So up and onto the hills we go! On Sunday, a band of fifteen Quakers and a tag along courtesy of Andrew and Abbie travelled up to Wolsingham for a scout around the popular Durham Dales Challenge.

I first did this race in 2008, with my old school satchel (thanks for reminding me Nick), and immediately fell in love with the varied terrain, course and challenge. There is something in this race for everyone and I’ve been back every year since. As part of the club championship more and more runners have joined in, jumping in numbers every year. Last year over 30 Quakers took part and it’s great to see so many runners trying something different.

With this and Team Dark’s marathon training in mind, I promised Mark that we’d do a reccy of the route in December. However, with all the snow and post Christmas weather we put off running the route until now.

After a little organisation, six cars pulled up on the entertance to the Secondary School and we all gathered our thoughts. There were fifteen of us running and the weather was brisk and very cold. Many of us had opted for longer running tights, whilst the more hardy Anthony and myself opted for shorts. Richie kindly offered to lend me his leggings if I broke my ankle. Unfortunately, if he then broke his ankle I’d have to give him the bottoms back!

The wind was chilling and there was rain looming, snow had come down the day before and the hills looked white. We set off on the 16 mile route with a slight jog into the park. Mark joked about my “sprint start” the year previous as we started – how that faded! That turned out to be a reccuring theme throughout the race with all the veterans recalling tales of what happened on their Durham Dales runs. Nick Watson’s ears must have burnt all Sunday morning!

The race starts with a massive hill which towers above the village. It reduces the start of the race to a walk and we had a giggle watching Barry, Andrew and Simon jog up the hill, barely any faster than us walking. We gathered together and broke into a jog at the top of the hill. We all mingled and jogged around the trail which took us to the first checkpoint. The sandy trail was massively wet underfoot and we all started to feel the wind as we climbed the gradual hill. The snow was freezing and the rain lashed at our faces, reddening our cheeks.

After the first two checkpoints we moved onto the hardest part of the race, the heather. We formed into a single file and snaked through the sheep tracks. Running along the path soaked our feet and muddied our legs and it was fantastic leaping from stone to rock. Visibility was down to about ten metres and we made sure no Quaker was left behind.  The first four miles passed quickly and before we knew it we reached the third checkpoint – the wind was numbing now!

Me and Simon both did comedy slips down the hill as we fell over and slid through the icy heather. Picking our lefts up, we joined the rest of the pack! We paused for snacks and nibbles, a quick drink and some proper runners had an energy gel! We then continued onto the highest point on the route before the long downhill run to the Quarry.

After reaching the Quarry, we all jogged along the route barely noticing that we’d covered eleven miles. I was really loving the race and didn’t feel like we’d been on our feet for a couple of hours. The company, varied terrain and need to be aware at all times helped pass the time superbly.

The scenic far point of checkpoint D led to more nibbles, a photo and then a muddy run across the river and through a very, very muddy field. The scary dogs on chains are now, fortunately, both caged and on smaller chains! We then made our way through the caravan park and across the fields to the train tracks. Then we all gathered together and then made our way back to the school.

All Quakers returned safe, no one was left behind. We had a brilliant time and had a brilliant training run. I’m sure that it’ll help more people run the actual race in the summer. Of course, we’re going to do the run again! If you like the sound of getting muddy legs and getting dirty on the dales, you can come this Sunday!

Photos from the run will be on our Facebook Group, as well as more information about this weekend's run! 

If you are interested in coming this weekend (or even just curious - I can be quite convincing), then please get in touch with Michael on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 07814039042.