Race date: Saturday 17^th January 2026

Race report by Lawrence Bate

This is a new event in the calendar, and being part of the 2025/26 Outside Winter Race Series it promised to be a good one. What could be better than running 24km in the middle of January, taking in Stanage Edge and Bamford Edge as well as some typically boggy bits across the moors? It was also set up to be an event run in pairs, which gave it a more relaxed vibe than your bog-standard (no pun intended) flat-out fell race.

So when Dan suggested doing it, I didn’t take a lot of persuading and we arrived bright and early at race HQ for the necessary kit checks and last-minute faffing. We set off up the hill and onto the moors, hoping that the decision not to wear Exospikes had been the right one. It was, and the conditions were pretty much perfect for an enjoyable run.

With all our chatting, interspersed by banter with the hardy marshals at the various checkpoints, time flew by. As we got to the last couple of miles, we saw a big group of four or five other pairs coming up the hill behind us and Dan yelled “I’m not competitive but I really want to beat them”. So it was time to put the hammer down, dig deep and then leg it down the hill to the finish at St Michael’s School.

Finishing in 12th place overall and 9th in our category left us feeling very satisfied with how it had gone, as well as having had a great time.

Definitely one to do again next year.

The race was won by Greg Hopkinson and Dan Haworth from Matlock AC in 1:57:42. The first women’s team was Julia Nolan and Jane Crowson from the Dark Peak Fell Runners in 2:47:45. The first mixed team was Sebastian Slater (no club listed) and Poppy Wardley from the Dark Peak Fell Runners in 2:11:35.