Chase Walk is a 38.2-mile competitive walk over and around Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, open to Explorers and above, with a 13-mile alternative for Scouts.

This year we entered a team of 6 Explorers and a team of 7 Scouts. The Explorers were a mix of returning contestants and first-timers, whereas it was the first time any of the Scouts had attempted the walk.

Both teams camped at Beaudesert from Friday evening, with an early Saturday start on the course before returning to camp for some food and a well-deserved rest and then packing up and heading home on Sunday morning.

As well as being a great challenge, the weekend is a brilliant opportunity to put map-reading and teamwork skills into practice in an expedition-style event. Important skills, as many of our Scouts complete DofE in the future.

Unfortunately, three Explorers dropped out by checkpoint 6, taking the team below the minimum size of four and forcing them to pair up with another group. With checkpoint cut-offs closing in and the other group retiring, our Explorers were stood down at checkpoint 7, after almost 9 hours of walking. Gutting, but an incredible effort nonetheless.

The Scouts had a fantastic day, successfully completing the route with only one dropping out at the penultimate checkpoint due to injury. They finished in 6 hours 45 minutes—smashing the previous team’s time of 8 hours 30 minutes!

See you next year, on March 20th 2027!