Edale Skyline Fell Race March. 21 miles / 4500'

Race report by Alan Whelan

The race is usually held on a Sunday in mid March. Last year the weather was really cold with frozen snow covered ground and in 2005 it was very misty making navigation very difficult in places..

Where does it go?

Start and Finish: Field at the bottom of Ringing Roger (GR123863)

Checkpoints:

Follow tapes up the zig-zags to the top of the hill

Time limit and cut off at Mam Nick (G.R.125833) is 2 ½ hours after the start - no exceptions.

Follow tape due west to stile and run along fence line

What's it like?

It starts from the foot of the Pennine Way in the village of Edale (where registration is). The actual start is at the foot of Ringing Roger - the first climb. You then follow the run of the valley along the tops until you get to Win Hill. At this point you descend back to the road at Hope and cross the valley. This crossing has a water stop if needed - it also forces you to run past the only pub on the route.

The climb out of the valley to the top of Lose Hill is runnable and along the tops some of the footpath is Yorkshire stone slabs to prevent errosion this being ok if dry but can be slippery when wet. You then follow the valley back the opposite direction passing Hollins Cross and Mam Tor then descend slightly to Mam Nic (timeout point) - which is the second and last water point.

This is perhaps where the race really starts with the run out towards Brown Knoll being the change from a trail race to a fell race. This is where you start to feel it if you have gone off too hard on the easier trails/paths. In bad conditions this is where navigation skills come in. The field can be spread out and you should trust you own judgement for route choice. The path out to Brown Knoll is not fixed and can stop/start as it will not have been used for a few months. Look at the map beforehand and remember if you start descending here you are too far to the right!

After Brown Knoll you pick up paths again but this can be difficult in bad weather. The are normally lots of people at the top of Jacobs ladder and this is a good support point. The going can then be lonely and you will need to stay in touch with the map to navigate you r way out to Grindslow Knoll. After this is the only real route choice you have. From Grindslow Knoll you can head down the valley and then climb to Ringing Roger (the last checkpoint) or go around the tops. Down and up is quicker but it all depends on how your legs feel.

The descent to the finish can be fast - if you have any left in your tank.

The organisers - Dark Peak Fell Runners, insist on previous experience - Beachy Head would be a good race to quote. Navigational skills needed in foggy conditions.

Information courtsey of Hayfield Fell Races.

What happened this year? Rick Ansell normally runs the race and Simon Barnett also ran it in 2006. I last ran it in 2005 and it was very foggy with the large majority of the competitors getting lost. 2007 sees it as an English Fell Championship counter so a larger field is expected.

Recommendations

No drinkable water on the course apart from the two drinks stations. Either carry some with you or have some one support you enroute.

Expect around 4hrs allowing extra for bad weather. (Rick normally does around 3:30)

Camping is possible depending on the weather with sites in Booth, Edale and others in the valley.

Best map I could find is the 1:25000 Harveys Dark Peak Superwalker.

As with all fell races you have to carry mandated equipment (waterproof cag+hood, bottoms, hat, gloves, compass, whistle, emergency food) and this is one race that all of the above and perhaps more are needed due to the weather and time of year.

Here are the Tring results for 2006:

35 Rick Ansell 3:25

91 Simon Barnett 3:47