UKC

Not done any fell running or off road racing before (save one 'Hell run' quite a few years ago) but looking to inspire my self to get running again by signing up to a 10k in the Peak District (I find running on the road a bit dull) - maybe in March.

Googling took me to http://www.fellrunner.org.uk which lists a lot of different options but I guess I don't really know how to choose - or even whether you need to be a member of a club / be able to run at certain speeds to enter - for example http://www.congleton-harriers.co.uk/cloud9

Any advice greatly appreciated

In reply to noteviljoe:

You don't need to be a member of a club or fast. Not in the Peak, but Wardle Skyline is a really good introduction to fell running. You might end up racing against Mick Fowler as well. Second weekend in April.

http://rochdaleharriers.co.uk/wardle/wardle.htm

In reply to noteviljoe:

Just go for any, 10k's rarely have any restrictions in terms of speed or experience. Why wait until March? Just go! Even just dip your toes with a shorter one (there is pretty much one every week), people tend to be pretty friendly and not everyone is competitive.

Alan

In reply to noteviljoe:

Why wait until March?!

There are very few you need to sign up for. Just turn up on the day, pay a fiver, run and have cake and tea in the Scout Hut/Village Hall afterwards - sometimes tea and cake is even free! The shorter races are generally marked/marshalled so you won't have to worry about navigation.

No membership, speed requirements or anything else required. Just choose a race distance you're happy with from FRA website and probably start with a C category race. A to C denotes steepness, A being steepest, C the least steep. S, M and L denote short, medium and long. See FRA website, the codes will help you when scanning race listings.

Have fun, fell running is a great little sub culture!

PS, you're right - running on roads is very dull!

In reply to noteviljoe:

This will be fun

http://tideswellrunningclub.uk/club-events/litton-christmas-cracker/

In reply to noteviljoe:

Hijack. No help at all, but ...

Which 10K? I was wondering about doing something similar, same kind of distance, timing, area ...

In reply to mudmonkey5:

If a race is ER, what experience is necessary? If it's an BM would they expect you to have done other BM races or would several AS count? Or is it organisers discretion. Not many of the races say exactly what experience is required.

In reply to noteviljoe:

Give Gravy Pud a go in Dec http://fellrunner.org.uk/races.php?id=3527

5 miles very low key and friendly - my first ever fell race

In reply to DancingOnRock:

I've never really known race organisers impose entry criteria (apart from maybe oversubscribed big name things like the Three Peaks?). Experience Required is more an invitation to go into it with your eyes wide open and not to expect barrier tape and flags at every turn.

In reply to steveriley:

Ok. Thanks. I quite like the look of Kinder Downfall. But the ER has put me off, I'll give it a go.

In reply to DancingOnRock:

Kinder is ace and one of my first proper races. If you don't make the mistake of being at the front there's a decent field and plenty of people to follow

In reply to DancingOnRock:

It's only really some of the AL races that expect experience. I wouldn't for example recommend Borrowdale as a first fell race.

In reply to The New NickB:


Ultimately I fancy Edale Skyline but they specifically give examples of experience and state it as a requirement. I'm happy to work up, but every race I look at says ER. So at first glance it looks like a pretty hard sport to get into.

Then there's the Snowdon International.

In reply to DancingOnRock:


If you can read a map then you should be fine - experience in the mountains is as useful as being able to run fast and far.

In reply to ianstevens:

Cheers. I'll email the organisers and see what they say then.

In reply to noteviljoe:

You asked for examples so here's some:

Hit the trail - in Reddish, 3 Jan - Belle Vue Striders
Adlington winter warmer - 27 Dec
Bowstones fell - this is an 'easy' fell race - my wife's doing it and she hasn't done one before (1 Jan?)
Langsett 10k trail - March
Bollington 10k - trail but flat
macc forest - July (Macc Harriers organise)
Sheffield 10 10 - Sept (?) - popular apparently
There's some trail races in Oct in the Goyt valley - haven't done them but fantastic place to run - expensive though

In reply to noteviljoe:

The Trunce is 6k but it always felt like 10 to me....

Monday evenings on a 3 week cycle once the clocks have moved forward.

Thanks to everyone for all the tips.

So far I've managed to start running again - so far just 4.5-ish miles once a week, hoping in the new year to push this up to two runs a week next week so I'll hopefully get fit enough to think about entering one of these races.

I live in Manchester and don't have much time to train but have managed to find a circuit from my house through parks, golf course and down cycle path that is mostly 'off road' - only thing is that I don't have any hills to train on!

In reply to noteviljoe:

No idea where in Manchester you are but the is a friendly running club in the SW called Chorlton Runners. They have a sub-group called the Black Sheep who have regular Wednesday night runs or races in the hills (the Peak/Pennines) and weekend outings. Might be worth a look?