Endure24 is a multi-lap relay or solo race with camping included. I’d been signed up for Endure Leeds as part of a relay team. Registration seemed straightforward and when I got to the site on the day of the race I was handed my number by teammates at our camping spot. It’s not an easy place to get to unless you have a car unfortunately so plan well ahead.

The site is set out on several fields with a couple of acres of tents and parking spots in the adjacent field. There’s an area set aside for food outlets near the start line and toilets set out throughout the campsite. There were also a number of showers, but these were sometimes cold and had long queues through most of the day (although if you wanted a shower, the early hours of the morning seemed best). 

The race starts at midday under an inflatable arch with an initial 200m around the edge of the field before it heads in to the forest. The first half is largely uphill, with a couple of sharp inclines and declines but nothing too significant on a gravel path. The second half weaves through the forest, past a water station at km 5.5 (ish) before a downhill section followed by a sharp incline of blinding white dusty rock that had been put down around the field. After this there’s a short section across a field before it joins a track which makes its way around another forest before a short downhill and a climb up the double step path, bringing you in sight of the finish line, 0.5km away. The final stretch winds through a tree lined route, around a couple of bends, under a second inflatable arch before a climb to the finish line corner and a 50 m grassy dash. 

As a relay, once the lap (or multiple laps) are complete you need to hand a band to a teammate before they go off on their laps. This is pretty smooth but it might be an idea to take something memorable so that the runner completing the lap can pick you out in the crowd. 

Night running is fun, the route is really well marked so there’s no real likelihood of getting lost. The route is largely gravel track so there is a need to be careful of tripping in the night (I had a little stumble during a double lap).

The atmosphere between runs is really relaxed, plenty of food and a great DJ and the hot weather helped with the relaxing, if not the running!

It’s definitely a race worth doing once and I’m already signed up to go again next year!