The adventure races will test runners' navigation skills as well as mountain biking prowess

Two night races will be an innovation in a new adventure event scheduled for next spring.

The iROC meeting will take place in the Durham Dales and will combine running, orienteering and mountain biking. Points will be accumulated in each of five successive races over the weekend, so the winners are likely to be all-rounders who can run, navigate and ride a bike on ‘technical’ ground at night.

The organisers say there will also be ‘fun events’ for families and supporters who want to tackle lesser distances while their more elite mates are on the fells.

The iROC adventure racing weekend will be run on 18 and 19 April next year at a venue yet to be announced, and is being organised by a team from Inov8, the Crook-based gear company.

Features of the races will be their massed starts and route that takes them back through the spectator area.

In the light of recent experiences, the event boasts that ‘This a UK event and the event village will be designed to withstand all but the very worst weather’.

The weekend opens with a 13km (8-mile) fell and trail race involving 900m of ascent. This will be followed by a shorter, 9km (5 ½-mile) test of orienting skills, with 500m of height gain.

A night orienteering course will then test the competitors navigation skills and they will then tackle a mountain bike time trial starting at 10pm.

The weekend culminates in a four-hour biking race on Sunday morning.

Entry will be available online from December, from individuals as wells as teams of three.

Full details are on the iROC adventure race website.