Fell Championship
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Latest - updated 15 Jan 2025
Next race 8 Feb 2025
Race details below
General Information:
The Fell Running Championship is open to all members (subject to minimum age limits on certain races). However, all who plan to take part should be aware that fell running is significantly more hazardous than road running, and some of the races in the championship will require specific equipment (waterproof full body cover, hat, gloves, map, whistle, compass) to be carried, and the ability to use a map and compass to navigate will be important should a race be held in poor weather/visibility. This is particularly the case on the longer races where the field can take different routes between checkpoints, and you may not have a line of other runners to follow.
See Requirements for Runners for more guidance.
That said, there are plenty of runners in the club who regularly take part in fell races, and we will be more than happy to offer advice on kit and/or navigation.
The races have been selected to give as many runners a possible the chance to compete. There are races in every category which are easier and more suitable for fell running novices, and I will be happy to advise on the suitability of races if asked.
Further details of all races, can be found on the excellent Fell Runners Association (FRA) website http://www.fellrunner.org.uk/races
Fell races are all categorised by severity of the terrain and the amount of height gain (A, B or C) and by length (S, M or L), with AL generally being the hardest, longest races, and CS the shortest, easiest. See the FRA Safety Rules (link above) for a full explanation.
Some races require Pre-Entry (PE), and some are traditional Enter on the Day events (EOD). If there is an option it is usually a bit cheaper to pre-enter, and it guarantees you a place. Keep an eye on the FRA website, as pre-entry is becoming more and more common.
2025 Championship Races
- Date not confirmed Cancelled
| Date | Race | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 10 Jan | Moonriver | BM |
| Sat 08 Feb | Winter Half Tour of Bradwell | BL |
| Sun 23 Feb | Doctors Gate | AL |
| Sun 02 Mar | Cloud Nine | BM |
| Sat 22 Mar | Chicken Run | BM |
| Sun 13 Apr | Wirksworth Inlince | AS |
| Wed 07 May | Rainow 5 | BS |
| Wed 07 May | Shining Tor | TBC |
| Mon 26 May | Bamford Sheepdog Trails | BS |
| Fri 06 Jun | Carsington Hill Race | CS |
| Tue 10 Jun | Calton Crawl | BS |
| Tue 17 Jun | Trevor Milner Riber Run | BS |
| Fri 20 Jun | Tideswell | BS |
| Sun 29 Jun | Bakewell Pudding Race | CM |
| Sun 29 Jun | Kinder Trog | BL |
| Thu 17 Jul | Sheldon | BS |
| Tue 05 Aug | Parwich Panaramic 5 | CS |
| Sat 09 Aug | Tegg's nose | BM |
| Thu 14 Aug | Ricky's Race | BS |
| Sun 31 Aug | Crowden Horseshoe | BM |
| Sep TBC | Ilam Three Peaks | AS |
| Sun 28 Sep | Stuart Learmouth Wirksworth Undulator | BM |
| Sun 09 Nov | Leg it Round Lathkil | BM |
| Sun 09 Nov | Roaches | BL |
| TBC | Shining Tor | BS |
| TBC | Windgather | BL |
Championship Rules:
- Senior event, 7 races to count across the board, minimum 1 Long, 2 Medium, 4 Short, but points will still be counted for anyone completing additional longer races (i.e., you can do more long races in place of Short/Medium, or more Medium in place of short, but not the other way round)
- Novice event, 6 races to count, minimum 2 Medium, 4 Short, but points will still be counted for anyone completing additional longer races (i.e., you can do long races in place of Short/Medium, or more Medium in place of short, but not the other way round.
- Points are awarded based on overall finishing position in the race. i.e. if you come in 47th place in a field of 120 starters, then you score (47/120) x100 = 39 points.
- You can do as many of the races as you like, so long as the minimum requirements are met, and your best scores in each category (S,M,L) will count.
- The winner will be the runner with the lowest total from their best 7 qualifying races (6 for novices)
- There will be awards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Places in the Male & Female Championship, plus awards for the best Male and Female Novices.
- Runners must enter races as Ashbourne RC runners.
- Matt Downes and Will Broad will administer the Championship but may not be at all races. It is the members own responsibility to inform the administrator that they have taken part in races and provide information on the results if required. ashbournerunning@gmail.com
- We have done our best to make sure that all the race details are correct, but please make sure you check at least the FRA website when planning your events.
Novice’s Championship:
- The idea of this is to encourage more club runners to participate in fell races and the fell race championship who do not have a history of fell running, and without the need to be able to complete a challenging long race to qualify for a championship position.
- Separate trophies will be awarded for the novice’s championship.
- To qualify for the novice category, you must be a newcomer to fell running, have not previously won the novice championship, and have not finished in 3rd place or above in the fell championship (rule may be relaxed on this final point in the event that 3 or less runners complete either the Male or Female championship).
- The ARC Committee will ultimately agree who qualifies for the novice category.