Dirt Half Challenge Half Marathon

The Dirt Half Challenge is a trail half marathon starting and finishing at Cedars Upper School in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire. The route opens with an anti-clockwise lap of Tiddenfoot Waterside Park before joining the Grand Union Canal towpath heading north to Stoke Hammond. From there the course climbs through open countryside to Great Brickhill, passes through the wooded Rushmere Country Park, and follows the Greensand Ridge back towards Leighton Buzzard, finishing with a clockwise lap of Tiddenfoot Waterside Park. The terrain is a genuine mix of canal towpath, woodland trail, hill paths and, depending on conditions, boggy flood plain, so trail shoes are recommended over road shoes. The profile is gently rolling rather than flat, with the climb up to Great Brickhill the main test on the course. Long established and well regarded, it draws a large field each November for its scenic autumn setting and friendly, well-marshalled atmosphere.