Ennerdale Horseshoe Fell Race Explained

The Ennerdale Horseshoe Fell Race is an annual Lake District fell race held in June, starting and finishing at the Scout Camp near Ennerdale Water. The route is approximately 36.8km (22.9miles) in length with 2290m (7,510feet) of ascent and takes in checkpoints at Great Borne, Red Pike, Blackbeck Tarn, Green Gable, Kirk Fell, Pillar, Haycock, Iron Crag and Crag Fell.[1]

History

The race was started in 1968 by Joe Long and Frank Travis of the West Cumberland Orienteering Club and in 1970 was taken on by the newly formed Cumberland Fell Runners Association, whose committee included both Long and Travis. The first nine editions of the race were all won by Joss Naylor who has noted that it was one of his favourite courses.[2]

A junior race was run in conjunction with Ennerdale in 1971. This followed the first part of the senior course over Great Borne and Red Pike before returning and was won by Dave Cannon. In the following years, the junior race was held on a route over Crag Fell and in 1977 a ladies’ race was introduced, also over the Crag Fell route.[3]

Véronique Marot applied to run over the same course as the men in 1979 but was refused entry. She ran unofficially, to the consternation of the race organiser. The next year, women were allowed to compete over the full route.[4]

In poor weather in the 1981 race, one of the competitors, Bob English, went off course on the way to the last checkpoint and fell badly. He was found unconscious with head injuries and died whilst being taken to hospital.[5]

In the 1986 event, Billy Bland waited at the start until five minutes after everyone else had begun so that the other runners could not follow him and take advantage of his detailed route knowledge. Bland then ran through the field and was able to overtake everyone except Hugh Symonds.[6]

The 2003 race was cancelled due to the small number of entries. Around that time, the event became part of the Lakeland Classics Trophy series of races and numbers recovered in subsequent years.[7]

On some occasions, Ennerdale has been one of the counting races in the British and English Fell Running Championships, including in 2014 when a shorter lower-level course was used due to forecast lightning.[8] The 2015 route was also shortened due to high winds[9] and in 2022 the race was cancelled due to expected adverse weather.[10]

Results

The men's course record is held by Kenny Stuart with a time of 3:20:57 set in 1985. The fastest women's time is 4:01:33, set by Janet McIver in 2008.

The winners have been as follows.[11]

