Fell Hell

3 watchers

Frobester Oct 2016 11:37am, 6 Oct 2016 26,248 posts	0 Frobester eventswithadventure.com A friend has suggested training for this next year. But before I embark on it, has anyone done it before, is it suitable for a novice (as in zero experience so far) fellrunner, or am I likely to get found out and come a cropper? Thanks...
larkim Oct 2016 11:42am, 6 Oct 2016 1,078 posts	0 larkim Do you know Moel Famau at all? I was looking at this for this year and it looked a little "tame" for a fell run, so would be an ideal intro - the (first) ascent is on the main footpath with is quite steady (until the top few hundred yards), then I think you descend on less well maintained footpaths on the other side, come back to the top and down again. The one thing that put me off was the 9am start (plus it clashed with another event I wanted to attend). If you'd never run a 10k before, perhaps it would be a bit much. But if you've done 10ks, halfs, marathons etc then you'd be fine. Some of the more low key fell races in that area are seriously fast and on difficult terrain, but I think this one is more of a gentle introduction!
Autumnleaves Oct 2016 11:43am, 6 Oct 2016 9,512 posts	0 Autumnleaves A few of our club do this each year - including a friend for whom it was her first such race - and she now does mountain marathons and ultras on a regular basis. The 'pure' fellrunners in the club comment that you pay quite a lot when there is a standard fell race along the same route pretty much for about £3.
Frobester Oct 2016 11:53am, 6 Oct 2016 26,249 posts	0 Frobester Larkim, I don't know Moel Famau at all. Checked out a few videos of the hill though. Plus I've done halves, 3 maras (including South Downs and Giant's Head in Dorset so no stranger to hills) but never really tried fell running as a "thing". Nice to know it's tame, I wouldn't want something so brutal a) having never been a fell runner, and b) relatively recently back off the bench after injuring myself training for an ultra! Thanks though, also thanks Autumnleaves. I only heard about it because someone I've become friends with at a newish work location (Birmingham) goes over to Wales quite a bit and wants to get into the sport (fell running, not running in general!). Home-wise I'm based in the (relatively) pancake-like Bedfordshire.
larkim Oct 2016 12:01pm, 6 Oct 2016 1,079 posts	0 larkim Moel Famau is lovely - somewhere we've often gone with our kids for a walk up to the top. A very accessible hill which links into Offa's Dyke path and has great views over Cheshire and North Wales / Snowdonia. A friend of mine who has only been running for about 6-9 months (33 minute parkrunner) is entered for this year - if I get any feedback from her I'll try to remember to post here!
Frobester Oct 2016 12:54pm, 6 Oct 2016 26,250 posts	0 Frobester That would be great, thanks.
The_Saint Oct 2016 12:57pm, 6 Oct 2016 5,891 posts	0 The_Saint To the original poster - I don't know where you live but the South Wales Winter Hill Series is an ideal introduction and doesn't mug your wallet. wfra.me.uk I help to run the series if you want more info
Frobester Oct 2016 1:01pm, 6 Oct 2016 26,251 posts	0 Frobester Saint, I live in Bedfordshire but work in Birmingham. It's complicated! But interested to learn about that, thanks.
The_Saint Oct 2016 1:09pm, 6 Oct 2016 5,892 posts	0 The_Saint Next fixture is Sugar Loaf http://www.fetcheveryone.com/viewracedetails.php?id=1125392 I post info, links and results here twitter.com
larkim Nov 2016 1:52pm, 15 Nov 2016 1,276 posts	0 larkim Got some second-hand comments about the running of Fell Hell this year from my wife's friend and Strava. In context, first fell race for her - she's a 33 minute parkrunner. She loved it, averaged 19:30mins per mile with slowest mile at 29mins. She did say she enjoyed it though, and if you were concerned about the level of "experience" required to take part - she's only been running for about 6-9 months I think. I've seen a few others that I follow on ~~strava~~ having done it - all reported it tough, but there's no-one in that pack that I wouldn't expect to be finding a 10k fell run challenging! Seems well organised, though as pointed out there are plenty of runs up / around there for substantially less!