Dovedale Dash
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The Dovedale Dash is a 4¾ mile cross-country running race held annually along the banks of the River Dove, along Dovedale, and between the villages of Ilam and Thorpe in the Peak District, England.
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 has been held every year, except four, most recently 1998, 2000 and 2004, when bad weather and a waterlogged parking area forced the event to be cancelled.
The Dash is entirely voluntary and amateur. Runners - although in the past some competitors have used bicycles - pay £3 to enter and a subsequent £2 parking fee for their cars. The proceeds are given to charitable causes and used in the villages of Thorpe and Ilam. The event is organised by local villagers, especially from Thorpe, which is the start and finish of the course.
The route runs from the Thorpe Pastures north of the village of Thorpe, at the foot of Thorpe Cloud, about the eastern base of which competitors race down to the notoriously slippery Stepping Stones across the Rive 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 into Thorpe.
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[edit] Organisation of the Dash
The Derby Mercury Running Club first organised the Dovedale Dash as a challenge between cyclists and runners and an effort to work off the excesses of the previous day's Bonfire Party. John Welch of the Mercury Club, who organised the Dash between 1976 and 1987, recorded that only 15 runners competed in the first Dash.
The Dash originally started and finished at Ilam Park, but after the Youth Hostel Association Wardens refused the Club access once in the late 1960s and again in 1977 - the race's twenty fifth anniversary, the Club arranged to use the Thorpe Pastures. This proved a success, with over 700 runners competing, until the ownership of the Pastures passed from the Fitzherberts of Tissington to The National Trust.
Relations soured between the Mercury Club and the National Trust to such an extent that the Club gave up the event. In May 1988, Derek Frith of Thorpe Mill Farm, realising that the Dash's profits could potentially be contributed to local charities, formed the Dovedale Dash 88 Committee to obtain a licence from the National Trust for the running of the event. The Dash is still organised by the Committee, with Bob Evans as Marshal.
[edit] Competitors
The Dash is an amateur event and, as such, only the first ten results are published at the start-finish and on the organisers' website. The first 1500 receive certificates with their positions; time is recorded on a giant digital clock mounted on top of the loudspeaker van in the Pastures.
However, 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, Mercury Club President, donated the original cup to Rhodes, who in turn presented his own George Rhodes Trophy to be awarded to future winners.
