Race date: Sunday 6 September 2026

27 km / 1066m (Category BL)

The Exterminator fell race is the final event in the annual Totley AC race series and definitely the toughest of the lot. There is no particular feature that stands out to make it a brutal race; there are no horror climbs or difficult navigation, but as anyone who has completed it knows, it is a well-named event. There is a relentlessness to the inclines and descents and although the first few miles are by no means flat, it is a race which is very easy to pace badly: a lot of people feel good early on, go too hard and pay for it towards the end. Safe to say, most people finish it feeling well and truly exterminated.

After the roasting conditions typical of recent years, this year the weather turned out ideal – not too hot, mainly cloudy and with occasional squalls of drizzle to keep runners refreshed.

It was a pity then that there were a small number of entrants, including just 5 Striders, especially since this race had been recently swapped into the fell race championships by popular request and a glance through previous reports shows how many Striders have raced this event in recent years. Maybe there are just too many other races around the same time these days, or perhaps getting Exterminated just the once is plenty for most people, thank you very much!

The course leads runners from the start at the Totley pavilion around the obligatory circuit of the cricket field and up the road to Totley Moor trig. This year saw the inclusion of an additional prize for the first runner getting to the top of the road, around half a mile from the start. Perhaps too many entrants knew what was coming later on, as there was a distinct lack of sprinting at the beginning!

From the trig, runners drop down to the stepping stones below Blacka Moor before heading up through the woods, over Hathersage Rd and across to Burbage. A climb over Higgar Tor takes the route on to Stanage Edge and then a steep decent via the head height bracken and across farmland to Hathersage church. From there runners make their way back up towards Higgar through Mitchell’s Field before turning right and dropping below Over Owler Tor and past the old mines. Disappointingly, this year there were no remnents of an overnight rave to provide sonic encouragement to competitors.

After crossing the road just below Surprise View, runners make their way under the trees at Lawrence Field and down to the old pump house at the bottom of Padley Gorge. A left turn takes the route along the lower Gorge and across into Longshaw. The course then follows the main fire road to the top of Longshaw (a change from the old direct route along the stream) before the final run for home along Totley Moor via the trig again and the steep drop along the road to the finish.

After another (seemingly very big) lap of the cricket field runners are finally allowed to collapse over the line and complain about how horrendous and difficult the race was. They can then refuel and recover with endless refills of tea and coffee and a huge selection of cakes and sandwiches.

The Striders who raced this year all did really well, but special mention has to go to Sarah Thorne who was first female (again) and finished a fantastic 4th overall. Louis also won a race prize and picked up the award for overall male winner of the 2026 race series.

The race was won by Andy Collier (Calder Valley Fell Runners) in 2:33:16 (it was also his birthday and he got a singsong as well as his winner’s voucher). First woman was Sarah Thorne (Steel City Striders) in 2:39:43. There were 59 finishers.

Striders results