50th Anniversary Rogaine

A note on race categories here

50th Anniversary Rogaine on Sat 15th Aug 2026

A rare rogaine event run to celebrate 50 years of Dark Peak Fell Runners featuring 50 points of interest...
The format was fairly simple - 4 hour score starting and finishing from Bamford recreation ground, cycling, trains and busses allowed (full details here).

Maps were released about two weeks prior to the event to give people a chance at planning routes and to overthink the whole situation. This resulted in some very interesting approaches, including leaving bikes out on the course for collection on the day to make the return to the finish faster.

Some competitors utilized the trains, but as predicted, many opted to cycle out closer to higher-scoring clusters where they proceeded to run a loop on foot before cycling back. This was apparent at the start when more than half the field turned up with bikes. It was thus decided this would be an excellent opportunity for a Le Mans start!

Due to a lot of faffing, registering people, sorting kit, distributing maps, etc. (I did not expect so many people!), the start was delayed by about 10 minutes. This may have thrown a spanner in the plans of those who relied on public transport (sorry!).

At 9:10 am, there was a mad charge across Bamford rec, followed by a scramble for bikes, before everyone diffused out of the field in every direction. With a plan, hopefully!
Richard Hakes held down the fort, pen and paper ready, for the return of competitors about 3+ hours later.

First to return in 3 hours 20 minutes was Roy Small. Though we did not ascertain whether or not he visited any points, he was not late and so cannot have a negative score, ultimately positioning him fairly well up in the final rankings. Simon Mills followed shortly after in 3 hours 33 minutes, having pretty much exhausted the points available on foot from the recreation ground. This was the best score solely on foot without the use of public transport—the purists' champion!

Twenty-three (23/41, 56.1%) competitors returned within the 4-hour window, with the closest being myself and Felix with 30 seconds to spare. Sixteen (16/41, 39.0%) returned over time, and two didn't return to Bamford at all?! (They were accounted for eventually). Thomas Moss thus scored the lowest score (-∞) having accrued fewer points initially than Stuart Walker before their disappearances.

The highest score was achieved by myself and Felix Watts, with an ambitious cycle to and from King's Tree plus a run around the far north of Howden Reservoir. The highest-scoring female (and 4th overall) was Abbie Walker, who cycled out to Edale and back to collect the far-western points over Kinder. Our youngest competitor, Nellie Wadsworth in the under-3-years-old category, finished with 20 points just ahead of our oldest competitor.

Thank you for coming along!

Tom