Three Shires Fell Race

The Three Shires Fell Race is an annual Lake District fell race 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, 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 meeting point of the historic counties of Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmorland. An ascent of Pike of Blisco follows, then the route drops to Blea Tarn before the final climb to Lingmoor Fell and descent to the finish.[1]

The route is approximately 18 kilometres (11 mi) in length with 1,360 metres (4,460 ft) of ascent.[2]

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.[3]

In 1984, the prizes were presented by Chris Brasher, the gold medallist in the 3000m steeplechase at the 1956 Olympic Games. 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.[4] In some later years, the junior races featured as age group championship races and participating runners included Rob Hope, Victoria Wilkinson and Rob Jebb.[5]

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.[6]

The Three Shires has been one of the counting races in the English Fell Running Championships, including the 1993 edition.[7] 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.[8]

The Three Shires is one of the races in the Lakeland Classics Trophy series which was established in 2002.[9]

Results

The male and female course records were both set in 1997, by Gavin Bland 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.[10]

Year Men Time Women Time
1983 Billy Bland 1:56:19 Linda Lord 2:43:19
1984 Bob Whitfield 1:53:08 Pauline Haworth 2:18:44
1985 Mark Rigby 2:01:10 Stephanie Quirk 2:54:18
1986 Mark Rigby 1:54:32 Vanessa Brindle 2:12:57
1987 Bob Whitfield 1:49:07 Vanessa Brindle 2:15:05
1988 Colin Donnelly 1:50:07 Ruth Pickvance 2:12:49
1989 Keith Anderson 1:45:55 Vanessa Brindle 2:08:45
1990 Mark Fleming 1:52:04 Mari Todd 2:14:00
1991 Gavin Bland 1:51:03 Ruth Pickvance 2:19:13
1992 Jason Bradley 2:00:29 Mari Todd 2:26:44
1993 Gavin Bland 1:47:59 Carol Greenwood 2:13:58
1994 Robin Jamieson 1:55:17 Glynda Cook 2:23:21
1995 Andrew Davies 1:52:40 Glynda Cook 2:23:49
1996 Jim Davies 1:47:33 Andrea Priestley 2:10:06
1997 Gavin Bland 1:45:08 Mari Todd 2:05:29
1998 Paul Sheard 1:58:28 Yvette Hague 2:12:05
1999 Jim Davies 1:51:30 Nicola Davies 2:14:29
2000 Andy Kitchen 2:03:39 Nicky Lavery 2:35:31
2001 Cancelled due to foot-and-mouth outbreak
2002 Mark Hayman 1:59:43 Hilda Bransby 2:28:23
2003 Tim Austin 1:55:23 Sue Wood 2:19:06
2004 Simon Stainer 1:57:56 Lou Sharp 2:18:28
2005 Steve Bottomley 1:56:29 Karen Davison 2:17:24
2006 Nick Sharp 2:03:00 Helene Diamantides 2:20:26
2007 Ricky Lightfoot 1:53:05 Jackie Lee 2:13:49
2008 Ricky Lightfoot 1:57:23 Janet McIver 2:08:49
2009 Chris Steele 1:57:42 Mary Gillie 2:28:59
2010 Ricky Lightfoot 1:55:49 Lauren Jeska[A] 2:13:21
2011 Carl Bell 2:00:20 Hazel Robinson 2:29:42
2012 Rhys Findlay-Robinson 1:59:44 Jasmin Paris 2:16:26
2013 Ben Abdelnoor 2:05:11 Jane Reedy 2:29:57
2014 Rhys Findlay-Robinson 1:54:38 Jasmin Paris 2:12:11
2015 Ricky Lightfoot 1:56:44 Judith Jepson 2:23:39
2016 Ricky Lightfoot 1:57:22 Victoria Wilkinson 2:05:55
2017 Jonny Malley 2:01:55 Claire Nance 2:33:28
2018 Jack Wood 1:54:30 Natalie Beadle 2:31:47
2019 Garry Greenhow 2:00:45 Natalie Beadle 2:32:06

A 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.[11] Jeska excluded, the first woman in the 2010 race was Tracey Greenway in a time of 2:27:02.

References
  1. Selwyn Wright and Elaine Wright, "Race Profile – The Three Shires Race", The Fellrunner Magazine, Oct 2001, 39; Ambleside AC: Three Shires.
  2. Scottish Hill Racing: Three Shires Fell Race.
  3. Steve Chilton, It's a Hill, Get Over It (Dingwall, 2013), 96-97.
  4. The Fell Runner, Jan 1985, 61.
  5. The Fellrunner Magazine, Feb 2005, 40.
  6. Steve Chilton, It's a Hill, Get Over It (Dingwall, 2013), 96-97, 332.
  7. The Fellrunner, Feb 1994, Championship Results section.
  8. The Fellrunner, Feb 1998, Results section, 8.
  9. Lakeland Classics Trophy: History.
  10. Lakeland Classics Trophy: Race Results; Graham Breeze, "Equi ad Circos (Classic Fell Races Part 3)", The Fellrunner Magazine, Feb 2003, 24-26; Bill Smith, "An Early History of the Lakeland Long As: 1968-85"; Clayton-le-Moors Harriers: CLEM News, Dec 1986; Fellrunner.org.uk: Results.
  11. Pidd, Helen (2017-03-17). "Jailed fell runner thought UK Athletics was 'trying to kill her'". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
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