Читать книгу Trail and Fell Running in the Yorkshire Dales. 40 runs in the National Park, including the Three Peaks онлайн

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RUNNING IN THE YORKSHIRE DALES

A brief history

Running is a relatively old sport in the region, with Burnsall being the oldest recorded fell race in the Dales, dating back to 1882. Many of the agricultural shows, large and small, would feature a race to the summit of a local fell, where locals competed against each other for the prize of returning first to the show field. Fell races sat comfortably with other local competitions, such as dry-stone walling, horse jumping, stick dressing and the showing of livestock, especially sheep, against a backdrop of a largely agricultural economy where betting was a large part of the event. Over the years, many of the greatest fell runners of their generation, including Ernest Dalzell, Bill Teasdale, Fred Reeves and Tommy Sedgwick, competed in these races. They brought an air of eager anticipation to the late afternoon, as the front runners ascended the fell at great speed before descending, even faster, steep and sometimes rocky escarpments to finally sprint across the show field to rapturous cheers and applause. Fred Reeve’s 1977 Burnsall record of 12min 47s still stands. Many of these races are still run today, organised by either the show committee, BOFRA (British Open Fell Runners Association) or the FRA (Fell Running Association). Other races have also taken place for many years, including the Fellsman Hike, which originated in 1962. Organised by the Keighley Scout Service Group, this linear route starts from Ingleton and traverses the Dales, with the winners finishing the 61 miles in Grassington, just over ten hours later.