YearMenTimeWomenTime
1968Joss Naylor4:00:00
1969Joss Naylor4:08:25
1970Joss Naylor3:53:20
1971Joss Naylor3:35:40
1972Joss Naylor3:30:40
1973Joss Naylor3:33:00
1974Joss Naylor3:32:42
1975Joss Naylor3:30:55
1976Joss Naylor3:46:08
1977Mike Short3:41:11Joan Glass0:45:34
1978Andy Styan3:27:00Jean Lochhead0:42:39
1979Andy Styan3:23:44Jean Lochhead0:39:21
1980Billy Bland3:21:04Pauline Haworth4:37:47
1981Billy Bland3:50:59Ros Coats5:16:55
1982Billy Bland3:24:43Sue Parkin4:40:32
1983Billy Bland3:30:38Linda Lord5:29:57
1984Kenny Stuart3:32:59Pauline Haworth4:55:52
1985Kenny Stuart3:20:57Pauline Haworth4:27:52
1986Hugh Symonds3:38:59Winky O’Neale5:12:47
1987Billy Bland3:23:54Vanessa Brindle4:21:31
1988Hugh Symonds3:34:48Sarah Haines4:43:57
1989Ian Ferguson3:39:43None
1990Colin Donnelly3:31:16Tricia Calder4:06:41
1991Ian Ferguson3:36:35Alison Wright4:43:54
1992Gavin Bland3:37:51Ruth Pickvance4:43:35
1993Gavin Bland3:30:13Ruth Pickvance4:23:49
1994Gavin Bland3:46:23Jean Shotter5:55:06
1995Jonny Bland3:42:55Kate Arnold5:06:51
1996Lee Thompson4:00:36Jan Cave6:32:41
1997Simon Booth3:43:35Emma Moody5:12:46
1998Lee Thompson3:58:14Nicky Lavery5:23:32
1999Andrew Davies3:47:23Jane Jones5:27:09
2000Simon Booth3:21:24Sally Newman4:29:52
2001Cancelled due to foot-and-mouth outbreak
2002Jonny Bland4:03:00Nicola Davies5:41:53
2003Cancelled due to low number of entries
2004Gavin Bland3:48:17Jackie Lee4:59:12
2005Andrew Schofield3:48:03Jackie Lee4:41:06
2006Simon Booth3:37:52Christine Howard4:23:34
2007Ricky Lightfoot3:53:17Jane Meeks5:08:55
2008Nick Sharp and Pete Vale3:48:01Janet McIver4:01:33
2009Rob Jebb3:38:28Jackie Lee4:29:47
2010 Rob Jebb3:34:06Jackie Lee4:23:43
2011Simon Harding4:04:08Nicky Spinks4:48:18
2012Rhys Findlay-Robinson3:50:40Jasmin Paris4:24:54
2013Oli Johnson3:46:39Jasmin Paris4:32:28
2014Rob Hope2:52:16Jackie Lee3:18:26
2015Kieran Hodgson2:09:48Judith Jepson2:35:12
2016Ben Abdelnoor4:03:27Judith Jepson4:58:54
2017Ben Abdelnoor4:08:35Nicky Spinks5:32:53
2018Kim Collison4:03:59Jill Stephen4:44:17
2019Finlay Wild3:52:36Rosie Watson4:57:59
2020Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021Billy Cartwright3:32:16Nichola Jackson4:13:59
2022Cancelled due to forecast bad weather
2023Harry Bolton4:22:05Jodie Gray5:35:53
2024Hugh Chatfield3:44:30Antonia Fan4:34:07

Crag Fell course.

Bad weather course.

The SPORTident results[12] show Nicky Spinks one second ahead of Kirsty Hewitson but they were credited with a joint win in a time of 5:32:54 by race organiser Colin Dulson.[13]

Notes and References

  1. https://www.cfra.co.uk/ennerdaledetails.pdf CFRA: Ennerdale 'Horseshoe' Fell Race.
  2. http://fellrunner.org.uk/studmarks/?p=5 Bill Smith, Stud Marks on the Summits (Preston, 1985), 226-30
  3. Web site: Bill Smith, Stud Marks on the Summits (Preston, 1985), 209-10. . 9 July 2017 . 2 July 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170702062321/http://www.fellrunner.org.uk/studmarks/?p=5 . dead .
  4. Steve Chilton, It's a Hill, Get Over It (Dingwall, 2013), 148, 155.
  5. Steve Chilton, It's a Hill, Get Over It (Dingwall, 2013), 75.
  6. [Richard Askwith]
  7. http://www.lakelandclassicstrophy.org.uk/history/ Lakeland Classics Trophy: History.
  8. Web site: Cumberland & Westmorland Herald: Weather Forecast Forces Change of Route for Ennerdale Horseshoe. . 9 July 2017 . 5 October 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171005050726/http://www.cwherald.com/a/archive/weather-forecast-forces-change-of-route-for-ennerdale-horseshoe.428057.html . dead .
  9. The Fellrunner, Summer 2015, 147-48.
  10. https://www.amblesideac.org.uk/2022/07/bens-buttermere-report/ Ambleside AC: Buttermere Horseshoe Fell Race, 25th June 2022.
  11. https://www.cfra.co.uk/index.php CFRA
  12. http://www.cfra.co.uk/results/Ennerdale2017.pdf CFRA: Ennerdale Fell Race 2017.
  13. Colin Dulson, "Four Minute Ennerdale", The Fellrunner, Summer 2018, 44-45.