The Borrowdale Fell Race is an annual

fell race Fell running, also sometimes known as hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off-road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty. The name arises from the origins of the English sport o ...

held in August, starting and finishing in Rosthwaite. It is considered to be one of the "classic" Lakeland races and the route initially heads over Bessyboot before climbing England's highest summit, Scafell Pike.

Great Gable Great Gable is a mountain in the Lake District, United Kingdom. It is named after its appearance as a pyramid from Wasdale, though it is dome-shaped from most other directions. It is one of the most popular of the Lakeland fells, and there are ...

is then scaled before a descent to

Honister Pass Honister Pass is a mountain pass in the English Lake District. It is located on the B5289 road, linking Seatoller, in the valley of Borrowdale, to Gatesgarth at the southern end of Buttermere. The pass reaches an altitude of , making it one ...

and the final climb up

Dale Head Dale Head is a fell in the north-western sector of the Lake District, in northern England. It is 753 metres or 2,470 feet above sea level and stands immediately north of Honister Pass, the road between Borrowdale and Buttermere. Topo ...

. The distance is approximately seventeen miles and the route has around 6,500 feet of ascent.

History

The race, sponsored by Miles Jessop of the Scafell Hotel, Borrowdale, and the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, Langdale, was originally intended to link those two establishments. However, Chris Bland, Andy Ewing and others decided on the route via Bessyboot,

Esk Hause Esk Hause is a mountain pass in the English Lake District, England. It is where the paths from Eskdale, Borrowdale, Langdale and Wasdale all meet. Esk Hause is a first step to reaching higher summits, such as Scafell Pike, Great End, Esk Pike and ...

, Scafell Pike, Great Gable, Honister Hause and Dale Head. The inaugural race was held in 1974 and in that year only, there was an extra checkpoint in Tongue Gill on the descent to Rosthwaite. In 2001, a foot-and-mouth outbreak led to the cancellation of many fell races. Borrowdale was one of the first to take place as the access restrictions were reduced, and Prince Philip presented the prizes to the leading runners that year. In 2003, the route to the first checkpoint on Bessyboot was changed following concerns about the possibility of serious injuries due to falling rocks on the steep climb. The 2007 race was run over a shortened course due to inclement weather. After the climb up Bessyboot and traverse to Esk Hause, runners were directed to

Sty Head Sty Head is a mountain pass in the English Lake District, in the county of Cumbria. It is at an altitude of 1,600 feet (488 m) and there is a small tarn (Styhead Tarn) near its summit. The pass is at the head of Wasdale, which contains the lake ...

, missing out Scafell Pike on which conditions were considered to be unsafe. From Sty Head, the usual route was rejoined with the ascent of Great Gable. A forecast thunderstorm at the time of the 2021 race resulted in a shorter route of around eight miles being used that year. The course went over

High Spy High Spy is a fell in the English Lake District it is situated on the ridge that separates the Newlands Valley from Borrowdale, eight kilometres (five miles) south of Keswick. Topography The fell reaches a height of 653 metres (2142 ...

and Dale Head, then down to Honister before returning to Rosthwaite. Borrowdale is one of the Lakeland Classics Trophy races and it has frequently been one of the counting races in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

British Fell Running Championships The first British Fell Running Championships, then known as Fell Runner of the Year, were held in 1972 and the scoring was based on results in all fell races. In 1976 this was changed to the runner's best ten category A races and further changes t ...

Results

The men's course record is held by Billy Bland with a time of 2:34:38 set in 1981. The fastest time in the years since then is 2:35:18 by Simon Booth in the 1999 event when the race was featured on the

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’s ''Grandstand''. The women’s record is 3:14:36 by Menna Angharad in 1997. Simon Booth has the most wins, with twelve between 1995 and 2010. Billy Bland won ten times between 1976 and 1988. Sarah Haines won the women’s race five times between 1985 and 1990. A board showing the winners of the race is on permanent display in the Scafell Hotel. The winners have been as follows.Borrowdale Fell Race Winners''The Fell Runner'', 1974, 35
; Steve Chilton, ''It's a Hill, Get Over It'' (Dingwall, 2013), 85-87
SPORTident ResultsGraham Breeze, "Classic Fell Races Part 1: Il Campionissimo", ''The Fellrunner Magazine'', Jun 2001, 8-11

Bill Smith, "An Early History of the Lakeland Long As: 1968-85"''The Fellrunner'', Oct 1998, Results section, 28Fellrunner.org.uk: ResultsPower of 10: Borrowdale 2013 Results.
/ref> Note 1: Halstead's time is given as 3:05:57 on th
winners’ board
but as 3:05:07 in other sources. Note 2: The 2007 and 2021 races were run over shorter courses.

References

{{reflist Fell running competitions in Cumbria