Nathanael – Results Report:
Macclesfield Harriers were proudly represented by 5 teams at the British Fell Relay Championships, this year held near Dolgellau in southern Snowdonia. That’s the most Harriers teams since the ‘home fixture’ at Ladybower in 2019. Thanks go to Mark Burley and Egg Cameron for rallying the troops.
All Macc teams gave a good account of themselves against the crème de la crème of fell-running from the Lakes, Peaks, Yorkshire and Scotland. The relay consists of 4 legs: a short solo leg (this year only 4km but with a hands-on-knees 500m ascent), a long pairs leg (11km, 800m climb), a long pairs navigation leg (10km, 700m climb) and finishing with an even shorter and steeper solo leg (3.5km, 500m climb). With 189 teams competing, there were over 1,000 runners in attendance – a true celebration of fell-running.
New mother Hannah Hicks ably led off for the women’s open team, while clubmates entertained 8-month-old Poppy. New club members and BFR debutants Alicia Roberts and Jenna Williams put in one of the performances of the day to finish 9th ladies pair on leg 2. Fiona Blagg and Helen Saunders navigated around the rough terrain of leg 3 and returned unscathed. The relay was completed by late transfer from the vets team, Egg Cameron, who had a storming run finishing 13th in her category. Overall, the team finished 17th out of 59 women’s teams.
The men’s open team was led off by new father Billy Hicks who proved that sleepless nights haven’t negatively affected his running speed. Leg 2 featured Nathanael Booker and new club-member Ollie Smyth who soldiered on after turning his ankle early in the leg. The navigation leg saw no repeat of last year’s disqualification drama, with Mark Burley and Allen Bunyan getting round in an impressive 1h06 for 14th place overall. For Mark, this was merely a warm-up for a 2h41 marathon PB the next day! The relay was completed by Joe Pickard in a blazing-quick 31 minutes for 10th place overall on leg 4. The team finished 25th overall.
The women’s vet 40 team included 3 BFR debutants and they all put in a solid performance. Karen Heppenstall took 9th place in the category on leg 1 and there were similar performances from Gabby de Geyt and Rachel Munday on leg 2 and Rachael Lawrance and Kelly Buckley on the nav leg who successfully made it back before the leg 4 mass start. Their race was completed by fell-racing enthusiast Kathleen O’Donnell who documented her leg with (at least) 6 photographs and recounts her experience below. The team finished in 11th place in their category.
The men’s vet 40 team had a blend of experience and newcomers with another 3 BFR debutants. Stalwart Chris Bentley got them off to a great start on leg 1 with 10th place in their category. This was followed by good runs from Andy Beavers and cyclist turned fell-runner Matt Lawton on leg 2. Jon Hopper and Ben Crossley tackled the nav leg with Ben having a painful finish with a twisted ankle. Newcomer Josh Hewitt ran leg 4 and shares his experience of the day below. The team finished 17th in their category.
Last but not least, Macc Harriers fielded a men’s vet 50 team at the British Fell Relays for the first time since 2021. The good performances began with another cyclist turned fell-runner, Rob Maxwell, on leg 1. Next up were Gareth Briggs and Darren Dunn who have competed for other clubs at the fell relays in the past but are now an asset to Macc Harriers with an impressive run for 5th place in their category on leg 2. The nav leg was ably completed by Steve Lomas (continuing his fell-racing renaissance) and all-rounder James Noakes. Lastly, V60 orienteer Mike Greenwood came out of fell-racing retirement to run up an age category, holding his own with a 50-minute final leg. The team came 8th in their category.
LINK TO FULL SET OF BRITISH FELL RELAY RESULTS 2025
Below: Josh Hewitt and Kathleen O’Donnell share their experience of the day.
Josh – Leg 4:
Where to start and where to finish, finish certainly being the thing I was l looking forward to.
It’s 5:40am, everyone is still in bed, however I’m up and already faffing around. Next thing I know it’s 8am, I’m still not ready and my chaperone to Wales has arrived (sorry Ben ).
Fast track a couple of hours talking about running, obviously we don’t have anything else to talk about, we arrive in the errie Eryri at the bottom of what looks like a fairly sized mountain. Meh, I’ve seen bigger than this, what is there to worry about…….
