This item is only of concern to English athletes.

What is EA? - England Athletics is the governing body which manages and develops Athletics in England, performing the same kind of duties as were performed by the AAA (and its regional bodies, e.g. NoEAA, SoEAA etc) in the past. Scottish Athletics, Welsh Athletics and Athletics Northern Ireland are the equivalent bodies in the other home nations. Do I need to register with EA? – On the face of it, the answer is no. Fell races in England do not charge any levies on behalf of either England Athletics or the FRA. They are open to all runners who fulfil the organiser’s criteria.

However, if you want to count in either the English or the British fell running championships, then you must either be a member of the FRA or registered with England Athletics.

Other reasons to register - You can take part in other types of races (e.g. road races) without paying the levy, or, if you want to race abroad, you can use your EA card instead of paying for a doctor's "fitness-to-race" letter.

How much does it cost? - England Athletics have agreed that, for runners who are FRA members and not members of multi-discipline athletics clubs affiliated to EA, they will allow registration without any charge at all. Please note the proviso – this is not supposed to be a method of avoiding registration payment, rather it is for members of fell-only clubs who might wish to run the odd road race, or to race abroad.

How do I go about registering with the EA? - Simply email Debbie Thompson who handles all FRA membership enquiries (contact details in the Calendar, in the magazine and on the Committee page of this website), expressing your desire to register.  Please supply your FRA membership number (if known), your full name, running club, address and date-of-birth.

Can my club membership secretary do this for me? – Debbie will be happy to accept bulk applications from club membership secretaries, providing all the necessary details are supplied

Please note that for reasons beyond the control of the organiser the date of this race http://www.fellrunner.org.uk/races.php?id=1616 has had to be changed to Wed. 25th April from Tues. 24th April.

When a potential incident is being  considered under the disciplinary process (FRA Rules for Competition-Rule 11) the club of the athlete is informed of developments. If a club shares the credit for a runner’s success a club cannot disassociate itself when its runners breach FRA Rules. This approach also applies to junior runners and it could be argued that junior runners generally have a closer relationship with their club, particularly with a club coach, than do senior runners.

Recently the FRA Committee has become increasingly concerned (as has been reported in The Fellrunner) about the issue of “underage runners” and breaches of the distance limits for junior runners (FRA Rules for Competition- Rule 10). It has been alleged that some clubs have colluded in breaches, either deliberately or by failing to follow the proper race entry process. The rules which apply to junior fell running are, for good reasons, not necessarily the same as for other disciplines (XC/ Track/Road) but they are clear. Age on 1st January in the year of competition (i.e. not age on race date) is a critical factor.

Race Organisers, in order to register and insure their races with the FRA, agree to comply with FRA Rules. As do competitors or, in the case of juniors, the Parent/Legal Guardian. If a Race Organiser does not have a race entry system that includes DOB for junior runners the organiser  will be  unable to ensure compliance with Rule 10 particularly if, for example, a parent or coach or club encourages  a runner to compete  in a race beyond the allowed distance.

From 2012 therefore if a runner is under 18 the Junior Race Entry Form should be used (FRA Safety Requirements for Fell Races-Rule 8) for both senior and junior races and this entry form requires the completion of both Date of Birth and Age on 1st January in current year by the Parent or Legal Guardian. Completion of this data will provide some protection from jeopardy for Race Organisers and also prevent the misunderstandings over junior race eligibility which have arisen in the past. Clubs should take note that breaches of FRA Rules are also breaches of UKA Rules and therefore UKA is informed of disciplinary outcomes, including the name of the Club of the athlete involved.

FRA Chairman

11th January 2012

As a result of access problems, Todmorden Harriers have had to cancel this race which should have taken place on Sat. Feb. 25th. There are no plans to reinstate the event in future.

The primary purpose of the Disciplinary Committee is to "educate" fell runners on the existence of and reasons for FRA rules; sensible rules created by fell runners for the benefit of fell runners.

Rules which are upheld by the great majority of runners and race organisers because they make sense. It is longstanding FRA policy to publicise individual breaches and this approach is consistent with UKA policy. This is now done initially on the FRA website (temporarily) and then in The Fellrunner. This approach is not appropriate in all cases, notably those involving juniors. An example of this was a case of parental misunderstanding combined with the lack of a comprehensive race entry form (including DOB) which resulted in a junior running under age in a senior race.

