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とにかくあの怪獣犬から少しでも遠くに離れたい一心だ。かけにかけ続けて、やっと七階の太ったレディの肖像画までたどり着いた。
Anyway, they wanted to get as far away as they could from the monster dog. ???? and finally made it to the portrait of the fat lady on the seventh floor.

かける is a word that seems to have a million meanings and idiomatic uses. I have no idea what かけにかけ続けて means here. I would guess the most literal meaning is "continue to hang on a hook", perhaps meaning they continued to be in jeopardy until they reached the 7th floor?? I also see that かけ can mean 'gallop', which may be relevant. All pure speculation. I cannot make a confident guess.

Edit The translation in A.Ellett's comment seems convincing. I guess then that this is 連用形+に+連用形 and is used for emphasis: "they continued to run and run". Could I equally well use 走りに走り続けて?

user3856370
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    Doesn't this mean, "I ran and kept running until..."? – A.Ellett Dec 26 '23 at 19:53
  • @A.Ellett Thanks. It may well do, I don't know. I see now that "to run" is one of かける's many meanings. You're translation makes sense but I still don't understand the grammar even with this translation. – user3856370 Dec 26 '23 at 20:05
  • Can I have a bit more context please? Is this Harry Potter? – Gui Imamura Dec 26 '23 at 21:58
  • @GuiImamura It is Harry Potter. The context is that the kids are running back to their dormitory after encountering the big dog, Fluffy, while hiding from Filch. – user3856370 Dec 26 '23 at 22:01
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    @user3856370 In this context, かける does mean "to run" and is equivalent to 走る. I love those words that have infinite meanings, every language has at least a couple of them. – Gui Imamura Dec 26 '23 at 22:28
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    It's a strange choice of a word for a children's book. And 続ける seems redundant. 走りに走って would have been just fine. – aguijonazo Dec 27 '23 at 01:53

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As @A.Ellett's comments, it means repetition. かける should be to run (away) (#2).

This dictionary entry has the following (with 走る by chance):

8〔付加，反復〕

彼は走りに走った He ran and ran.

V[masu-stem] + に + V is a pattern to express repetition/doing action excessively. The following question has some more information.

sundowner
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