As we approach the camp setup, it’s comforting to see familiar faces, but also the faces of those that you have seen in Fellrunner numerous times, which by now the realisation for what I have signed up for is more than apparent. The next 4-5hrs can only be described as the kind of emotions you go through before a night out on the juice mixed with the morning of getting married. For someone who doesn’t deal very well with nerves and suffers from OCD, my head is needless to say in pieces. The plus side is I’ve found out it’s not 4.5 miles on my leg, just a mere 2 miles, bonus! Although looking at what is above me is a concern.
More faffing around, borrowing a compass and someone else’s bumbag, contemplating on what to eat, mithering Chris when I need to go to ‘the pen’ and more toilet visits than I can count. It’s time for the main course.
‘The pen’ for those that don’t know what it is, is the place us animals are held until we’re released into the wild mountains by our fellow leg runners. A few jogs around in an attempt to warm-up, Andy is calling me and informs me Jon and Ben are on their way in. A swift chucking on my coat at Andy, Jon appears with his hand out for the infamous high-five, but is shouting something else at me. A few ‘what’s’ later I’ve managed to decipher what Jon is saying, ‘slingshot’! Slingshot, what on earth is he on about……my brain kicks in, hand in the air and I’m catapulted into action. Off we go, easy myself in, 5mins in, oh dear.
Now when people describe some mountains as steep, they usually mean it’s a slow and long walk that may take some time. What loomed ahead was not this, try not far off a vertical, rough and un-trod climb. People had mentioned before something about climbing on all fours, what on earth were they talking about……oh yes, the penny has dropped. You try not to look behind to see how others are coping with this folly, I highly recommend not doing this. For someone who has only being running 3yrs, 1.5yrs of those in fell, means I unfortunately do not have the type of engine required to deal with this relentless task, which meant that what left my mouth was few words; ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’ and ‘wtf I am doing’. 1 mile of 1400ft in elevation ensued, kill me now.
At the top the amazing Marshals great me with “well done’s” and “are you ok”. Do I look ok, I think not. ‘You’re 2/3’s of the way up’, I look to my right, of course there’s another climb and off we go again. At this point I know the end is insight, when I say end I mean top of this climb, so it’s one last push. A few more ‘hello’s’ and ‘goodbye’s, another 300ft just for the lols, at last we’re there, praised with some flat. But of course, the whole point of this leg is up and down, which meant about 1min of flat, before I’m told to continue following the flags off the top. Off the top is exactly what this is, hello descent, goodbye legs.
1 mile down of steep, grassy and insanely steep descending. If you’re a good descender this the kind of thing you would love, I am not a good at descending. A few slips (standard for me), attempted bum sliding, more swearing and wishing the photographer would kindly point his camera away from the angry fell runner, I eventually reach the bottom. 3mins to the finish a Marshall tells me, nearly there. It’s a typical sprint finish trying to look like I know what I’m doing and thinking a few seconds off my finish time will make a difference. I attempt to catch my breath and hear a voice cursing me in my head, it’s those quads again asking my why I do this, but it’s all over now.
It’s hard to explain what it feels like after you finish racing something like this, but only those who do this crazy sport will know. The following hour consists of a packed out pork and stuffing roll, and various different cakes, now I remember one of the reasons I do this.
The camaraderie, sense of belonging and joy you get from fell running is hard to beat. We’re all here for the same reason, a day out to brutalise ourselves and then reap in the euphoria that follows. If you don’t run in the fells, get yourself out there, as what comes next is the thing many people strive for in life.
The following day I’m still buzzing and enjoying time with the people that matter at home. Who needs anything else in life; family, health and fell running, it’s as simple as that.
Kathleen – Leg 4:
Embarking:
A big thanks to Egg and Mark for organising this sprightly meeting of Soles – Egg ran some brilliant hill sessions up and down Teggs and Mark ran a 45 min Monday night time trial from the Trentabank car park to Shuts. They organised, motivated and tweaked – taking us to our peak.
We started with a peaceful, Saturday morning journey thanks to Rachael L, along with Kelly and Rachel M. People were already remarking how they didn’t want to let the team down and looking at the company of all of our runners today, I knew that they and the gravity of the situation afoot would only be bringing us further and further up.
