Fell Race Championship 2023
The 2023 Fell Race Championship was open to all 1st-claim members of Steel City Striders.
It followed the same format as the Road Champs and Trail Champs. We chose 12 races throughout the year, including shorter summer evening races suitable for newcomers, longer events with lots of ascent, and even an English Championships race (John Hewitt Shelf Moor). So there was something for everyone.
Runners could do as few or as many as they liked, but only their top 5 results counted toward their championship score. Points were gained according to finishing time (see below). Scores throughout the season were kept and updated after each race. Members competed in the usual gender and age categories; M, F, senior, V40, V50, and V60.
Presentations were made to the leading runner in each category at the A.G.M. following the competition. In addition, medals were presented to the leading and second placed runner in each of the various categories.
Races in 2023
| Number | Race | Cat | Date |
| 1 | Tigger Tor | BM | Sun 29 Feb |
| 2 | Wolf’s Pit | AS | Sun 19 Mar |
| 3 | Totley Moor | BM | Tue 23 May |
| 4 | Grindleford | BS | Thu 15 Jun |
| 5 | Hope Wakes | BS | Wed 28 Jun |
| 6 | Hathersage Gala | BS | Mon 3 Jul |
| 7 | Sheldon | BS | Thu 20 Jul |
| 8 | Ricky’s Race | BS | Thu 10 Aug |
| 9 | Exterminator | AL | Sun 3 Sep |
| 10 | John Hewitt Shelf Moor | AS | Sat 23 Sep |
| 11 | Curbar Commotion | BM | Sat 7 Oct |
| 12 | Baslow Bolt | BM | Sat 25 Nov |
More details on the fell race categories above can be found in our introduction to fell running here.
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.