Here in the UK we have a group called the Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA) and on a regular basis the organisers have events that have become very popular with runners. The main reason is that they are very cheap, the courses challenging and are billed as events, NOT races.

I am a real lover of one called the Sevenoaks Circular which is in the South East of England just south of London, the run is very tough, hilly, stoney and very muddy in places, everything I look for in a run

Here is a flavour of the day....enjoy

The problem only arises when the walkers leave before the runners!, This is normally when a the 30 mile walkers leave and then the 20 mile runners come through but that is for a very short time period as the routes normally diverge and then join up later on. Most of the time it is pretty pleasant between us all.

The runners treat these events as a day out as much as the walkers as there is no competition between us (unless you want to have a little wager) however the navigation is quite hard to get the hang of and definitely not a good idea to do it as you run due to the rugged terrain as I nearly came a cropper twice yesterday. It is difficult to explain to people that don't do these events because your time is definitely effected by the navigation aspect and taking on the extreme gradients.

I personally love them as we all run around, look out for each other and then sit down at the end for a post run meal of either cheese or beans on toast and tea and coffee out of your ears.

I will add that there is a complete distinction between walkers and runners but as we are arriving first we do not really get a chance to mix

That's a good point

The overall distance was 31 miles give or take a few 100 yards with a total accumilative rise of 2,700 feet to give you an indication of the quality of the walkers is they have to complete it in 10 hours which is some going for the terrain

It can be quite embarrassing sometimes especially when the runners and walkers take off together, you see us runners scooting off and when we get to the big hills start slogging up them and then a walker catches us up, we get to the top overtake them and then get to a hill and they catch us up.

It takes about 4-5 miles to get away from some of them as they are incredibly strong in stride, I have another theory in that they can nap read whilst walking but us runners have to stop quite often as it is basically dangerous to read and run on some of the terrain we were on due to the uneven ground. I nearly met the dirt at one time when my legs came right from under me but by some luck superhuman control managed to keep upright.

To see the walkers  they are just regular day-to-day people with beards, boots and badges (including the women ) and just come along for the walk and enjoy the quiet, beautiful English countryside