Come and join us along with your four-legged friend on a 5k adventure around Irchester Country Park.

With plenty of experts on hand to offer advice, this is a great event for those looking to try their first canicross event.

Irchester Country Park is a beautiful venue, offering a variety of grass, dirt and hard-packed tracks through the stunning woodland. Plenty on offer to keep you and your running partner interested!

Registration

Registration will open from 8am on race morning, and will be based in the gazebo on the Little Meadow (opposite the play park).

No timing numbers/chips will be posted out before the event.

Further details will be provided in the race pack that will be emailed to participants the week of the event.

Start time/location

The start time is 9am.

The location of the start is alongside the top car park in the Country Park and will be clearly signposted.

Parking is available at Irchester Country Park at a cost of £3.50 for up to 12 hours.

New to canicross?

Have a listen to the following podcast episodes to see what is involved:

Canicross for beginners

Michelle & Poppy sign up for their first race

Does your dog need to wear a muzzle when Canicrossing?

On-course support

As with all Race Harborough events, there will be professional first aid on hand at the start and finish with the ability to access runners on the course. Race Harborough volunteers will also be out on the course.

This event is taking place with the support of:

Kit

Trail shoes would be the shoe of choice, along with a correctly-fitting canicross harness.

Prizes & treats!

There will be trophies for the first 3 male and female finishers.

All finishers will receive an event medal.

Look out for some special treats for your dog at the finish!

Canicross rules

Alongside our standard T&Cs at Race Harborough, we also ask that you follow the extra rules in place to enable a safe Canicross event.

View the Canicross rules.

You are welcome to compete with two dogs.

The race will be via a staggered start, to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all dogs and runners.

Free race photos!

As with all Race Harborough events – you don’t pay for your race pics! Free digital downloads of your race are available to download soon after the race finishes and we’ll announce their availability on our Facebook page.

Charity

For 2027, the main focus of our charity support will continue to be the Jubilee Foodbank, Market Harborough, and the Weston Favell Centre Foodbank, Northampton. Everyone who enters a Race Harborough event in 2027 will be given the opportunity to make a donation to support these good causes and, we hope, our event community will rise to the challenge and help make a difference to those that need it most.

Latest updates

For the latest updates about this and other Race Harborough events, please Like & Follow the Race Harborough Facebook page.

Description supplied by the event organiser.