Pike Fell Race. First organised in 1953, the Dash takes place on the first Sunday of November, although previously it was held on the closest Sunday to Guy Fawkes Night. The Dash was cancelled in 1998, 2000 and 2004, when bad weather and a waterlogged parking area forced the event to be cancelled. In other years, the race has gone ahead in wet weather conditions.The Goulds revel in the mud, with Phil leading the family home at Dovedale
''Leamington Courier'' (9 November 2017). Retrieved 1 April 2020. The Dash is intended for amateur runners, although in the past some competitors have used bicycles. Entrants pay £5 to join the race, and must register on the day of the race. There is no pre-registration. Car parking is free. The proceeds are given to charitable causes, and used in the villages of Thorpe, Ilam and

Fenny Bentley Fenny Bentley is a small village and civil parish located close to Dovedale in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. The population in 2009 was 305 reducing to 183 at the 2011 Census. It lies two miles north of Ashbourne, on the ...

. The event is organised by volunteers who live in Thorpe, which is the start and finish of the course. The route runs from the Thorpe

Pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or sw ...

s north of the village of Thorpe, at the foot of

Thorpe Cloud Thorpe Cloud is an isolated limestone hill (a reef knoll) lying between the villages of Thorpe and Ilam on the Derbyshire/ Staffordshire border at the southern end of Dovedale. It is a popular hill amongst the many day-trippers who visit the a ...

, about the eastern base of which competitors race down to the notoriously slippery Stepping Stones across the River Dove. The route continues along the western side of the Cloud, across the ridge above the Izaak Walton Hotel, down into Ilam, where the course doubles back along the southern bank of the Dove, down to Coldwall Bridge. Across the Bridge, runners follow the valley through Thorpe Mill Farm, back to the Cloud, where they retrace their path to the Stepping Stones and back to the starting position on Thorpe Pastures.

Competitors

The Dash has no overall official results. The first ten finishers and all the prize winners are published at the start-finish and on the organisers' website. Local newspapers such as the ''Ashbourne News Telegraph'' usually print a report and details of the winners and local entrants. All the finishers receive certificates with their positions except on rare occasions when more people run than was expected. Race time is displayed on a large

digital clock A digital clock is a type of clock that displays the time digitally (i.e. in numerals or other symbols), as opposed to an analogue clock. Digital clocks are often associated with electronic drives, but the "digital" description refers only t ...

mounted on top of the

loudspeaker A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A ''speaker system'', also often simply referred to as a "speaker" or ...

van near the finish so that people who do not have a wrist watch can record their finishing time. Despite the casual nature of the event, previous runners have included prestigious world-class athletes, including George Rhodes, who frequently ran for England and won the Dash three consecutive times. Eric Thompson, Derby Mercury RC President, donated the original cup to Rhodes, who in turn presented his own George Rhodes Trophy to be awarded to future winners.

References

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External links

The Dovedale Dash

Derby Mercury RC
Cross country running competitions Athletics competitions in England Peak District Cross country running in the United Kingdom Annual events in England Annual sporting events in the United Kingdom 1953 establishments in England Recurring sporting events established in 1953