The mythical spirit

[delicious]

Thats more wrong than right in my opinion.

First off for me fell running is running solo in the hills 90% of the time. How can that not be free spirited? The isolation, the beauty, the slightly bonkersness of it - its not mythical (ie made up) but is very real to me. Mystical? Yes. Spiritual? Yes. Mythical? No.

As for racing. Races are probably better organised and co-ordinated nowadays, surely a lot safer and fell racing seems to be booming. Just compare fell races now to when Richard Askwith was talking about them when he wrote feet in the clouds - fields are growing year on year at the minute and, yes, big races are filling up quicker. Buts that down to success not loss of mythical/mystical spirit.

For you our thoughts maybe more right than wrong. But for my husband who started fell running and racing at 8 and is still competing with much success at 43 the running and racing go hand in hand. For him the spirit of fell running has died a little as things have 'progressed'. Taking a bit of the old spirit away. I started fell running because of the tales told to me by may dad of how the club used to go away in vans and wild camp before races and then all head off to the pub, they never knew where they would end up until the night before a race and sometimes did not know where they had ended up the day after! They were all free spirits, races were not that frequent but the running and racing went hand in hand. They didn't have to think about what races they were doing they just went and did them. Even so we still love our sport and would struggle to live without it.

[XRunner]

how the club used to go away in vans and wild camp before races and then all head off to the pub, they never knew where they would end up until the night before a race and sometimes did not know where they had ended up the day after!

They were all free spirits...

i.e just like the XOTF.

However the spirits are no longer free

[No vice]

the club used to go away in vans and wild camp before races and then all head off to the pub, they never knew where they would end up until the night before a race and sometimes did not know where they had ended up the day after! They were all free spirits, races were not that frequent but the running and racing went hand in hand. They didn't have to think about what races they were doing they just went and did them. Even so we still love our sport and would struggle to live without it.

Anything stopping you doing that now?

[Stolly]

the club used to go away in vans and wild camp before races and then all head off to the pub, they never knew where they would end up until the night before a race and sometimes did not know where they had ended up the day after! They were all free spirits, races were not that frequent but the running and racing went hand in hand. They didn't have to think about what races they were doing they just went and did them.

Like hill running surfer dudes, man. I hope they all had scooby doo vans

[Harry H Howgill]

The Spirit of Fellrunning

What is the spirit of fell running?

Just turning up at a race, paying a few quid, and running - Borrowing a pair of shoes off a stranger to race in - New races starting, old ones dying - Waiting for the hounds to come in before setting off - Race you to the top of that hill and back lads - Helping on a Bob Graham leg for someone you don’t know - Just being in the mountains - It takes me back to being a boy, just me and my Dad - Giving it your all, getting covered in mud – It is at odds with a risk adverse society - Juniors disappearing, come back at 40 - A desire to lose oneself in the hills, whether by design or not - It isn’t all about the racing: the racing has changed, the running hasn’t - Whether the sport grows, withers or dies. That doesn’t matter. All that matters is that the fells will always be there for those who appreciate them - A sense of place, of territory, the connection between man and the land - I’ve known him for 20 years. I don’t know what his day job is, I just know he’s a runner - The fact that you discover something new about the country, and yourself, each time you run - Feeling naked amid your surroundings - Free from the world - I can be on my Monday morning meat wagon to Central London, close my eyes and see myself bounding over Green Gable - A sense of freedom and abandonment - A tasty post-race, post-bath glass of Laphroig - The welcoming attitude that all of you show to new members - Running solo in the hills. How can that not be free spirited? - The isolation, the beauty, the slightly bonkersness of it - Some times fast, sometimes slow; sometimes alone, sometimes with company - No barriers for anyone who wants to take the sport up - The people; competitors, organisers, supporters. All are welcoming and friendly - The wilderness and the sense of the power of nature – Don’t tell me all kids are fat and lazy, just look at them go - Feeling totally alive in every nerve and sinew - The hand offered as you hesitate at a river crossing - Falling and being lifted back on my feet by two men who didn't break their stride - Where human nature and the environment meet in a friendly fight - The pint in the pub afterwards, the banter, the mates, the tales - Running past someone in full winter gear: crampons, ice axe, the lot. And I'm wearing shorts - No pins, no toilets, no entry fee, no prizes - Flagging the course, racing it, then picking up the flags again - The old guy who once raced came along to watch. Nobody realises how good he was - The fast and the slow, everyone cheering on everyone else as they race straight up and down the fell - Fatigue, fellowship, pain, beauty, and an uncomplicated relationship with nature.

What would you say?

[TurboTom]

The Spirit of Fellrunning

What is the spirit of fell running?

