Race date: Sunday 29 January 2023

Tigger Tor is the first event in the annual Totley AC fell race series and acts as a curtain raiser on the new year of bog trotting and hill scrambling for many Peak District fell runners. It was also the first race in the 2023 Striders Fell Race Championships.

The race route was amended from previous years, with the start/finish moving from Tigers RUFC to the Norfolk Arms at Ringinglow. This removed the road sections at the start and end, and the course was around a mile or so shorter. Since the this race normally involves a fair bit of freezing mud, ice and biting winds, this most runners would agree this is no bad thing.

The weather was bright and cool, with a fairly strong wind blowing from the west. The ground was wet, but not excessively so, and the rivers crossings were easily navigated.

The fast start along the old Roman Houndkirk Rd and detour down to the junction next to Sheephill Rd gave way to a long section on single track running – good for those who fear the navigation, not so good for runners who started too slowly and got caught in traffic. From the top of Burbage Edge, it opened out and runners dropped to the first river crossing before climbing up to the high point at Higgar Tor. From there it was a section of fast running down to Toad’s Mouth before a hairpin turn sent everyone back up to the checkpoint on Carl Wark. Another speedy descent took competitors to the second river crossing, followed by a boggy slog across to the final summit at Houndkirk hill and the new fast finish back down the road to the finish.

The winner was Steve Franklin (Totley AC) in 1:01:24 – a good three minutes clear of second place. First woman – and 7th overall – was Phillipa Williams (Dark Peak FR) in 1:06:43, a performance all the more remarkable given she’d battled the Blackburn mud to take the Northern XC Champs title less than 24 hours earlier. There were 292 finishers.

15 Striders ran, led home by Paul Middlemas, who took the 1st V40 prize.

Striders results