With famous fells, swooping valleys and sparkling waters, the stunning Lake District and Cumbrian landscape is a true adventure playground for thousands of people who visit every year to take part in an exciting array of organised recreational events.

From triathlons to openwater swims, fun-runs to fell-runs, thousands of people come to take part in hundreds of  events throughout the Lake District and Cumbria every year and we welcome the vibrancy and economic benefits they bring to the area.

Who is this for?

There's lots of information ‘out there’ and this site is intended to focus your thinking and ‘signpost’ you to the most relevant information to help you run a sustainable outdoor challenge event in the Lake District National Park and surrounding countryside.

These guidelines are aimed at events based on active outdoor recreation, where groups of participants meet at a set date, time and location.

The sorts of events for which they are relevant include: fell and trail running,mountain-biking, triathlons,marathons, orienteering events, sponsored walks, off-roading, canoeing, open water swim events, riding and mulit-day events.

What do we mean by 'sustainable'?

What we really want is for people to be able to enjoy the recreational challenges the county has to offer today without compromising the ability for people to continue this enjoyment tomorrow and right into the future. Therefore a sustainable event will not only be one that can happen again and again, but one in which negative environmental, social and economic impacts are kept to the absolute minimum - and positive impacts are encouraged, enhanced and celebrated.

This is our chance to go beyond picking up litter - important though that is - and model the kind of environmental best practice that will help protect our fantastic Cumbrian landscapes from global as well as local impacts.