General Fell Race Information

The philosophy of fell running is that you the competitor are responsible for your own safety and that you enter a race with this understanding and that you equip and conduct yourself accordingly.

It is therefore essential that you must have appropriate experience in the conditions that may be encountered so that you can manage your own safety.

Grading

Fell Races are all categorised in terms of length and difficulty:

Length - S (short), M (medium), L (long).

Difficulty A, B, C.
A is hardest... C is easiest. 

These are combined to denote the severity of the race. Eg: Pen Tir Drop BS (moderate difficulty and short). These grades are very broad however and open to a certain amount of subjectivity by the race organiser. The new 'matrix' idea gives much more accurate information. 

Other abbreviations are:

LK - local knowledge - meaning it's worth going on a recce beforehand

PM - partially marked - expect some course markings to help you navigate

ER - experience required

NS - navigational skills needed

Eg: Tour of Torpantau AM, ER/NS/LK - fell racing experience required, navigational skills needed and worth doing a recce beforehand.

Race assessment colour chart (matrix) - a pro-forma to help give better information about the nature of each fell race. RO's simply have to colour the appropriate boxes - the only typing involved is Name, details, date etc.

View blank pro-formas here:
Assessment Matrix (.doc)
Assessment Matrix  (.pdf)

Below are two examples of completed matrices - Tour of Torpantau and Pen Tir Drop

WFRA Documents

Here are a couple of useful documents published by the WFRA:

• Summarised safety requirements for competitors

A useful summary for competitors in fell races detailing what your responsibilities as a participant are

• Safety requirements for Fell Races

A detailed document useful for competitors and organisers of fell races