Just turning up at a race, paying a few quid, and running - Borrowing a pair of shoes off a stranger to race in - New races starting, old ones dying - Waiting for the hounds to come in before setting off - Race you to the top of that hill and back lads - Helping on a Bob Graham leg for someone you don’t know - Just being in the mountains - It takes me back to being a boy, just me and my Dad - Giving it your all, getting covered in mud – It is at odds with a risk adverse society - Juniors disappearing, come back at 40 - A desire to lose oneself in the hills, whether by design or not - It isn’t all about the racing: the racing has changed, the running hasn’t - Whether the sport grows, withers or dies. That doesn’t matter. All that matters is that the fells will always be there for those who appreciate them - A sense of place, of territory, the connection between man and the land - I’ve known him for 20 years. I don’t know what his day job is, I just know he’s a runner - The fact that you discover something new about the country, and yourself, each time you run - Feeling naked amid your surroundings - Free from the world - I can be on my Monday morning meat wagon to Central London, close my eyes and see myself bounding over Green Gable - A sense of freedom and abandonment - A tasty post-race, post-bath glass of Laphroig - The welcoming attitude that all of you show to new members - Running solo in the hills. How can that not be free spirited? - The isolation, the beauty, the slightly bonkersness of it - Some times fast, sometimes slow; sometimes alone, sometimes with company - No barriers for anyone who wants to take the sport up - The people; competitors, organisers, supporters. All are welcoming and friendly - The wilderness and the sense of the power of nature – Don’t tell me all kids are fat and lazy, just look at them go - Feeling totally alive in every nerve and sinew - The hand offered as you hesitate at a river crossing - Falling and being lifted back on my feet by two men who didn't break their stride - Where human nature and the environment meet in a friendly fight - The pint in the pub afterwards, the banter, the mates, the tales - Running past someone in full winter gear: crampons, ice axe, the lot. And I'm wearing shorts - No pins, no toilets, no entry fee, no prizes - Flagging the course, racing it, then picking up the flags again - The old guy who once raced came along to watch. Nobody realises how good he was - The fast and the slow, everyone cheering on everyone else as they race straight up and down the fell - Fatigue, fellowship, pain, beauty, and an uncomplicated relationship with nature.

What would you say?

Id say brilliant HHH

[Harry H Howgill]

Id say brilliant HHH

It is all everyone's own work. Comments pilfered from various posts on the theme.

[TurboTom]

It is all everyone's own work. Comments pilfered from various posts on the theme.

really....please put that in the fellrunner.
Oh btw did i write any of that or was it much too grammatically accurate for me

[southernsoftie]

Feeling naked amid your surroundings

So no required kit then?

[stevefoster]

The Spirit of Fellrunning

What is the spirit of fell running?

Just turning up at a race, paying a few quid, and running - Borrowing a pair of shoes off a stranger to race in - New races starting, old ones dying - Waiting for the hounds to come in before setting off - Race you to the top of that hill and back lads - Helping on a Bob Graham leg for someone you don’t know - Just being in the mountains - It takes me back to being a boy, just me and my Dad - Giving it your all, getting covered in mud – It is at odds with a risk adverse society - Juniors disappearing, come back at 40 - A desire to lose oneself in the hills, whether by design or not - It isn’t all about the racing: the racing has changed, the running hasn’t - Whether the sport grows, withers or dies. That doesn’t matter. All that matters is that the fells will always be there for those who appreciate them - A sense of place, of territory, the connection between man and the land - I’ve known him for 20 years. I don’t know what his day job is, I just know he’s a runner - The fact that you discover something new about the country, and yourself, each time you run - Feeling naked amid your surroundings - Free from the world - I can be on my Monday morning meat wagon to Central London, close my eyes and see myself bounding over Green Gable - A sense of freedom and abandonment - A tasty post-race, post-bath glass of Laphroig - The welcoming attitude that all of you show to new members - Running solo in the hills. How can that not be free spirited? - The isolation, the beauty, the slightly bonkersness of it - Some times fast, sometimes slow; sometimes alone, sometimes with company - No barriers for anyone who wants to take the sport up - The people; competitors, organisers, supporters. All are welcoming and friendly - The wilderness and the sense of the power of nature – Don’t tell me all kids are fat and lazy, just look at them go - Feeling totally alive in every nerve and sinew - The hand offered as you hesitate at a river crossing - Falling and being lifted back on my feet by two men who didn't break their stride - Where human nature and the environment meet in a friendly fight - The pint in the pub afterwards, the banter, the mates, the tales - Running past someone in full winter gear: crampons, ice axe, the lot. And I'm wearing shorts - No pins, no toilets, no entry fee, no prizes - Flagging the course, racing it, then picking up the flags again - The old guy who once raced came along to watch. Nobody realises how good he was - The fast and the slow, everyone cheering on everyone else as they race straight up and down the fell - Fatigue, fellowship, pain, beauty, and an uncomplicated relationship with nature.

What would you say?

Beautiful Should be on the poetry thread, oh, it is