TRIATHLON club members litter picking for the first time were shocked with the quantity of dog poo found on trails.
Kendal Triathlon Club went 'plogging' - litter picking combined with running - and gathered more than 260 pieces of litter in three miles between Grasmere and Rydal.
The members of the club were surprised with the enormous amount of dog poo found in the paths.
"Easily the worst offenders were dog owners," said Kath Finn of Kendal Triathlon Club.
The club cleared more than 100 poo bags in an eight-mile run.
She said: "We were all really shocked about that number. We see them casually when you're out but when you actually gather them together and get that number it is just awful.
"We have got dog owners in the Triathlon Club and they were mortified.
"Even if you have a biodegradable bag it is going to stay there forever."
She added: "Even when we run back across an area we'd already cleared there were things dropped in the middle of the path obviously just being left in the last hour."
They counted the litter collected to send the results to 'Trash Free Trails', an organisation leading surveys on the impact of litter on the landscape.
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