iRoc

Case Study

North Pennine Dales LEADER were very pleased to be able to support the inaugural event of the iROC Adventure Race Weekend. The event which took place on the 18th and 19th of April within the LaFarge Eastgate quarry complex consisted of six individual races including running, orienteering and cycling. The more challenging races took part at night with competitors finished after midnight.

Eastgate quarry ceased trading as a commercial quarry a number of years ago and was the perfect setting for this event, which could provide the infrastructure and terrain suitable for the challenges of the different disciplines. It was encouraging to find the redundant site back in use in a completely different context. The event attracted 222 entries, with competitors travelling from all over the country, also from Ireland, Holland and Germany. One competitor cycled from Keswick to take part, a 50 mile one way trip.

Success of the event can be gauged by the amount of interest created post event with e-mails, BLOGs, web forums and feedback from competitors. iROC is looking forward to supporting next years event and hope to build on the initial success. This type of event is ideal to showcase the Durham Dales to visitors who might never have travelled in this area before. I am sure each year the event will grow which ultimately will help to support the local economy and raise the profile of the area.

Support for this event was through the Natural and Cultural Tourism theme of the North Pennine Dales LEADER £10,000 was made available to support the infrastructure and set up costs. “The funding is being made available through the Rural Development Programme for England, which is jointly funded by Defra and the European Union, and is managed by One NorthEast in the North East region.”

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