Race date: Saturday 10th January 2026

Race report by Rob Cook

After being cancelled last year due to the weather, RSR Winter faced Storm Goretti bringing snow, freezing rain and sheet ice on parts of the course in the week leading up to the 2026 edition. With other events dropping one by one the outlook didn’t look good but throughout the organisers were hopeful that it would go ahead, and finally on the morning of the race it was confirmed to be going ahead in the wintry conditions.

The organisers had emphasised the need for ice spikes given the wintry conditions so I dug out my pair from the back of the cupboard and hastily bought a trail race pack to carry everything I thought I’d need.

Unfortunately this last minute decision and not trying the kit out beforehand immediately bit me as leaving the line my phone and water flask immediately flew out of the pack leaving me to do an embarrassing about face to pick them up and carry on Stage 1. Fortunately the road crossings gave me a chance to get my stuff together and stow everything away. In the panic and under pressure I’d actually ran the 5th fastest time on Stage 1, which I didn’t expect to see after the start shenanigans!

Unfortunately from here the trail went up and the speed and placings went down. Stage 2 was the KOM stage with the big climb up to the top of the Porter Clough. The conditions didn’t seem to have much of an impact on this stage, it was just as brutal as usual with maybe a bit of extra effort needed where the snow was deeper.

Stage 3 down the limb valley was a firm favourite in summer but with early warnings about sheet ice here it promised to be a different experience! In the end the snow and ice weren’t as much of an issue as feared, but I definitely lost my nerve descending and ended up way down the field here. This wasn’t helped by losing one of my ice spikes & having to double back to pick it up. 3 stages in and 2 kit issues wasn’t what I’d hoped for.

The liaison to Ecclesall woods offered a chance to get the ice spikes sorted again and try and rebuild a bit of confidence with less ice and less steep descending. I definitely felt a lot better, but this was the end of one of my pairs of spikes-at the end of the stage I noticed it had slipped off somewhere in stage 4. I decided that one was better than none and kept the other set on for the time being for stage 5.

Stages 5,6,7 all blend together, apart from finally losing the other set of spikes before stage 6! Just relying on shoe grip wasn’t too bad, and had me questioning whether I should have bothered with the spikes in the first place!

Stage 8 down Lees Hall was fine & the sun had come out to make it a lovely day for a run, but stage 9 down Meersbrook Park was looming, and we were all wondering what was awaiting us in terms of ice and what would actually be runnable! Arriving it was clear it would be the full stage, and it looked pretty clear. A quick chat with the marshall revealed that it got icier a bit further down but seeing no-one stack it ahead I set off wondering what awaited over the lip and…. It was sketchy, rutted, uneven, slippy, icy and not a whole lot of fun! Others ahead of me with spikes were struggling and couldn’t go on the path so the missing spikes weren’t too much of a concern. Most people around me in the red and orange waves dived off to the right over the grass and came back to the path where it levelled out, risking a bit more unevenness for a bit more grip versus the path. Later waves appeared to be spread out all over the park and the slope trying to find any way down. Off the steep slope the path was clear under the trees and then got sketchy again for the final stretch. The finish had been moved off the path onto the grass and stopping was a bit of a challenge but I survived it and hadn’t put down too bad of a time. After all that in the stage I then nearly ended my RSR by slipping on the black ice in the gateway out to the road!

After that it was just a case of emptying the tank up Brincliffe, dodging the sledgers in Chelsea Park on the 10th stage and the final sprint to the line for stage 11!

Finishing up felt good and I was very surprised to see 6th overall on my printout. I’d assumed that with the issues on the way around and my general feeling that I’d be way down the order. The time held up pretty well with me ending up 12th overall, 10th solo and 8th senior man once everyone was counted in. Looking back at the photos it looks very pretty and I definitely didn’t appreciate it as much as I probably should have-it was a great day for running, less so for racing!

Steel City had a good turnout, with category wins for Harriet Davies taking 1st Senior Female, Jed Turner (1st MV60), and Louise Rowley (1st FV70). There were also podiums for Ben Heller (2nd MV60), SJ Brown and Annie Chambers (aka Couple of Leg Ends, 3rd FPair) and Ellen Brown and Edward Shattock (aka Pocket Rockets, 3rd Mix Pair).

Finally it’s worth highlighting and saying a big thank you to the race organisers, volunteers and everyone who made the event happen. It was a pretty brave call to go ahead, but it was definitely the right one and it made for a unique race! Some of the marshalls and feed station volunteers would have been at their posts for 4-6 hours in the freezing temperatures and were all very cheery and encouraging when I went past!

The race was won by Mark Prince of Hillsborough & Rivelin Running Club in a time of 01:13:36. The first woman was Claire Biercamp of Sheffield Triathlon Club in a time of 01:26:08.

All Striders Results: