Firstly, it’s got nothing (well almost nothing) to do with falling over!! Quite simply fell running is running off road on tracks, hills and mountains.
Here’s an interesting (well I thought so anyway..) definition of the word fell from Wikipedia - Fell (from Old Norse fjall, "mountain") is a word used to refer to mountains, or certain types of mountainous landscape, in Scandinavia, the Isle of Man, and parts of England.
The Pennines, the Yorskhire Dales and the Lake District provide us with some of the best fell running in the country (if not the world) and with Bingley being situated in the heart of the Pennines and within a stones throw of the dales and the lakes, you couldn’t be in a better place to participate in this fabulous sport.

Why not!!??
It’s good for you and it’s a great way to explore your local countryside and witness nature first hand.
You can escape from cars and buses and the fumes they exhale and get super fit whilst admiring our fantastic scenery.
You can test your stamina on the uphills and your courage and speed on the descents and at the same time greatly improve your general strength and fitness that will help you with your other sports.

Racing in our hills and mountains has been popular in Britain for hundreds of years and many of the races that take place today can trace their history back to times when local shepherds and farm labourers would race against each other at village shows.
Fell races can vary in length from less than a mile to a hundred miles or more and nowadays many races have junior categories or modified junior courses to allow under 16s to compete.
Most fell races also involve an element of ‘navigation’ (finding your way). Many courses simply insist that competitors get to the top of the hill (a marshal or a trig point) and back and the route choice is left entirely open to the runners. Some races will have a number of checkpoints which competitors must visit and again the route choice between checkpoints is unspecified and a few races are fully marked by flags around the whole course. If you’re new to racing, it’s probably best to select a short race where the course is reasonably well marked or at least the route is obvious and where there’ll be a lot of other competitors to follow. As you improve you’ll no doubt want to test yourself over some longer and more challenging courses and when you reach this point it’s a good idea to learn how to read a map and use a compass.

The simple answer to this is no. However, whenever you venture into the hills you should always be mindful of weather conditions. Even in our temperate climate the weather can prove very uncomfortable and even dangerous at times so it should ALWAYS be respected. For this reason, many fell races insist on competitors carrying ‘full body cover’ which means wind / waterproof jacket and trousers, gloves and a hat. In the height of summer, and if the day’s forecast is good, these rules can sometimes be relaxed but a competitor should always bring this equipment to a race and be prepared to carry it if necessary (this rule doesn’t usually apply to junior races which are often much shorter than the senior race – but a lightweight wind / waterproof top is always a good thing to have with you just in case).
Apart from the above, the only other item of specialist equipment that fell runners use is special off road running shoes. Brands such as Walsh and Inov8 produce a dazzling selection but don’t feel you need a pair before you take to the hills and have a go. That said, unless you’re going to run on very hard and dry trails (unlikely I’m afraid), I would recommend that you use a shoe that has a decent amount of grip on the sole.

Well you could join Bingley Harriers…..one of the greatest fell running clubs of all time.
Within the ranks you’ll meet English, British and even World champions, you’ll be able to find someone who has run just about every race in the country and ask their advice, there are folk who know every footpath, bridleway, snicket and ginnel that exist in our surrounding area.
Alternatively, just get out and explore your local trails and piece together a few routes that you can run around. As your confidence and enthusiasm grows you might want to test yourself against others in a race (when you train on your own – you’re always the fastest – and the slowest!!) – Log on to http://www.fellrunner.org.uk/junior.htm for loads more info and details of races.
What’s most important though is to take Nike’s advice and stop just thinking about it and go and ‘JUST DO IT’.

January 2010
24th January - Stanbury Splash - See the full report on the main news page

February 2010
21st February - Ilkley Moor - See the full report on the main news page

May 2010
3rd May - Coiners

Please Note : If you are going to run please :-

• Make sure you enter as Bingley Harriers
• Wherever possible wear your Bingley Harriers vest

I would also be really grateful if you could drop me an e-mail on andrew@nicoll3.freeserve.co.uk to let me know you’re running and I’ll then check the results and photos and get you some publicity on our website.

