Our Fell Race Secretary is Dave Bish

Beeston AC take part in Fell Races in the Peak District between March and October on weekday evenings with some weekend races.

Fellrunning is sociable, fun way to run in beautiful places. Races tend to start on a village playing field or pub car park, up a big hill, along a bit, before speeding back down again. An ideal way to spend a summer evening.

We know it’s not the most accessible kind of racing – because there’s a fair bit of travel and a bit of kit involved (See below), but it’s by far the most enjoyable and sociable!

Your race entry (usually about £5) raises money for local schools, pays for village defibrillators and supports mountain rescue.

Kit

You’ll need some fell or trail shoes – something with a bit of grip.

Increasingly races advertise as requiring full FRA kit – though very few midweek Peak District summer races will actually make you carry that on the night if the weather is good, because you’ll never get more than a couple of miles from the village so the risks are minimal. Long races or spring/autumn/winter you’re more likely to be required to have kit.

Kit to get is: full waterproof body cover with taped seams (incl. hood), hat, gloves. Longer/non-summer races may also require a whistle, compass, survival bag, emergency food, water. A small rucksack or bumbag is the best way to carry your kit. This at the discretion of race organisers on the day, depending on the weather – details on FRA Event page and usually on social media. You can put the basics of this kit together fairly cheaply from Decathlon or other retailers.

Races are governed by the FRA (Fell Runners Association). You can join the FRA for £16 a year which supports their work and gets you their magazine three times a year. You don’t need to join to run fell races, though you will get a discount at some races if you are an FRA member.

Calendar

2024 season

This year our season will begin at Wolf’s Pit (County Championships) and run through to Curbar Commotion in October. Our club calendar has 12 races on it. You must complete 6 races, with at least four of them from this calendar. This is a shorter list to encourage us to race together more! You need to wear a club vest to score points. Results for the races below will be checked automatically.

You can include any two other FRA races. See fellrunner.org.uk. Send Dave a pic of you in club kit at those races so the results can be checked.

Men’s and Women’s trophies to be presented at the club AGM in November 2024. Scoring is out of 100 points each races, based on the percentage of your time compared to the fastest time in your age category (as in previous seasons). Please note some races are pre-entry only and can sell out fast. We’ll do our best to notify you when race entries open on Facebook or the BAC Fellrunners Whatsapp. Some races have their own Facebook pages so it’s worth finding and following them. If any of these races are cancelled we’ll arrange a suitable substitution. In the unlikely event of a tie we’ll work through head-to-head results.

Summer races from May-September are unlikely to require kit but you must follow the race organisers instructions and not race without what is required.

Beyond that, remember fell running is the most fun kind of running. We drive an hour with friends to somewhere beautiful, run, go to the pub, drive home together. What better way to spend an evening.

We have a BAC Fellrunners WhatsApp to share info, and arrange liftshares. Contact Dave Bish to join via the Contact page or Facebook.

WOLF’S PIT, SHATTON (Sun 10 Mar, 11am, 9km, 450m) PRE £8-£10. This is the Notts AAA county championships race.
BAMFORD SHEEPDOG TRIALS (Bank Holiday Mon 27 May, 1pm, 7.2km, 315m) EOD & PRE £5. From the trials field, up Win Hill via Parkin Clough. Lots of fun, don’t get lost on the way down.
CASTLETON (Fri 7 Jun, 730pm, 9.2km, 410m) EOD £8. A classic race returning for the first time since 2019. Up and along the great ridge, and back down from Hollins Cross.
WEAVER HILLS, ASHBOURNE (Sat 15 Jun, 3pm, 3.5km, 165m) EOD & PRE £7-10. Short sharp sprint to the foot of a very steep hill, down and back. It’s a fair way to go for a short race but it’s at the weekend, and the start/finish is at Daltons Dairy (Ice cream!) and there are Staffordshire Oat Cakes.
GRINDLEFORD (Thu 20 Jun, 730pm, 7.7km, 254m) PRE £7. Did someone say river crossings? This sells out fast for good reason. Up to the Longshaw estate, over the brook, down Padley Gorge, through the Derwent river…
WINDMILL, WOODHOUSE EAVES, LEICS (Wed 3 Jul, 730pm, 8km, 290m) PRE £3. One in Leicestershire, why not? Situated between Beacon Hill and Bradgate.
BLACK ROCKS, CROMFORD (Wed 10 Jul, 730pm, 9.5km, 250m) PRE £6. Very accessible – start and finish along the canal, in between it’s up and down the High Peak Trail with a bit of more technical stuff in between.
CRICH MONUMENT (Sat 13 July, 130pm, 11km, 210m) PRE £17-19. From the fair at Crich. Starts high up, heads down to the canal, before going back up at the end. Another weekend one.
RICKY’S RACE, DARLEY BRIDGE (Thu 8 Aug, 7pm, 7.3km, 250m) PRE £6. All you need to know is that there’s a big hill at the end. Earlier start than usual in the summer – 7pm.
EYAM (Tue 27 Aug, 630pm, 10km, 320m) PRE £7. Think of this is as a hilly trail 10km at the end of summer, get through the woords before it gets dark. Note the early start.
GREAT LONGSTONE CHASE (Fri 6 Sep, 630pm, 7.7km, 260m) PRE £8. The last of the weekday evening races before it gets too dark. Up to the ridge as the sun sets, along and down.
CURBAR COMMOTION (Sat 5 Oct, 10am, 16km, 420m) EOD & PRE £12-16. Ten miles in which you’ll go to the edge, along it, and down… there may be cows, there may be mud.

2023 League Results

2022 League Results

BAC at The Nottinghamshire AAA Fell Championship history.

In 2022 Caitlin Bradbury won the Women’s County Championship and so ran in the Inter-Counties in Wales. We picked up the Women’s Senior Team Gold (Caitlin Bradbury, Elaine Clifford, Chris Bexton), Men’s V45 Bronze for John Evans, Women’s V60 Silver for Chris Bexton.
In 2019 Greg Hopkinson won the Men’s County Championship. Women’s V35-44 Silver for Em Bish.
In 2018 Chris Bell won Men’s Silver and V35 Gold. Jackie Welburn got Women’s V35 Bronze. Geoff Pennington got Men’s V45 Bronze. We also got Men’s Team Gold (Chris Bell, Andy Hunter, Dan Rawson) and Men’s Team Silver (Geoff Pennington, James Isherwood, Dave Bish).
In 2016 Andrew Stuart won the Men’s County Championship.

National Competition.

We entered the British Hill & Fell Relays for the first time in October 2019.

Champions.

In 2022 John Evans and Salome Maybanks won the titles, succeeding 2019 champions Greg Hopkinson and Holly McCain. In 2023 Ben Jeays won the men’s title with Salome defending the women’s title.

Fell Results Archive.

2000 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2022