What is fell running to you?

After being stuck indoors for an eleven hour night shift it's just nice to be outside.

A bit of both for me... 99% of my training is on the fells but most of my racing, mainly on and off road duathlons is on road or trails... I do love long days doing "BG" type pace (walking climbs, jogging flats, running downs) as walking bores me senseless and you can cover so much more ground that way.

Fell running is exceedingly annoying at the moment. Suspected labral tear in hip means very little running full stop and only slow and flat over short distance. Not run properly since November and thoroughly fed up, aim with luck is the KCAC half Yorkshire man with a bit of good fortune.

Love being outdoors though and I enjoyed the racing side but am primarily a runner, I like road, like trail and like fell. Favourite race last year was probably back and forth over Humber bridge for 12hrs followed by Noonstones, then stanbury splash then Chester 20!! None of those were really the same as each other....

Having only been doing it now for 8 months i'm still deciding, at first i was happy just running because i was fat then wanted to do better and now i get disappointed when i finish outside the top 10. I think there are two sides to this question, i love racing and if i dont get a race in a week i get grumpy and agitated. Although on the other hand i lkie both the solitude when training but also our social runs we have. I think it just depends on how well your running and how you feel on any given day. Fell running is also special because of the cameraderie we share both on race days and socially, something i have never really associated with running especially after playing a team sport like football. Thought i would really miss the crack at football but fell running has really surprised to how friendly everyone can be even in competition. So for me its a mixture of all the above answers.

Being plumb in the middle, I however cant help thinking that the poll is slightly biased statistically, cos the 'all out wilderness explorers' are, (if true to their word) well outside t'internet range by now on a Friday evening? If we were to do it properly we would locate a handful of them by satellite, and parachute drop some questionaires that they could bring back to civilization when they check in again on Monday.....:closed:

Being out in isolated places is my idea as relaxation and fellracing helps me to maintain a level of fitness that enables me cover a satisfying amount of ground when relaxing, if that makes sense.

I dont like the idea of a wilderness related thread best to let folk find the quiete spots for themselves IMO

I think a lot of us came in to it (fell running) from a more general outdoor/mountaineering type background and for me at least it started as a way to move further/faster/lighter across the fells. I started doing a few races and mountain marathons etc from there but its always been more about being on the hill than racing across the hills although I do enjoy races as well as just going out.
I think the question to ask is 'If there were no fell races at all would you still go running across the fells?' For me the answer is a resounding YES. The follow up question is probably 'If there were no fell races at all would you enter road or track races instead?' For me the answer is NO - I'd be too busy running over the fells!

In my 1st year fell running i did a lot of races but now in my 2nd year i tend to just go for long runs on my own of around 4-6 hours for no reason other than i can and enjoy being out.I get more days off in the week and finish at 1400 so its a lot less busy which i prefer don't understand big groups on the hills.

I'm surprised by the number of wilderness explorers out there. Mrs Noel just raised an interesting point of what's your ratio of runs:races. I think mine is about 6:1 (and I voted mainly fell racer).

Given the right setting I'm both, but at the moment I only get out for races and the odd trot in the hills, making me more a racer. I sat on the fence and went both though as given the right parameters that's what I am.