On Saturday 6 August 2022, the Dovedale Dipper took place on a pleasant morning for long-distance running and, as the name suggests, there are a few hills to go up and down along the way.
There are two courses to choose from both of which start and finish in Hartington, with the long route measuring over 26 miles with 1,042 metres of ascent and a shorter one of almost 16 miles, which has a mere 704 metres of ascent.
The long route heads out to Parsley Hay, Earl Sterndale and Longnor, before being joined by the 15 mile fun runners at Revidge, who have taken a more direct route through Sheen. Both routes then take in Warslow, a challenging steep climb up Ecton Hill and through to Wetton. At which point the course splits and the short route takes a direct route to Milldale through Alstonefield, whereas the longer route adds another couple of miles on for good measure. Once at Milldale, all runners return to Hartington along the River Dove, but miss Beresford Dale as they are sent up one final hill to see what they are made of.
Runners from Matlock Athletic Club had a good day in both races with Greg Hopkinson putting in a great performance to win the 26 miler in a time of 3:45:00. In the 15 miler, Luke Beresford and Dan Ashcroft finished in 4th and 6th places in times of 2:23:59 and 2:26:36 respectively.
