Dirt Half Challenge Half Marathon
Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
7 Nov 2026
⚠ Start times change frequently. Always check with race organiser or their website for this year's confirmed start time before travelling.
Course map
Map adapted from official race's website
Elevation profile
About this race
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.
Course profile & record eligibility
World Athletics record-eligibility rules cap net elevation loss at 1m per km of race distance, and require the start and finish to be no more than 50% of the race distance apart — both meant to stop a course gaining an unfair edge from downhill grade or a point-to-point tailwind. This is based on this course's recorded elevation and GPS data, not an official measurement or certification.