UKC

Whether you're an experienced walker lacking confidence in your fitness, or a road runner dreaming of more engaging terrain, yet put off by the need for basic hill skills, the perceived barriers to hill running may seem insurmountable. But it's a lot more accessible than many think, says running guide Keri Wallace.

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I took my (unhappy, fairly slow) running off-road in 2020 and never looked back. This article has made me smile and it is so full of good advice that I discovered by trial and error... My additions: 

- most freeing thing anyone ever said to me was a physio who had run prodigious distances: "beyond about 20km it's basically a picnic with some jogging"; total change in mind-set about pace and eating

- just being in running shoes doesn't mean you'll do it faster: there are some Munros I've "run" where, frankly, I need not have bothered. They proved sufficiently steep/technical or in deep enough snow that I might have well have gone in proper boots, protected my ankles, carried another 1500g of safety gear, gone as a hill-walker and taken about 12 minutes longer. That's OK - it was just learning. The definition of adventure is an outing in inappropriate footwear, right ? (Meagaidh ridge round postholing to my thighs...) keep safe though

- after a couple of years running with one or two suitable rucksacks, I got a waist-belt for those outings where you're safe with just keys and phone - and found I had 3-4 more gears than before ?! It wasn't the weight of the sacs, just that I'd get into the habit of running at a speed that suited the sac... madness ! 

So glad I did. It's such a good & different way to see the landscape. I stopped disliking running. I even like it now. 

Y

Excellent overview, Keri.

I've been at it for ten years now and, as Danny Rohas might say, fell running is life. 

The crossover point between running and walking gait is a fascinating area. I've seen US research suggesting that it might be as low as 20% gradient: i.e. for anything steeper than 1:5, walking has a lower power requirement than running for the same speed.

That tallies with my early experiences, when I could feel my fitness increasing but the clock insisted I was getting slower. The reason was that I'd fallen into the "slowing to a walk = failure" mindset.

See also "most ultra runners are just walkers dressed as runners".  There is a fair bit of truth in that.  Past the first half marathon worth or so, and for all the uphills, most of the participants of something like The Lap and Lakes in a Day will be walking, not running.

I tend to end up power-walking the later parts of marathons and (due to having long legs) still power past slower people who are running.  Do what works for you - it's a foot race but it doesn't matter if you walk if that's faster!

My top tip when racing up hills is if someone walks past you stop running.

To get into the sport as a runner already I'd highly recommend entering a short fell rave (something local) and having a go. You'd be surprised how well you'd do.  Wfra for welse races is a good resource. I

Best sport ever

You forgot to mention the competitive eating aspect of ultra-running that breaks up the light jogging.

You don't have to spend long googling and you'll see that even the racing snakes like Jim Walmsley walk some of the hills - albeit miles faster than us punters as they are fit a butcher's dogs. 

I used to run in the Trunce, a fairly well known South Yorkshire event which packed three river crossings into about 4 miles, and there were just two points in the race where, even at my fittest, I had to drop down to a walk for a few yards. I often tried to just run in really short steps in a sort of ultra low gear but my fastest times were when I gave up messing about and just accepted the need to walk for a few yards until the gradient eased off a bit.

i had a proper love/ hate relationship with that race but I've still got my number in my sock drawer ( 870)