For Organisers

Fell races

Race Organisers are key to the sport of fell running, creating events which are fun, which provide a running challenge to tax even the most able and which work within the constraints of the race venue. This makes each race unique. The FRA supports Race Organisers in many ways, and will help as much as possible to enable Organisers to organise and stage events.

The FRA maintains a Calendar of fell/hill/mountain running events throughout the UK. Where details of an event for the following year are received by the end of October they are included in the annual Fixtures Calendar and Handbook which is received by all Members of the FRA. When Race Organisers are agreeable, details of events are also displayed on the FRA website. Information about late registered events is included in the Calendar Update section of the Fellrunner magazine.

For a new event to be included in the FRA Calendar it must comply with the FRA’s definitions for a fell race. These are given in the FRA Rules for Competition and include the minimum amount of climb required, the maximum amount of the event which can be on road and a requirement for it to include some “genuine fell terrain”.

For events taking place in England (including the Isle of Man) the FRA, which is affiliated to UK Athletics, can provide race Licences and the associated UK Athletics insurance. There isn’t any charge for a Licence but Organisers must be Members of the FRA. For more information or to join the FRA see the 'For Members' page on this website.

Events outside England should obtain their Licences and/or insurance from the relevant national bodies. Details of such events, and any in England which obtain insurance other than through the FRA, can also be included in the Calendar.

Race Organisers should get themselves an FRA Race Organiser account, by signing up using the 'Organiser Login' link at the top of this page.  This enables you to enter contact details and FRA membership number, and to verify the email address.  You can then start to enter details for a new race, or to create the next edition of any race by copying last year's.  If you are applying for a race Licence the Fixtures Secretary will also require a copy of an OS map showing the race route. This is for FRA records and to check that the route meets the FRA’s requirements for a fell race. For events outside England Fixtures may request some route information if required.  When a new race has been submitted by the Organiser it will be reviewed by Fixtures, who can either approve the race and grant the Licence, or come back with queries.

Support for Race Organisers

The main point of contact for Race Organisers is Andy McMurdo, FRA Fixtures Secretary.

/images/email.gif [email protected]

/images/icons/phone.gif  07834 912222

News Items

If as a Race Organiser you want to publish late changes to your race details, please contact James Lowe. /images/icons/email.png [email protected]

Championship Races

For 2023 the FRA will subsidise Junior Championship races by £2 per entry.  Applications to the Treasurer can be made after the race, quoting the number of entries.  (The number of entries is the number who paid to enter the race, not the number who actually ran.  For Junior races which also host a Senior (non-Championship) event only the Junior entries should be counted).

For all Championship races, ROs should set entry fees to cover all expected costs, including additional expenses incurred because the race is a Championship event. The FRA may consider an emergency additional subsidy to Championship races in special circumstances, e.g. where unexpected costs arise that could not reasonably have been foreseen, on presentation of the accounts for the race. However, it is important to note that the FRA will not automatically make up any shortfall in the accounts. The guidance for ROs of Championship races should be consulted, which for example makes it clear that later races in the season often have lower turnouts and that this should be planned for.

 

Insurance

An FRA Race Organiser, as an FRA member, has the benefit of the UKA Public Liability insurance, providing cover up to a total of £35 million.  This cover is confirmed in a letter from the Insurers published on the UKA site and reproduced here under 'Documents'

The cover goes from 1/April to 31/March each year, and we often have a period in the Spring when Organisers need to show an insurance document to a Landowner for a race after 1/April.  UKA have given us a provisional 'intention to renew' letter, which should be used in these circumstances (also on this site under 'Documents').

Loan Equipment

The FRA has the following equipment available for loan to organisers of registered races, in a number of locations around the country: 
  • Two sets of six VHF radios in the Lake District kept at Pete Bland Sports in Kendal;
  • Two sets of six VHF radios in the Peak District kept by Geoff Briggs from Pennine FR;
  • An 8m x 4m Gala tent plus a 6m x 4m heavy duty marquee in the Lake District;
  • An 8m x 4m Gala tent in the Peak District;
  • 2 x Seiko electronic timers with printers kept at Pete bland Sports in Kendal;
  • A stadium digital clock kept in the Lake District;
  • Start and Finish banners kept in the Lake District;
  • Traffic mats stored at Braithwaite. 
fra-gala-tent /images/fra-finish-banner.jpeg /images/fra-6x4-marquee.jpeg
FRA Gala Tent Finish banner 6m x 4m Marquee

Any of this equipment is available for race organisers to borrow on a first come, first served basis. There is no charge for the loan of the equipment, but the organizer may need to make arrangements to collect and return it from wherever it is located and should take good care to return it in the same condition.  Any losses will be charged at cost. Please contact: 
  • Matt Bland at PBS on 01539 731012 to borrow the radios or timers in the Lake District;
  • Geoff Briggs on 07743 021439 to borrow the radios in the Peak District;
  • Jim Trueman on 07769 263804 [email protected] for the Peak District tent;
  • Steve Wathall on [email protected] for the tent, marquee, clock or banners in the Lake District. 

Disciplinary

Race Organisers expect the general rules for racing, and also their own local requirements (such as out-of-bounds areas) to be observed.  Regrettably, from time to time, behaviour falls below this standard, and in that case the FRA can take disciplinary action against a runner.  The Race Organiser should notify the FRA Secretary, either directly or via the Race Organisers Incident Report form.  The incident will be investigated according to the Disciplinary code of practice (attached to the Disciplinary Review ToR).  The disciplinary action taken may include banning a runner from future races.

Bans currently in force

Disciplinary notice – Mike Duffy

Regrettably, an FRA disciplinary panel has banned Mr Mike Duffy from all FRA races until further notice, and for a minimum period of two years.

This follows an incident at a recent FRA event where Mr Duffy ran the race without an entry, including running through the finish funnel and lying to officials both at the start and finish of the race. This caused great confusion to the RO and timing provider.

The length of the ban in part reflects the potential consequences of these actions, which could have been extremely serious. This is especially true since one runner was unaccounted for at the end of this winter race whilst Mr Duffy was incorrectly counted amongst the finishers, leading to a significant delay in the missing runner's absence being noticed.

 The FRA would like to remind all our members and runners that any behaviour of this nature should be brought to the attention of the Race Organiser at the earliest opportunity, especially if there is a risk to safety.

 

Date Name Club Period End date (inclusive)

20-Feb-2022

Mike Duffy

Fell Devils

Indefinite

Indefinite

Safety Documentation for 2022

The full set of documents, including safety documentation, can be found on the Documents page.  Those most often used by Race Organisers are:-