Good luck and happy running
Andy Nicoll - Junior Fell Manager
01274 567245

This year’s Bingley Junior Championship is a series of 8 local races with your best 4 results to count towards your final score.
The championship follows the FRA categories U8/U10/U12/U14/U16, and most races will cover these categories.
The category you race in is determined by your age on the 1st January 2010 and you will stay in the same category all year.

All the Race Details

The latest positions

Breaking News......I am delighted to announce that Sportshoes Unlimited of Bradford have agreed to sponsor our Junior Fell Championship in 2010. Full details are yet to be agreed but the sponsorship will take the form of prizes for age category winners and the overall championship awards. Hopefully this will encourage our youngsters to keep training through the dark, cold winter months ready for our first race in the new series which I can reveal will be the Stanbury Splash in January.
More details to follow.....

FRA English Championship (Categories = U8 & U10 non-champ U12 - U18 champ)

Anniversary Waltz - Cumbria - 24/4/10 (on-line entry only)
Coiners - Yorkshire - 3/5/10
Shutlingsloe - Cheshire - 31/5/10
Clougha Pike - Lancashire - 19/6/10
Arnison (uphill only) - Cumbria - 27/6/10
Darwen - Lancashire - 21/8/10

Yorkshire Junior Championship (Categories = U12 - U23)
Hellified Gala Race - Skipton - 7/8/10

http://www.fellrunner.org.uk/junior.htm
http://www.bofra.co.uk/
http://www.felljunior.org.uk/index.php
http://www.woodentops.org.uk/
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

Junior Fell Manager
Andy Nicoll
Tel. : 01274 567245
e-mail : andrew@nicoll3.freeserve.co.uk

Hi folks, my name is Andy Nicoll, I’m 40 years old (yes I know you’ll find that hard to believe but it’s true!!) and I live in Gilstead near Bingley. I’ve been a member of Bingley Harriers for around 9 years and have a passion for getting muddy, wet, cold and tired on our lovely hills and mountains.

I’m married (to Carolyn), have two sons (Max 11 and Ben 9 - both now Harriers) and a border collie named KIMM (after the Karrimor International Mountain Marathon).

I’m no pro myself but I have got plenty of experience and I’m still a keen competitor training most days (sometimes twice) and running plenty of races. My favourite race is the 3 Peaks Fell Race in the Yorkshire Dales, which takes in Pen-Y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough over a 24 mile course with 4500 feet of climbing. I’ve done the 3 Peaks many times with a personal best of 3 hours 34 minutes (a long way off my mate and fellow Bingley Harrier Andy Peace’s record of 2hr 47mins but not bad for an old ‘un). In 2007 I did the Ultratrail Tour Du Mont Blanc (UTMB), which is a 100 mile race with almost 30,000 feet of climbing around Mont Blanc in the Alps. It takes in 3 countries along its route and took me 34 hours to complete (before you ask…no I didn’t sleep). If you’re really bored, you can keep up with all my exploits at http://blog.sportsshoes.com/

My aim is simple – to get more juniors training with and racing for Bingley Harriers on the fells. I’m not expecting to find or even looking for the next Rob Jebb or Ian Holmes (but if I do that’ll be fantastic), what I want to do is to open kids’ eyes to the wonderful world of fell running and the fun, friends, sense of achievement and health benefits that it can bring. I don’t care how fit and fast or unfit and slow you are now I just want you to give it a whirl.

I’m doing my level 2 coaching course so I can start to preach what I practise and I have a few ideas bubbling away that might just help to get more juniors training and racing in 2010 – please keep an eye on the website and forum for details.

I hope you can find the time to come along to our training sessions and have a crack at a few races. If I can get just one of you to take up fell running and enjoy it as much as I have and still do then I think my time as Junior Fell Manager will have been worthwhile.

I look forward to meeting you soon and if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions please don’t hesitate to speak to me at training nights or contact me at :-

andrew@nicoll3.freeserve.co.uk
Tel. 01274 567245