ALWAYS queue at stiles should be the rule. Many of us think it already is. Even if the gate, fence, wall appears to be solid it might not be and broken gates etc antagonise already hard-pressed farmers leading them to withdraw cooperation/permission etc. leading to the end of the race. More and more seem to be ignoring this rule while myself and other idiots (particularly in the pack on bigger races) patiently queue at stiles. 30 years ago I tried to climb a gate and was heavily barracked but these days the waters seem to have been muddied.
Photographs of leading runners jumping fences, walls and gates appear in the FR. I have even seen marshalls encouraging people to climb fences. In a recent race I saw about a dozen runners climbed a metal gate in race next to a stile, sometimes 3 at a time! No doubt this was after various strictures from the RO.
The "rule" is contained in "Access and environmental guidelines for organisers of fell races" in the FRA handbook page 119"Boundary Protection -Limit wall and fence crossing to specific locations eg. particular stiles or gates and ensure that this is enforced". Do we keep to this or do we descend into an anarchic free for all?