Margaret Chippendale’s Editor’s Note introducing the 2012 Fixtures Calendar & Handbook (page 23) reports on rule changes with regard to juniors. All race organisers who have sought FRA Registration/Insurance for 2012 have been informed that it is a FRA requirement that all Under 18 runners are required to complete a Junior Race Entry Form and this is included on page 17 of the 2012 Calendar.

GWB 8.1.12

The start for this 2012 English Championship event on Sat. 17th March is next to the Crowden Youth Hostel.  Anyone wishing to stay there should book asap through the YHA website http://www.yha.org.uk/

Contrary to the information in the printed Calendar this event does not have an FRA Permit/insurance. I understand that UK Athletics insurance has been obtained by the organiser via another route. 

Margaret Chippendale (FRA Fixtures Sec.)

Considering the masterpiece that bears his name Bill Smith was a staggeringly modest and unassuming man. I am privileged to have known him slightly and corresponded with him occasionally. He once teased me in his droll way that after I had mentioned Bob Dylan in a Fellrunner article which included his name he had gone to the trouble of reading up on Bob Dylan.

Perhaps Bob Dylan did the same for Bill Smith?

A few years ago I wrote a short piece about Stud marks on the summits and sent it to Bill for his approval. I wrote that I knew he would hate it but I would like it to appear in The Fellrunner in homage to his masterpiece. As I partly anticipated, he wrote back and asked me not to publish because it would embarrass him. We later talked about the piece at a race and I promised that, since all writers hate to waste material, it would only appear when he could no longer be embarrassed.

A full appreciation of Bill (who was 75 in May) will appear in the next issue but here follows the short article I wrote about Stud marks on the summits, as drafted at the time:

Only a handful of people in the world of fell running could justify the adjective “revered”: Joss, Billy, a few others and, of course, Bill Smith. Bill is the most generous, unassuming and gentle of men. He can be seen at races marshalling or hovering quietly in the background yet he produced the masterpiece that is Stud marks on the summits.

Bill, who is FRA member #172, has been a long and prolific contributor to the Fellrunner and other periodicals. He became the first FRA Press Officer 35 years ago but “Press Officer” didn’t adequately describe his industry and he eventually turned the mass of data he accumulated and his personal knowledge of races, including as a competitor, into the only book about fell running that really matters.

A History of Amateur Fell Racing 1861-1983, as the sub title reads, was published in 1985 and in the Preface, which epitomises Bill’s modesty, he wrote that he started work on the book in 1978 with a view to producing a small paperback but 581 pages later accepted that the result was “a much larger work”.

He particularly thanks those who allowed its private publication as SKG Publishing (Bill is the “S”) after commercial publishers turned it down, with the FRA also providing a loan to facilitate its publication. Bill, of course, wrote out of love of the sport and the profits were channeled to the FRA when it sold out. The list of people he thanks in the Acknowledgements runs to over 4 pages: but the fact is no one but Bill could have contemplated and delivered such a great work.

The book was advertised in the Summer 1986 Fellrunner at £8.95 (+ £1.50 postage) which also carried a book review. The review includes phrases such as “outstanding piece of work”, “classic reference work” and “truly remarkable”; and who would demur?

Many copies of the book were sold by fell runners to fell runners at races and in the Spring 1987 Fellrunner Peter Knott (the “K” in SKG Publishing) could report that 1400 of the 1800 copies had been sold and the book was in ”profit”.

And today?

Second-hand copies have sold for around £130 a copy on eBay and even more in America. Perhaps that is why several copies bought by Public Libraries have been “lost” by the borrowers who were happy to pay the £8.95 fine.

No one knows how many copies still exist or how many have been thrown away by e.g. widows of fellrunners who wondered why anyone would ever be interested in buying a book on the history of fellrunning.

And Bill? He remains slightly bemused by it all. He still writes articles for the Fellrunner that, quite simply, no one else can write but as for Stud marks… well he has just his own copy.

It is a few years since I wrote the words above but, if anything, I am now even more in awe of Bill’s majestic achievement than I was then. Fell running has a history of great characters but as someone who has tried to write about fellrunning over the years the only person I ever really wanted to meet was Bill and I will always be humbly grateful that I was able to have met him and talked with him and corresponded with him.

Fellrunners come and go, Champions come and go, but no-one will ever be as important to the development and history of fellrunning as the man who died in September on the Bowland fells.

Graham Breeze

The above will appear in the next Fellrunner.