Fell Race Championship 2025
The 2025 Fell Race Championship is open to all 1st-claim members of Steel City Striders.
This will follow the same format as the Road Champs and Trail Champs. We’ve chosen 12 races throughout the year. These include shorter summer evening races, suitable for newcomers, and longer autumn and winter events with lots of ascent and some navigation for more seasoned fell runners. So there’s something for everyone.
You can do as few or as many as you like, but only your top 5 results count toward your championship score. Points are gained according to finishing time (see below). Scores throughout the season are kept and updated after each race. Members compete in the usual gender and age categories; M, F, senior, V40, V50, and V60.
Presentations are made to the leading runner who qualifies in each category at the AGM. following the competition. In addition, medals are presented to the leading and second placed runner in each of the various categories. Runners need have completed 5 or more races to qualify for a prize or a medal.
Races for 2024
| Number | Race | Cat | Date |
| 1 | Mickleden Straddle | BL | Sun 2 Feb |
| 2 | Doctor’s Gate | AL | Sun 23 Feb |
| 3 | Alan Kirk Memorial Lad’s Leap | AS | Sun 6 Apr |
| 4 | Totley Moor | BM | Tue 20 May |
| 5 | Bamford Sheepdog Trials | BS | Mon 26 May |
| 6 | Edale | AS | Sun 8 Jun |
| 7 | DCRO Dash | BS | Wed 18 Jun |
| 8 | Sheldon | BM | Thu 17 Jul |
| 9 | Bradwell | AS | Tue 5 Aug |
| 10 | Crowden | BS | Sun 31 Aug |
| 11 | Exterminator | BL | Sun 7 Sep |
| 12 | Curbar Commotion | BM | Sun 4 Oct |
More details on the fell race categories above can be found in our introduction to fell running here. All dates have been compiled on a best endeavours basis and will be confirmed nearer the time once the respective organisers have released the details.
Scoring
The overall winning times in each race for both males and females were noted, and then each runner’s finishing time was compared to that. The best 5 race scores through the season counted. For example:
- The winning man runs in 1hr dead….. 1:00:00 (this is classed as 100%)
- Winning Time / Striders Time * 100 gives the Strider’s time as a percentage against the winning time.
- Strider A runs 1:05:00 (92.31%, so 92.31 pts)
Strider B runs 1:10:00 (85.71%, so 85.71 pts)
Strider C runs 1:15:00 (80.00%, so 80.00 pts)
Strider D runs 1:20:00 (75.00%, so 75.00 pts) - A great thing about this system is that the women’s times are compared against the fastest women’s winning time.
Get Involved
We hope the fell championship will be hugely popular this year and very competitive. If you’ve never tried a fell race, then the ones in the championship can be perfect starters – particularly the summer races – as there are usually quite a few Striders at these who can show you the ropes.
Be sure to keep an eye out on the website and the club’s Facebook page closer to each race in the championship for more details.