TOTAL Warrior will not be taking place at Shap next year and the event may never return to Cumbria.

The county’s biggest obstacle race has attracted about 35,000 muddy competitors to the hilly farmland around Shap Abbey since it began in 2011.

But organisers Adam Dickinson and Andrew Murray, both from Cumbria, have announced that this year’s event, which took place in August, was the last in their home county.

“The main reason is, it’s outgrown the site,” said Andrew. “The best thing about Shap was also its biggest weakness: the amazing location.

“There are lots of logistical issues. Our build is so complicated. The terrain makes it really complicated to keep growing the course.

“Being in the Lake District, you can’t just go and dig anywhere. In Leeds there’s a lot more scope for that.”

Andrew and Adam are now concentrating on the Total Warrior event at Bramham Park, near Leeds. Next year’s is on the weekend of June 21-23.

“They’re different types of courses,” said Andrew. “Leeds has a really big junior event. In the Lake District we couldn’t do that.

“From a brand point of view it was getting more tricky to have two events that were becoming quite different when you’re trying to give everyone the same experience.

“At Leeds we’re really growing the junior side so parents can run with their children.

“The target next year is to have the biggest ever Total Warrior with 10,000 adults taking part over the weekend and 3-4,000 kids.

“Leaving Shap is definitely the hardest decision we’ve ever had to take, when it’s still doing so well numbers wise. We had 5,000 this year. It is a bit of ‘heart and head’.”

Andrew is proud of the benefit that Total Warrior has given local businesses.

“The third year, there must have been 1,500 campers. On the Monday after the event I spoke to a Shap pub landlord.

“He said he’d been there for 15 years and on Saturday night he’d done four times more business than his busiest ever night.”