UKC

Recommendations please .  I’m not sure yet how much time I will have between various other chores / commitments but hope to get a few hours off . Anything considered . Esoteric gems in the south peak or your old favourites . 

In reply to mike123:

Fells? In the Peak? Sorry, couldn't resist. Little question for the interested: what is the most southerly fell in Britain?

In reply to mike123:

The kinder downfall route is great. 

In reply to mike123:

Loads of suggestions here: https://www.fellrunner.org.uk/races/map#close

My favourite routes there are the Kinder Downfall race route, Crowden Horseshoe, Hope Wakes or Castleton race routes. Otherwise it's impossible to have a bad run around the edges above Hathersage, Grindleford and Curbar

In reply to mike123:

Is it specifically the South that you're interested in, or Peak more generally?
(If you're short of time, I guess you'll not be wanting to spend longer in the car than you're actually running.)

Not a fell run exactly, but here's an idea: 

Park the car in Alport (as you would for Rheinstor - there's a large lay by and a fair bit of roadside parking). 

From there head North, and follow the path along the Lathkill all the way up Lathkill Dale turning left at about SK 174655 to meet the Limestone Way where it crosses the bottom of the dale and steeply climbs out. 

Then follow the Limestone Way until it meets the river Bradford (or perhaps better - follow the tarmac a bit further to go through Middleton by Youlgreave, to take in a nice bit of Bradford Dale a bit upstream of where the Limestone Way comes down to the river). 

14km ish, and about 250m of ascent.  (Mostly one big hill in the middle - gentle climb up Lathkill Dale, brutal up and over the top and back down, then gentle descent back down Bradford Dale.)

You can take a short cut to chop that down to a bit below 10km by crossing the Lathkill by the house below Over Haddon, taking the track steeply up the hillside opposite and then following the public footpath through the farmyard at Meadow Place Grange to join the Limestone Way between Youlgreave and Middleton.

In reply to mike123:

Edale 'skyline' from Hope.

In reply to mike123:

As this is a climbing forum.  Its about 15km there and back along the whole of Stanage edge.

Did it a few years back on a snowy sunny day,  and it was lovely.  

Not a fell obviously but up and downy....

In reply to Lankyman:

Box hill in Surrey? They have a fell race up it….

In reply to Levy_danny:

Yep Kinder Downfall from Hayfield going via Sandy Heys and Kinder Low.. either way round is just as good. Start at Bowden Bridge for a shorter route, or start in Hayfield and go up over the Snake Path and drop down to the reservoir from the white shooting cabin for a slightly longer version.

In reply to mrphilipoldham:

Quality route but I quite like going up Williams Clough instead of Sandy Heys. Both ways up are ace though. 

In reply to Levy_danny:

Yes also a good option, adds on some distance on uneven terrain! When I lived in Birch Vale the Sandy Heys option was exactly a half marathon from my front door which is why I did it more often  

In reply to mike123:

Not exactly a *fell* run (there aren't actually any fells in the Peak anyway!), but start at Hathersage, up to Stanage, along the top, along the bottom of Burbage and back down to Hathersage again is a lovely route even if it is totally mainstream!   Probably about 15K depending exactly which way you go towards Stanage and back from Burbage.

In reply to mrphilipoldham:

I’m doing my very best to persuade my other half to move out that way as I’d love to have great running like that on my door step. 

In reply to Wimlands:

I've driven to the top. Typical soft southern fell.

In reply to Neil Williams:

There's loads of mountain biking in the Peak despite a complete absence of mountains, so y'know.

An alternative to your route would be to head up from Hathersage through North Lees and the plantation to the top, but then turn left instead of right and along to Crow Chin before looping back down below the crag and down to Dennis Knoll then down past Green's House and Brookfield Manor.

That would be following the route of the Stanage Struggle more or less.  (Which is a fell race btw.)

In reply to mike123: thanks all . Out of interest what is that they call races in the peaks where people run around and up and down the little hills they have there ?

In reply to Neil Williams:

Don't tell the Dark Peak Fell Runners!

In reply to compost:

I suppose the question is where the difference lies between fell running and trail running...I guess how hilly it is?

The term mountain biking tends to be used in some form for more or less all off-road biking that isn't just along an off road path, though, I suppose, it doesn't necessarily have to involve teetering along a knife edge ridge

In reply to Neil Williams:

My view is that fell running starts somewhere around a BM. Any BL or Cat A is included!

:-D 

In reply to compost:

I had to look that up, not being a club runner!

For anyone else who also isn't:

https://kirkstallharriers.org.uk/new/socials/fell-running/

Races are placed into Fell Runners Association (FRA) race categories. The categories have two letters which refer to the steepness of the route and length of the race:
1. Ascent (Steepness)
Category “A” Event

Should average not less than 50 metres climb per kilometre

Should not have more than 20% of the race distance on road

Should be at least 1.5 kilometres in length.

Category “B” Event

Should average not less than 25 metres climb per kilometre.

Should not have more than 30% of the race distance on road

Category “C” Event

Should average not less than 20 metres climb per kilometre.

Should not have more than 40% of the race distance on road

Should contain some genuine fell terrain

2. Race Length

Category “L” (long) race is 20 kilometres or over

Category “M” (medium) race is over 10 kilometres but less than 20 kilometres

Category “S” (short) race is 10 kilometres or less

So, an AS race is short and very steep, a CL is long and relatively less steep. A shortish BM is probably a good one to choose first.