The Peak District Challenge is a walking or running event, for individuals or teams.

2024 Event Date

Overnight on Friday 13 September and the day of Saturday 14 September 2024, starting in Hathersage at postcode S32 1DU.

4 Challenge Distances

Chose to run or trek from 25km up to a 100km Ultra Marathon

Gold Ultra

100KM IN 24 HOURS

With 3200m of ascent, the ultimate Gold Ultra Peak District challenge, should be attempted by fit and experienced ultra runners and long-distance walkers who want to see the best that the Peak District has to offer. Our achievable 24 hour target means you’ll need to maintain 4kph.

Silver Challenge

75KM IN 24 HOURS

2000m of ascent. Not to be underestimated, this route follows the easiest and flattest routes between eight checkpoints, but covers a long distance. For determined walkers and runners who are experienced travelling through the night.

Bronze Challenge

50KM IN 12 HOURS

Taking in the valleys of the dark peak, and the scenic trails of the white peak, the Bronze Challenge has a total ascent of 1200m and at its highest point reaches 464m. Our 12-hour target is generous for runners, but shouldn't be underestimated.

Copper Challenge

25KM

An achievable challenge, following a circular route from Hathersage to Baslow along riverside paths and back via a hillier crossing of Curbar and Frogatt edges. With some of the best views in the Peak, this challenge is for walkers or runners.

The routes all start and finish in Hathersage and are shown in broad detail on the link below: 

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1npdL4slYNADs1MqWZjmBbagjx4U&ll=53.3378432672851%2C-1.7673611500000108&z=11

Logistics

All events start and finish at Hathersage at postcode S32 1DU.

The Copper Challenge starts on Saturday morning, and the 9 hour finishing target is 6.30pm. You can decide on the day when in the start window you’d like to start, between 8.30 and 9.30am.

The Bronze Challenge starts on Saturday morning, and the 12 hour finishing target is around 8.30pm. You can decide on the day when in the start window you’d like to start, between 7.30 and 8.30am.

The Silver and Gold Ultra routes start at 9.00pm on Friday evening, so their 24 hour finishing target is 9.00pm on Saturday

If you want to take part in the event and use public transport, at the time of writing, the last trains home from Hathersage on Saturday evening were timetabled at 22:41 to Manchester, 23.15 to Sheffield (Do not rely on this timetable, please recheck train times for yourself)

Participants and their supporters are also encouraged to spend the night in Hathersage at any of the local accommodation and take advantage of the local facilities and our celebration day on Sunday before heading home the next day.

Teams or solo entrants

The Peak District Challenge is predominantly a team event and you are encouraged to enter in a team. 3-5 people is an ideal team size, but we do not apply a formal upper limit. Experienced and competent solo or duo competitors are allowed if they can show sufficient walking and navigation experience at the time of registering. The event organiser, Wilderness Development regularly runs navigation training courses.

Entrants are not permitted any additional external support, eg pacers or additional personal crews. We adopt the principle that you should only accept support that is available to every other entrant. So cafes are ok – your mate who leaves after seeing you is not!

Navigate yourself or join a led group 

You’ll be met by our safety teams only at checkpoints. You have the option of navigating yourself around the challenge route, or joining a led walking group with a qualified Mountain Leader from Wilderness Development. Mountain Leaders will lead groups on the Copper and Bronze challenges, and overnight section of the Silver challenge taking care of your navigation and safety on the hill. Silver challengers must navigate themselves during daylight hours, and Gold Ultra challengers must self-navigate throughout.

We publish more advice on “What level of navigation or map-reading ability do I need?” in our FAQs.

Entry fee 

The entry fee reflects the real cost of putting on an event to professional standards: an honest £22-72 per person (depending on distance chosen).

• Copper 25km, £49
• Bronze 50km, £54
• Silver 75km, £69
• Gold 100km, £74

No fundraising commitment

You are welcome to use the event as a sponsored challenge for your chosen charity, but there are no additional fundraising commitments, and your charity will not have to pay a fee for you to take part either.

Your entry fee covers:

• Fully qualified, professional Mountain Leaders supervising the event.
• A GPS tracker for every team, tracking you continuously on the entire route (for 25km+ distances only)
• A modest prize pool of token prizes.
• A goodie bag at the end of the event.
• Water stations, Drinks and snacks from our friendly checkpoints every 10km on average.
• A stew supper on arrival back in Hathersage on Saturday evening.
• Kit guidance and advice, along with a pre-walk registration and briefing.
• Bag care, including drop-bags for 50-100km distances.
• Printed route guides and GPX files for self-navigating teams
• A scenic and challenging route, and all pre-event planning.

• Finishers Packs are available to pre-book at additional cost, which contain an event t-shirt and medal in addition to your goody bag.

Age limits

Gold Ultra challenge Minimum age 20 (to comply with UKA rules)

20-year olds must be part of a team including at least one person 21+. (on TRA guidance).
21-year-olds + can enter as solo entrants.

Silver challenge Minimum age 18

Bronze Challenge Minimum age 16

16-17 year olds must be accompanied by their parent or legal guardian, they are not permitted as solo entrants.
18+ can enter as solo entrants.

Copper Challenges Minimum age 12

12 – 15 year olds are permitted as part of a led group, but not in self-navigating teams. They must be accompanied by their parent or legal guardian.
16 – 17 year olds must be accompanied by their parent or legal guardian. Their team can be self-navigating or join a led group with a guide. They are not permitted as solo entrants.
18+ can enter as solo and/or self-navigating entrants.

Compulsory Kit list

https://www.peak-district-challenge.com/entry-information/compulsory-kit-list/