What is this all about then?

Our own Fell club championship where we have handpicked 25 (ish) Fell races which are mainly local or in the heart of the best Fell Running communities in the country. We have tried to choose an overall balance of races that are fantastic runs, great value for money, often with stunning scenery that offer the opportunity to take part in the championship even if you are not a seasoned fell runner.

If you love running off road or are keen to get into the hills more, then this is the championship for you, this could change your life or at least change the view for a few days. In actual no nonsense fact it will make you more sexy, give you more energy, give you interesting marks in places you never knew you had, give you increased kudos at the hairdressers and most importantly of all it’s good for the soul.

 

Nuts and Bolts

1. NEW for 2025 onwards.  Complete a minimum of FIVE races from the list;  you can submit one long race as one of your counters as long as it is on the FRA website (and classified as a long).

2. Only best Bunny (🐰) and best Trunce (✅) scores count

3. The list will be broken down into Short, Medium and Long – to qualify for the standard championship you need to do no more than three in total from any one category) but NEW for 2025 onwards – completing a Long race is now optional eg you could do SSSMM or SSMMM or SMMLL (but NOT for example SSSSM)

4. NEW for 2025 onward Completing any Long race earns you a ten point bonus  (You can only earn this once ie two long races does not get you twenty bonus points)

5. The Championship will run from January – December

6. Points in the standard Championship will be awarded for how well you did against *everyone else* in the race, not just the Lions. (Thus there’s no advantage to being the only Lion to turn up). Loads more detail and worked examples here.

7. Trophies will be awarded for: 1st Male, 1st Female, 1st Vet ( where we class a vet as anyone over 50 )

8. One league for all competitors.

9. You are responsible for carrying the correct kit as indicated on the race entry details of each race.

10. Please try and wear the Stainland shirt where possible.

FAQ

What’s fellrunning?

This is fell running

What’s all this AS, AM, BL stuff about?

As per the link above, a fell race is one run on fell, hill or mountain terrain and shall be categorised as follows :
Category “A”

  • 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”

  • Should average not less than 25 metres climb per kilometre.
  • Should not have more than 30% of the race distance on road

Category “C”

  • 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.

Race Length Categories

  • A category “L” (long) race is 20 kilometres or over.
  • A category “M” (medium) race is over 10 kilometres but less than 20 kilometres.
  • A category “S” (short) race is 10 kilometres or less

Can I do the clubs main championship as well as this?

Yes of course, no problem, we have avoided clashes with all Stainland fixtures known at time of press (Championship races, WYWL, YVAA, club races, CWR, etc)  and we have included the three fell races in the main Championship in this as well. Win-win!

If I just turn up and do all the races, will I win?

Nope, it’s about doing as well as you can against *all* the other racers that turn up that day rather than against whichever Lions turn up. So, no easy points just because you are the only one to have turned up, sorry. 🙂

Are all the races ridiculously hard, steep and technically difficult?

We will indicate which races we think require more experience than others, some will be very hard, some won’t, there will be plenty of races to suit lots of runners abilities in each category. Also, some races are easier to navigate than others and we’ve made sure there’s some of these in each category as well.

I’m new to fell racing, which races would you recommend?

James Penson’s tip – get a few races in early as you can into the season, put a few markers down for you to try to beat and it stops having to try and squeeze loads in if you get injured later in the season.
( only 3 short though max!)

  1. Any Bunny (CS)
  2. Crag Vale (CS)
  3. Piethorne (BS)
  4. Heptonstall Festival (AS)
  5. Hebden Bridge Fell (BM)
  6. Soyland Moor  (BL)

Really great and not too technically hard map wise or nasty terrain.

As Delia said “c’mon – let’s be aving you!”

Will I need lots of extra kit?

As a rule of thumb, you will always need ‘FRA Mandatory Minimum Kit’ which is waterproof whole body cover (with taped seams and integrated attached hood), hat, gloves, map of the route, compass, whistle and emergency food. Runners often question whether this level of kit is necessary – it may not be needed when you are running strongly or in good weather, but it could be a life-saver if you have to slow down or stop because of injury or tiredness, or if you need to help another runner in difficulty. Also, if you are just dabbling there are almost always Lions happy to lend you this stuff and we certainly intend to help with the maps.

What is the difference between this and the other club championship?

All these races are off road and hilly.

Will my trainers get mucky?

I’m afraid so, yes 🙂