by Dave Rogerson

This page has been put together with the help of previous competitors, searchers and the headquarters rescue team. It is designed to give a few tips and guidelines to those wishing to take part for the first time and those who have little experience of long distance walking competitions. Feel free to print this page!

The event started somewhere in the dim and distant past of the early 1970's as a local event for South Cumbria and North Lancashire Senior Scouts, centred around the venture forth base at what is now Great Tower camp site. Originally for teams of three, increased to four per team, it presently attracts around 300 Explorer and Network scouts together with up to 100 leaders and back up staff over the weekend.
The aim of the competition is walk, crawl or run back to the competition venue, avoiding capture, within specified boundaries over a distance of around 35 miles depending on terrain. Coaches will depart from the venue at around 10.00pm on the Friday, to travel out to the drop off point. Teams are dropped off at around 12.00pm and have one hour to disperse before the catchers are set loose, to seek, find, capture and with minimum torture extract a life card. On each capture one life will be surrendered from the three held, once all three are lost you are out of the game. Teams are encouraged to continue walking in, but after a minimum distance or in case of any emergency or injury, transport is available back to base.
The winning team will arrive at the run in zone nearest to 11.00am on the Sunday morning with the maximum number of lives.
This makes the competition not just one of brute force and stamina, but one of stealth, cunning, teamwork and planning.

Full set of rules are included with confirmation letter and also on this website, make sure you ALL study them carefully before the event. Ignorance of the rules is no excuse and any infringements will be dealt with by the organisers, without mercy.
The competition is a high profile event. Many members of the public, police, rail, bus together with scouting members and friends are aware of the event and are requested to contact the organisers if any problems are incurred or rules seen to be broken. Please note down any questions on rules etc. to ask at the briefing session on the Friday night. For questions and enquiries prior to the event, please contact the Dragnet Team

Blisters! ! - you will get them ! So please include a supply of padded plasters, antiseptic wipes or if you are feeling keen blister kits. Some of the older and more experienced walkers may not admit it but there is nothing quite as soothing as ' Body shop - Peppermint foot lotion
Sterilization tablets, - after periods of warm weather water is not only more difficult to come by but can often be contaminated with algae and bacteria. You never know what has died or been done upstream ?
Sun cream and sun hat - every year we have problems with sunstroke and sunburn, which can get very serious when you are a few miles from any road or civilization.


A copy of the Kit List is set out on the confirmation letter. Dragnet is a lightweight event and we do not expect you to carry tents, three course meals and full wash kits However there are specific items of equipment which we have indicated as being compulsory. This is for your own safety and to comply with scouting insurance rules. There will be a full equipment check made by the organisers both as you check in together with spot checks as you leave the bus. View the kit list here

Walking boots are compulsory for this event. plus you may choose to carry trainers for any road walking and low level paths. Full wool walking socks or high tech Thorlo style walking socks are strongly advised. The more often you change them the better and rinse out any dirty pairs in water to re­ expand the fibres just in case you need to re-wear them later
on. Football socks, M & S sport socks or anything with nylon = Blisters!!

Keep lightweight - Vesta, chocolate, nuts & mintcake - a little & often
Avoid anything that should normally be kept in a fridge such as burgers, Sausage, meat etc. after a very short time in a sweaty rucksack these can start to fester and lead to high / serious cases of food poisoning - ( there is nothing as miserable as a case of the sh**rs at 2,000 foot up on a lakeland fell )

What can I say Study the maps we have quoted for this years event (details of the maps needed are given with your confirmation of entry). It doesn't take a genius to guess an approximate idea of the route. Make best use of the short time you have at the competition venue, to scout out the area and make yourself familiar with the terrain.
Map and compass work is an essential part of both this competition and Scouting as a whole. If in doubt or you are having problems - try the scout troop or even the cubs!! Also worth noting, catchers can be a little lazy - Only the fittest, keenest catchers get far off the roads onto the fells and that's where the teams who win set their route What I am trying to say is, if you walk along the roads, especially in the daylight you are very likely to get caught.

When you are dropped off, on Friday night you will receive a sealed envelope containing your life cards and a map of the route, which has marked on it boundaries for the competition. These boundaries are negotiated in conjunction with the Police, National Trust, H M Forces and various Mountain Safety Advisors. Please do not try to stray outside, you may be endangering yourself and you will be disqualified if caught by catchers covering routes outside the boundaries.

Mobile phones can be taken with you, but be aware that you will not always have a signal up in the Cumbrian Fells. It's also a good idea to leave your phones switched off as the battery will drain quicker when searching for a weak signal. Saturday night we will encorage you to text in your location to the organisers (don't worry, we won't relay this information to the catchers!) you will get more information on this when you arrive at base camp on Friday night. As for other technology, Sat Nav GPS etc. these are not as a reliable under these conditions and are not a viable alternative to a map & compass!!

David Rogerson