La course de Haute Roche

About the race

La course de Haute Roche is a village race in Dourbes, part of the municipality of Viroinval in the valley of the Viroin. The race owes its name to the ruins of Haute Roche castle, which stand on a limestone spur south of the village: a fourteenth-century stronghold with a gate flanked by two turrets, destroyed in 1555 during the war between Charles V and Henry II. The surrounding area is heavily wooded, with oak and hornbeam that thrive on the chalky soil. The race is traditionally run over two distances, a short one of six kilometres and a longer one of just over ten. The relief of the Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse ensures that neither of them is flat.