The Three Shires Fell Race is an annual

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

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 September, starting and finishing at the Three Shires Inn in Little Langdale. After an initial run along the valley, the route climbs steeply to

Wetherlam Wetherlam (763 m) is a mountain in the English Lake District. It is the most northerly of the Coniston Fells, the range of fells to the north-west of Coniston village; its north-east slopes descend to Little Langdale. Topography Wetherlam ...

, then down to Prison Band and up to the summit of Swirl How. The course then drops to the Three Shire Stone at the top of the

Wrynose Pass The Wrynose Pass is a mountain pass in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England between the Duddon Valley and Little Langdale. Etymology The unusual name of the pass is taken from that of the adjacent Wrynose hill, also called Wryn ...

, the meeting point of the historic counties of Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmorland. An ascent of

Pike of Blisco Pike of Blisco, or Pike o' Blisco, is a mountain in the Lake District in Cumbria, England. Located between the valleys of Great Langdale and Little Langdale, its relative isolation from neighbouring fells together with slopes falling away immedi ...

follows, then the route drops to Blea Tarn before the final climb to Lingmoor Fell and descent to the finish. The route is approximately in length with of ascent.

History

The inaugural race was held in 1983. The leading organiser was Ian Stephenson of the Three Shires Inn, who was assisted by Selwyn Wright who later became the main organiser. In 1984, the prizes were presented by Chris Brasher, the gold medallist in the

3000m steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field. It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 metres, which derives its name from the h ...

at the

1956 Olympic Games 1956 Olympics refers to both: *The 1956 Winter Olympics, which were held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy *The 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport even ...

. Brasher also competed in that edition of the Three Shires but did not finish the race. A junior race was added to the event that year. In some later years, the junior races featured as age group championship races and participating runners included Rob Hope,

Victoria Wilkinson Victoria Wilkinson (born 19 August 1978) is an English runner and cyclo-cross rider who was a world mountain running champion at junior level and who has several times been a national fell running champion as a senior athlete. Biography Wilkin ...

and

Rob Jebb Robert Jebb (born 28 February 1975 in Bingley) is an English fell runner 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 compone ...

. The 1990 women's race was won by Mari Todd who was then only seventeen years old. She went on to win the English Fell Running Championships in 1997. The Three Shires has been one of the counting races in the

English Fell Running Championships The first English Fell Running Championships were held in the 1986 season, based on results in various fell races of different lengths over the year. The winners have been as follows. *All Jeska's athletics results were declared null and void w ...

, including the 1993 edition. In 1997 it was again an English Championships counter as well as a home international with England winning the team race, followed by Scotland and then Wales. The Three Shires is one of the races in the Lakeland Classics Trophy series which was established in 2002.

Results

The male and female course records were both set in 1997, by

Gavin Bland Gavin Bland (born 21 November 1971) is a British fell runner who was a British and English champion and represented his country at the World Mountain Running Trophy. Biography Gavin Bland was born in 1971 in Penrith, Cumbria, and grew up on his f ...

with a time of 1:45:08 and Mari Todd with 2:05:29. The men's record has not been approached since then, but Victoria Wilkinson was within thirty seconds of the women's record in 2016. Ricky Lightfoot has the greatest number of wins amongst the men, with five between 2007 and 2016. Mari Todd and Vanessa Brindle (now Vanessa Peacock) have won the women's race the most times, with three victories each. The winners have been as follows. Jeska was a transgender runner who competed as a woman. However, doubts were raised over whether she was eligible to compete as a woman and her results were declared null and void. Jeska excluded, the first woman in the 2010 race was Tracey Greenway in a time of 2:27:02.

References

{{reflist Fell running competitions in Cumbria