Fellrunner Magazine

[mr brightside]

There definitely should be space for articles on shorter stuff, and proper race reports when we get back to it - as mentioned the Fellracer section seems the best home for this. One of the problems with these first-person reports is they can get a bit hackneyed (people fall into the trap of "my legs were pumping battery acid and I could taste blood") and they can all sound the same. That's not to say the long distance ones can't (and don't) do something similar, though IMO most of these long distance articles have been kept interesting and avoided the 'shopping-list' trap they can fall in to.

Some articles submitted could, I imagine, be of a quality more befitting a blog, suitable for sharing around a few chums or maybe the club, but not befitting of The Fellrunner. There have a been a couple of articles in the last year or so that I found to be not particularly 'worthy' (whatever that may mean; it will mean different things to different people) though these have been a tiny minority.

Yeah. I didn't think my submission was that bad, i spent a lot of time just telling the tale, i like to give an account of the whole day- even the conditions in the car parking field. I just don't understand what anyone is to practically do about it if short distance submissions are knocked back the way mine was.

NB. The fell racer section reports are authored by race organisers only. They get requested to submit a short summary to precede the results, and i don't organise any.

Well if I never read another BGR account I will still die happy but:

i) the editor relies on voluntary contributions

ii) every editor is different and they change things. I have submitted pieces to eight of them and while I might think some editors have been "better" than others there isn't a huge market for articles about fell running so you have to bear with it until matters improve

iii) The Fellrunner is a broad church. I once casually commented to one editor that I found one writer's contributions to be unreadable and was told - quite rightly - that some readers thought his articles were the best thing in the magazine. So that was me told!

iv) A good editor should believe they are trying to serve the broader interests of the membership - and not think the magazine is a vehicle for personal vanity - and fortunately most of them have

v) I have written elsewhere about changes in content over the last 50 years. There really wasn't much coverage of ultra-running events etc 40 years ago because there weren't many such events; and there is a limit to how many articles can be published on, say, races over Pendle; and anyway Bill Smith has already written them.

So, I am just grateful that for 50 years someone has always been willing to take on such a demanding role in which Neil Denby edited 29 issues (ie over 9 years), Britta Sendlehofer 21 issues (7 years) whereas the last three editors have only managed a total of 18 issues between them.

Things change.

One of the best articles i've seen in the fellrunner was Alan Greenwood's write-up of Causey Pike. It started with him being bored and in the area, just a tale of a day in the life.

[anthonykay]

Yeah. I didn't think my submission was that bad, i spent a lot of time just telling the tale, i like to give an account of the whole day- even the conditions in the car parking field. I just don't understand what anyone is to practically do about it if short distance submissions are knocked back the way mine was.

NB. The fell racer section reports are authored by race organisers only. They get requested to submit a short summary to precede the results, and i don't organise any.

It does seem rather harsh to simply reject a race report like that. Short races are an important part of the sport; and from you have written on the Forum, you seem to be literate, Mr B.

Back in the days when I was within sight of the race leaders for more than a few seconds, I used to sometimes send in reports of races I had done, and they were always published in the Results section, occasionally alongside a report from the race organiser. I don't see why writing race reports should be exclusively down to the RO; they have plenty of other stuff to do, and while some of them clearly enjoy writing a report for the magazine, some reports are fairly dull.

[mr brightside]

I titled it 'The tale of the first time i won something in fell running'. Perhaps the personal slant put them off, though i did spend a lot of time describing the day and the nature of the course. Really i can only sum up my own experience, as can anyone, i can't really write on behalf of the guy who came first or forty-first.

[Travs]

AnthonyKay your reports of the Shropshire and Welsh races were a notable highlight of the magazines i've got from that time...!

[Graham Breeze]

AnthonyKay your reports of the Shropshire and Welsh races were a notable highlight of the magazines i've got from that time...!

...and so if you wondered what else has this author published then a few moments of research in the Fellrunner Index* would lead you to the delights of Almost The Loch Lyon Watershed (June 1989), The 30 Minute Kilometre - Achieved (Spring 2015) and The Best Of Times, The Worst Of Times (Spring 2018).

*now available as a Word download from the compiler

[Travs]

I do recall the Loch Lyon Watershed article...

Which would be my prime example of a very good long-distance article... being something that i don't think had ever been written about in the magazine before.

As opposed to interminable tales of changovers at Wasdale, eating rice pudding, and marvellous banter between the support crew...

But then again, as i mentioned above, a magazine without heavy reliance on long-distance efforts this year would have been a very short one...

[TimG]

I enjoyed the Day Today reference in the secretary’s comments, needs some lighter moments I feel. In general its nice to hear from more ‘normal’ runners as well.

[ba-ba]

Accounts of BGs only turn up in Fellrunner now if it's a particularly noteworthy round - e.g. recent records/sub-15s, Ken Taylor's first V70 completion. I think this is fair. In the 10 years I've been reading I don't recall any generic BG articles (in fact I recall an editor asking people to stop submitting them!)

All this talk of short races and 'B' cat races in that thread has given me an idea for an article titled 'A Load of BS', though I fear this may be the case of a good title not matched by the article's contents. I can cover the Peak District and NYM; Anyone want to chip in on other regions of the country? A team attempt, I'd be happy to collate.

[Travs]

My first fell race was a Peaks BS.... Bamford Sheepdog Trials... turned up in a pair of cheap trail shoes and an MMA Rashguard (a skin tight and very sweat-inducing top).

Remember being frustrated on the climb up Parkin Clough that there was no room to overtake. Then initially being a little overawed by the immediate descent off the summit of Win Hill, losing a handful of places immediately, before getting myself together.

That remains the only BS race i've ever done... although did do a CS at Tour Of Llyn Lydaw last new year's day which is quite a unique and interesting race.

[noel]

Accounts of BGs only turn up in Fellrunner now if it's a particularly noteworthy round - e.g. recent records/sub-15s, Ken Taylor's first V70 completion. I think this is fair. In the 10 years I've been reading I don't recall any generic BG articles (in fact I recall an editor asking people to stop submitting them!)

All this talk of short races and 'B' cat races in that thread has given me an idea for an article titled 'A Load of BS', though I fear this may be the case of a good title not matched by the article's contents. I can cover the Peak District and NYM; Anyone want to chip in on other regions of the country? A team attempt, I'd be happy to collate.

I think that's a brilliant name for an article and we should do all we can to make it work. Chrome hill perhaps worthy of a mention. And some other classics: Burbage Skyline, Hope Wakes...