Flower Scar InterCounties

[tweedledum]

Please note that the Flower Scar Inter Counties race to be held on Saturday 11th May is an open event, entries are therefore available to all runners. There is however a limit of 350 places. If you wish to run and guarantee yourself a place I would recommend pre-entry via Sportsoft.

If you are a County Team Manager and have not yet been in contact with either myself or Andy Watts (FRA Inter Counties co-ordinator) then please do so ASAP. We need an indication of how many County runners will be in attendance to assist with race organisation.

Our contact details are on:
https://britishintercountiesfellrunn....wordpress.com
http://www.todharriers.co.uk/flower-scar-fell-race/

Runners selected by their County will of course be guaranteed a place however if the race limit is reached in advance we may have to close open entries.

Race HQ is the Hare and Hounds pub on Burnley Road, Todmorden, OL14 8EA. Food will be available (a BBQ outside is planned with the full pub menu available too) and prize presentations will be held here after the race. Medals and prizes will be given for the Inter Counties champs by the FRA with a separate prize giving for Open runners only. Best estimate of timing for the prize presentation is around 2pm.

If you intend to spectate on the course please ensure that you keep any dogs on leads, especially through the farmland areas. This week is the end of lambing time in this part of the valley - we rely on maintaining good relations with local landowners to run this race. They have specifically requested dogs on leads!! Thank you.

Darren Tweed
Flower Scar RO

[tweedledum]

Info for Flower Scar Inter Counties - Saturday 11th May

Tod Harriers are looking forward to welcoming both County and Open runners this coming Saturday. Please note information below if you are planning to attend and/or race.

Parking – there are around 50 car parking spaces at the race HQ (Hare and Hounds pub). Further on-street parking is available on Burnley Road and most surrounding streets. Please park in a considerate manner for local residents and businesses – it is often a source of complaint with events like this. If you have to park another minutes’ walk away from HQ to park sensibly, it’s nothing in the scheme of running hell for leather around the hills for 8 miles!

Kit and kit-check – this is an AM category race therefore full FRA mandatory minimum kit will be required to be carried (waterproof whole body cover – taped seams, hat, gloves, map, compass, whistle, emergency food). All runners will need to have kit checked prior to receiving their race number. We will issue a raffle ticket as proof of kit check having been done. You will need to hand in the raffle ticket to obtain your race number. Kit checkers will be available from 9.15am at the latest. Kong will be in attendance with their van for any last minute requirements. Further random kit checks may be undertaken at the finish so you must carry your full kit whilst racing.

Pre-Entries – pre-entries via SportSoft are now closed. There will be a list of pre-entered runners with Race Numbers at HQ. Please check your club/county/category before collecting your race numbers. There will be ‘change of details’ forms available should any errors arise.

Entry on the day – there are around 150 places left for entry on the day so please arrive on the earlier side if you wish to have a guaranteed entry. Any County runners who have not yet pre-entered will be guaranteed an entry. Registration should be up and running by around 9.15am.

Race Route – please note the route has been altered from previous years in a number of places to accommodate FRA InterCounties requirements. Details are noted on the bottom of the map on the race webpage. The route will be fully marked this year, there will be NO route choice. If runners are seen deviating from the flagged route and are deemed to have gained a competitive advantage then they may be disqualified.

Spectators – this event is usually held in February before lambing time. Please note that landowners are concerned with the timing of this event with new lambs in the fields (last arrivals were only last week). Please ensure that any dogs are on a lead AT ALL TIMES on the route or it may jeopardise future running of the event.

Thank you.

[MarkL]

Just curious: FRA recently banned GPX as their use does not allow mountain craft, navigations skills and the full fellrunning skill set.
So why is a championship race, which you would expect to demand the demonstration of the full skill set, being run on a marked course?

[ba-ba]

- it's not been banned, races can decide whether to ban GPS or not.
- Races have always been able to be marked - partially or 'fully' - it depends on the history/nature of the course and the organiser's decision. This may be why the GPS rule is currently an opt in/out one. Other FRA calendar races will be fully flagged

But mainly, the Intercounties is run both as an FRA race but also as an CAU/BA race - as part of the BA Mountain Running series and as such will be flagged/marshaled as a mountain race would be - as a physical test rather than a physical and mountaincraft test.
For this reason the ICs is normally a sorter race (winning time 40-60mins, often a BM or lower end of A cat) on well defined paths and well marked. I think the roughest race of recent years may have been Moel Elio which is good running along a defined path for most of it.

[Travs]

I understand MarkL's general point though....

Cross-country, and 'pure' mounting running can provide the 'purely physical test'... why not have the Inter-Counties Fell over an AL course (perhaps the non-Lakeland Classics counter, or one of the non-champs races). Or perhaps if that is a bit extreme, why not a tough AM course...

[Graham Breeze]

I understand MarkL's general point though....

Cross-country, and 'pure' mounting running can provide the 'purely physical test'... why not have the Inter-Counties Fell over an AL course (perhaps the non-Lakeland Classics counter, or one of the non-champs races). Or perhaps if that is a bit extreme, why not a tough AM course...

If you make a course so tough that only people who live in Cumbria, breed sheep and build dry stone walls can be competitive you won't get runners from, say, the flat lands of Kent travelling 600 miles to be humiliated.

The "fell" competition was initiated by we fell runners and not the blazers from the metropolis who think cross country round a park is as tough as running gets.

[Derby Tup]

What’s your take on the difference Graham between a ‘suit’ and a ‘blazer’? And I mean in the metaphorical sense, not sartorial. In a literal sense I’ve always had you down as a (currently on point grey Beckhamesque) suit man but would you wear a navy blazer?

[Graham Breeze]

What’s your take on the difference Graham between a ‘suit’ and a ‘blazer’? And I mean in the metaphorical sense, not sartorial. I’ve always had you down as a (currently on point grey Beckhamesque) suit man but would you wear a navy blazer?

Oh Andrew! I knew one day someone would expose me: metaphorically, not literally.

I think a "blazer" (which I last wore when I was, oh!, 16 years old - but not complete with school cap because at my school we wore straw boaters) is my term for someone who knew the difference, to the level of competent disqualification, between the "hop", the "skip" and the "jump" before the awful "triple jump" (ugh!) and carried a clipboard, a tape measure and a stop watch + a copy of UKA Rules For Competition.

So I must be a "suit" who floats above all the chaos pronouncing ex cathedra with infinite wisdom - and fortunately I do possess one, suitable (obviously) for all occasions.

And I hope you are well.

[Derby Tup]

You might not be surprised to learn I didn’t go to a place of education were straw boaters where de rigeur. I’ve not worn a blazer since school days either but I am a big fan of Yorkshire Tweed from the venerable Moons of Guiseley. I’m very much a fan of the sports jacket where that means something quite different to taped seams and hydrostatic head

[Derby Tup]

Anyway good luck to the Yorkshire team. Ladies look very strong