Runaway Racing Dunstable Downs Half Marathon
A half marathon loop over Dunstable Downs and the Whipsnade escarpment.
21.3 km
13.2 miles
348 m ascent
16 m per km
4h cut-off
11:16/km to make it
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No reviews of the Dunstable Downs Half Marathon, and nothing on what people wore. Both are things no organiser publishes and every runner wants before they enter — how it actually went, and what was on your feet.
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The course
HARD
TRP grade · E3·T2
4h cut-off, which needs 11:16/km
What you’re in for
A half marathon from the Chilterns Gateway Centre on Dunstable Downs: out to the Tree Cathedral and Bison Hill in the first quarter, a full loop of Kensworth Quarry with the aid station at 10km, an out-and-back to Five Knolls on the ridge, then the first 5km again in reverse on the lower Downs. 21.3km with 348m of climb on the GPX — the organiser calls it 450m — a quarter to ten in mid-June, four hours, aid at 6.7 and 13.7km. Marked with orange arrows and ribbon, marshalled at the turns.
Terrain and trail
Chalk downland turf on the escarpment, grassy track round the quarry rim, woodland path by the Tree Cathedral and a few short steep pulls back onto the Downs. Firm and fast in June. Marked. A trail shoe, though a road shoe with tread would do in a dry year.
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How to enter
Sun, 20 Jun 2027 · Entries open
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Common questions
- The Dunstable Downs Half Marathon is one distance: Half Marathon (21.3 km / 13.2 miles).