Views on pre-entries:

[IainR]

I'm not up to speed with this issue in fell running, but it pisses me off completely with road running. I want to do a flat, fast Half Marathon in February/March time (What has happened to the Wrexham Half btw?) and I'm left with only a few to chose from, the most likely candidate is Wilmslow (Given that Wrexham seems to have vanished) But I only want to enter it if I'm going to be fit, which I won't be sure of until 4 weeks or less before hand. But it will be full way before that. What's a chap to do?

I thinK Wrexham is still on, heard nothing otherwise, never that well publicised though.

[southernsoftie]

I voted for the 2 months option as I think it's the best of the three options.

However, it's probably different for different races. For a race like Ennerdale, I would need about 3-4 months to train for this, and this should maybe be reflected in the pre-entry time - I'm not going to train if I don't get in.

On the other hand, shorter races don't require the same training time, so a pre-entry time of 1-2 months seems very sensible.

So, solution is to use the FRA Calendar to plan your year and your training, and set a reminder somewhere 2 months before the event (with a load of appropriate training behind you already) to get your entry in for the race.

If you don't get in the race, you'll still be a lot fitter, so it won't be a complete waste.

[Nathaniel Lee]

This is a personal thing i have to fit my racing around my wifes work as she works lots of weekends and we do not have child cover. So if i want to race i have to know as early as possible in case she is working and giving maximum time for booking a day off etc {where she works swapping holidays is very difficult}. So as early as poss for me but in an ideal world without these hassles a couple of months would be fine.

[IanDarkpeak]

To some extent I agree with Ruddy. Entry for races shouldn't open before the calendar is published. The skyline won't be full before that happens so it won't effect any one who wants to enter later. two months is plenty although there could be a paper mountain on the RO doormat on thae day that an entry date opens in something like a lakeland classic

[novice]

Don't get me going!!

I think that the current trend to open the books on next year's fell races as early as Spetember and October is plain stupid - especially if it's coupled with a feeding frenzy on this forum whereby the start list is cut and pasted into a thread in an attempt to make people enter - "before it's too late".

(I believe it's fashionable to say FFS or LOL at this point, but I don't know what they mean, lol.)

The result is predictable - races fill too fast, people drop out as events overtake their early bookings and organisers end up with twice as much work to do as they would have had with a reasonable pre-entry date.

And I personally reckon that any race that is full before the FRA Calendar is published should not be allowed to be an official FRA Race.

So there!

Its a good way to make a bit of cash though. If you look at Skyline race - entries open now for a race in March £9 per person max 300. So organiser stands to get £2700 in a bank account for 5mths. Then on race day say a 1/3 don't turn up thats...

[DazTheSlug]

I tend to just avoid races that fill up early - I can't be bothered bowing/scraping to blag a late/swapped entry - there are plenty of other races out there - I'll be doing Ras Yr Aran on Edale Skyline weekend - £4 EOD only

Gravymuncher - Wrexham Village Bakery Half Mara will be on Feb.21st - entries haven't opened yet

[Mark G]

Two months is plenty if you get every weekend off or can take a day off at the weekend without too much hassle - its not if you cant do this, especially if wife/family want to see something of you on your one weekend off a month. Its amazing how few of the races you want to do coincide with your days off and how much holiday you have to use to try and do them. I'm happily no longer in this position so I'm going to shut up on this point and let those who are make the point if they want to, but I can remember what it was like, hence my fairly strong views on it. Perhaps many of the shift workers in the FRA are not in jobs where they can surf the internet during work or breaks and might not be as active on this forum as others, so cant always make their views known this way.

[IanDarkpeak]

Its a good way to make a bit of cash though. If you look at Skyline race - entries open now for a race in March £9 per person max 300. So organiser stands to get £2700 in a bank account for 5mths. Then on race day say a 1/3 don't turn up thats...

a little unfair I think but I see your point.

but you don't get 300 entries on day 1 and as for the interest rate....

I guess it might a few extra bottles of Rescue Ale for Prize giving

[IainR]

Not having pre-entries is a nice idea but just impossible. What if 1000 people turned up to race in an environmentally delicate area like the Rhinogs, or swamped the facilities on Jura.

[Gravymuncher]

Gravymuncher - Wrexham Village Bakery Half Mara will be on Feb.21st - entries haven't opened yet

Sweet. They should list the race on ukresults.net or race-results.co.uk or somewhere google can find, perhaps even their own website.

For anyone that's not done it, this is pretty much the flatest, fastest course in the country :-)