Last weekend, Newport & District Running Club’s Matt Walley, and his dog, Muddles, took on the Dovedale Dash, and between them, put together this report, which they have titled: “Dovedale Dash: a dinosaur, a surprise swim and one very questionable shortcut!“
On Sunday 4th October, Muddles and I took on the 66th Dovedale Dash—a 4.75-mile cross-country race with around 1,200 runners, starting in the picturesque village of Thorpe. Fields, paths, hills and a crossing of the River Dove beside the famous Stepping Stones. Lovely scenery. Slightly awkward news for a dog who normally walks around puddles!
Dogs start two minutes after the main field, which Muddles clearly felt was a serious flaw in the race organisation. As everyone disappeared down the hill, she turned to look at me: “Why are we giving them a head start? You’ve seen how short my legs are.” Two minutes surrounded by about 40 very excited dogs felt like an eternity. Then we were off—hurtling downhill towards the river, with Muddles apparently determined to make up the entire delay in the first 30 seconds.
We soon found ourselves behind someone dressed as a dinosaur. Muddles wasn’t prepared to be held up by something that should have been extinct, so she found us a clear route along the side of the valley. There was a reason nobody else was using it. It was a bank at roughly 30 degrees, and we were now running sideways along it. Muddles had four-wheel drive. I had two trainers and a growing list of concerns.
Then came the river. For a dog who considers a puddle worth a detour, this was a fairly significant escalation. I’ll let you decide what she’s thinking in the photo, but my guess is: “You said we were going for a run. At no point did you mention swimming.” Once across, Muddles gave herself a couple of vigorous shakes, kindly sharing the remaining river with everyone nearby, and we were off again.
Along the paths, over the hills and across the grassy fields, we squeezed past runners whenever we could. Eventually, we followed the river back towards the hill we’d flown down at the start. It was considerably less enjoyable in that direction. Funny how that works!
We finished 230th out of 1,144 finishers, having worked our way past more than 800 runners in just under five miles! A brilliant race, beautiful scenery and a cracking effort from Muddles. Her official review: “Excellent overtaking opportunities. Unnecessary river. Would like to speak to the organiser!”
