This morning I went along to the first Dirt Half Challenge, a new Half Marathon that starts and finishes at Cedars Upper School in Leighton Buzzard . .

When I arrived there were already plenty of runners collecting their numbers . .  

A little later we made our way to the start . .

And at 10 o'clock the Dirt Challenge was under way . .

As the runners made their way through Leighton Buzzard along the Grand Union Canal, I got in the car and drove round to Three Locks where I hoped I'd get some good views of the runners with the pub and lock gates behind them . . 

This little thing made the most noise all day!

After all the runners had gone past Three Locks, I dashed back to the School and walked along the course towards the runners . . the early ones were already coming through . . but when I got to the canal, here's the view I had looking back towards Leighton Buzzard . .

Whilst in the other direction I had a great view of the bouncy bridge . .

When I had the chance I took photos of runners on the bridge . . or their reflections in the water . .

 . . or of the other things around me that caught my eye . .