Speaking as a contributor - I attribute it to the inferior brand of SUV we writers are each provided with.
Speaking as a contributor - I attribute it to the inferior brand of SUV we writers are each provided with.
"...as dry as the Atacama desert".
I think we should give 'A Load of BS' a whirl. This idea of 'the longer a race is, the better it is' needs openly challenging.
Luke Appleyard (Wharfedale)- quick on the dissent
First off I totally agree that most of the time people’s write ups of their epic long distance runs are a bit crap. And I’ll include myself in that.
That said long distance running, particularly in the fells and mountains, is epic. So much can happen in one “run”. On one of my failed BG attempts me and a friend Gavin effectively ran from Wasdale all over the Scafells and Langdales, and all along the Helvellyn ridgeline to Threlkeld in stupidly high winds and one continuous deluge of rain, in really low cloud, poor visibility and half of it in the dark. I changed full waterproofs and gloves three times and was still sodden and frozen.
That said last year (despite and maybe because of lockdown) I went all racey. I did four proper races before shutdown for the year but continued running my own ‘solo races’ over loads of my local routes, trying my damnedest to run full bollocks.
I can quite honestly say the toughest race I ran last year was the Giggleswick Kendal Winter League race, which may have been 3 or so miles long. It’s starts with a sprint and I basically ran the whole thing with a massive oxygen debt after that
Short and long distance stuff are just different, and neither is better than the other in my opinion
Last edited by Fellbeast; 16-05-2021 at 07:54 PM.
New edition came through the letterbox today. Great birthday present! I knew the magazine was good but I hadn't realised just how high quality it was until I received a copy of a trail running magazine for my birthday (serves me right for not asking for anything!!). The trail running magazine was priced at over £5 and not a patch on the Fellrunner. Makes the £16 FRA membership fee look great value. Well done to everyone involved in producing the Fellrunner. Plus I get a mention on page 95 .
Last edited by Quinny; 29-07-2021 at 02:15 PM.
Mike Quinn
Esk Valley Fell Club
I'll take that as a positive endorsement of the Amphibious Ambitions column Mike. Nobody has seen fit to send me any negative feedback yet, though I've no doubt that many will have reservations about its inclusion in The Fellrunner magazine. Quite possibly from those that cannot swim 🙂
Mmmh. You are silent on whether or not you have had positive feedback so, FWIIW, I think the Frog Graham has been one of the more interesting recent initiatives in fell running (possibly because I supported an early C/W round) - and some might say more worthy of a page or two in The Fellrunner than an account of yet another contrived "what I did at the weekend". I overheard some runners moaning about this kind of article recently but, of course, an editor can only print what is submitted to him/her and, as I have pointed out elswhere, there are only so many articles that can be written about, say "Racing on Pendle" - and Bill Smith wrote most of them.
I am approaching 90 pieces published by at least half a dozen editors since 2001 - which is interesting to me because whilst my writing style hasn't changed much the editors have all been different (meaning their attitude towards altering my immortal submitted prose). It was Dave Jones who maintained that The Fellrunner "is a broad church" and that what one reader might find unreadable might be the first thing another turned to.
As a contributor I feel if there are 8000 FRA members I should be grateful if even 80 think a piece I submit is really worthwhile because nobody can envision what will be of interest to 8000 anonymous people. Actually writing for an audience of 8 people you know well is enough, because then hopefully they will tell you when something you have written is bad (aka "needs more work").
A club mate once told me that he read every word of every page of every Fellrunner. I never have and was astounded. Although when I compiled the Fellrunner Index I did look at every single article from page 1 of the first issue. I re-encountered some articles which I thought I knew well and was delighted to re-recognise just how good they were, and still are; and discovered some articles I had completely overlooked at the time and was delighted to enjoy for the first time.
So maybe there are some readers of the current Fellrunner who, having read Ambitious Amphibians, have found their way back to Swimhiking in the Lake District and NE England written by one Peter Hayes, way back in Autumn 2008.
Wow 2008. Now what did that lead to?
Last edited by Graham Breeze; 23-08-2021 at 12:25 AM.
"...as dry as the Atacama desert".
Back in the past, when the magazine was black&white, there seemed to be loads of amusing/interesting race accounts... i recall a particularly good one (maybe by a Pennine member?) regarding the Duddon race. And going back even further, reports about Edale Skyline, Marsden-Edale, Haworth Hobble, which were fascinating.
But now the magazine comes with a request that articles sent in contain a number of high quality digital photos... whilst i understand that the magazine is a different beast now, i feel that inhibits regular racers (myself for example) from sending in an account of a champs race or Lakeland Classic, given that i'm hardly likely to be carrying a phone camera round with me.
I posted my opinions on the mag further up so don't need to repeat that... but i will anyway (the endless round accounts can be tedious, but they can only print what they're sent)... but this last mag i did find myself completely skipping a number of articles through lack of interest, and finished the whole thing in less than an evening.
I think the separate fellracer section in the 2nd half of the magazine will be a good idea, and hopefully increases in size and content once races are back into full gear.
I see that Full Moon Addict just completed a monster round in Scotland (complete with video for those on facebook)... now there's an account of a round that i'm sure would provide interest.
Last edited by Travs; 23-08-2021 at 07:35 AM.
I do read most articles in the magazine with varying interest. Being of an age when my eyesight isn't what it was I find some the text a bit of a strain to read. The black on white is fine if a little small but where the text is on a grey / coloured background or occasionally continued over an image I struggle somewhat.
Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
Sorry Graham - I should have been more forthcoming. Yes, I've had a lot of very positive feedback on Amphibious Ambitions and there seems to be a good proportion of the fellrunning community who welcome the Frog Graham Round (and similar challenges) as something new and refreshing, it's quite encouraging.
Copies of Peter's original book are quite hard to pick up, though I doubt it will ever achieve quite the status of SMOTS, however there has been a second addition with some revisions. He was kind enough to give me a mention, probably the only time my name will ever grace the pages of a hard-bound book.
Martyn Price
North Leeds Fell Runners