Time for a short call of nature sojourn along with a coffee pick up – it is nice to know many harriers refreshment choices these days . There was a slight air of concern simmering with our car containing (among numerous other necessities) the registration forms for our team and Karen, our Leg 1 runner, already in situ, was waiting patiently at our tent. With mounting concern, the parking area wasn’t immediately apparent upon arrival in the beautiful, wild Welsh hills. Therefore, on arrival in the bustling field, Rachel M was sent off at a canter to deliver the needful.
First sighting of the land…
From the Crow’s nest, the field was a buzzing hive of canvas, all manner of receptacles and purposeful looking people warming up for leg one. The portaloo queue lengthened in line with the refreshments consumed en route.
We found our tent and it was lovely to see Hannah and Billy both ready to run, with Poppy regarding the proceedings with a mild, quizzical air. This doesn’t look like park run.
We didn’t have a clear view of the departure so cast our eyes to the surrounding hills instead. Soon a line of winding toy soldiers was seen – the front of the parade looking like they had indeed been wound up and pointed upwards. Maybe they’d gone for a 3 shot macchiato.
There was time for a quick perusal of the tent before our runners came in, to find the optimum spot to decant numerous packs, shoes, snacks ranging from home baked brownie to marmite crisps. Everyone found such a spot and therein made the deposit. Hannah and Billy flew past and we managed to capture a perfect mantel piece shot of Poppy cheering in the foreground – a finishing funnel is a finishing funnel wherever you are.
All leg 1 runners now returned and it was nice to hear the accounts –‘horrible’ was a slight theme, with brutal ascents and descents becoming a strong feature, just like the tall, brownie coloured, craggy protrusion to our right.
Peace of cake amid the hustle and bustle:
After this point, there were various comings and goings of different people arriving, trussing themselves up for action or laying down their muddy trowels. Even though I had a very clear, coloured Mark Burley schedule on my phone which I consulted regularly, it was difficult to understand who was doing what, when and with whom.
There was more discussion around the ranks of not wanting to let the team down and I was able to say that I had heard now 5 other people saying this so we were all feeling the same and all we would do was to bring the team up and by God we did.
It was lovely to see Nathanael and Fiona amusing Ellie and Rowan with all manner of accoutrements with a favourite being a rocket performing precise landings on tents and thickets – I wanted to be the rocket later on, executing stylish landings with my polished mudclaws on tussock and bracken alike. Seeing the parents and offspring reminded me of Barbara Murray and Raph’s story of their handing over 3 excited children like batons between their legs of the transpennine relay.
Rob, Karen, Chris and I went off to enjoy luncheon in the dining tent – discussing the jobs firmly executed or those at foot, over turkey and pork baps and curry. There was a buzz of happy achievement in the room and it was nice that our table included our compadres from the Goyt Valley Striders. Far from home, but never alone.
Into the Pen:
It was very exciting to be able to cheer many of our team mates in along the finishing gulley – there was one thread throughout of elated faces, so proud of their achievements and with a full shot of endorphins carrying them past their proud, cheering clubs.
Joe Pickard had now left for his Leg 4 and people were musing about when we might see him coming back down again – no one dared to leave the viewing gallery as it wouldn’t be long –we thought that we saw him and someone said the person wasn’t going quick enough to be Joe – it then was him, which gave us comfort that it was indeed a brutal descent for one and all – he did look like a flying gazelle – I decided to emulate that stride exactly to look the same.
The pen was bustling with excited people jumping around to keep warm in the heady Welsh gusts. Kelly and Rachael proudly sprinted in, what a brilliant duo of orienteering panache.
Flying like a flapping hen:
I ran off in a veritable tizzy as although I’d been expecting them, it was all too much at once– on to an immediate assault of an ascent – all fours, tussling gracefully with the tussocks. I love steep ascents so was really enjoying it and loved looking down to see the dappled tents like coloured Himalayan prayer flags. A kind marshal at the top I also recall saying the same as Josh appreciated, 2/3 of the climbing now done! He must have said this nigh on 970 times now but still shouted it with the utmost gusto. The gusts themselves now picked up – so invigorating and exciting to see, hear and feel all of us having a go – a kind gent from Helsby pointed out my lace was undone – something I definitely wouldn’t have noticed and would have prevented the gazelle look entirely.
On to the top and I also remember exactly like Josh the 2 other kind marshals shouting well done and just carry on to the white flag and then right. Rather than a gazelle, I now felt like a stumbling moose, a gooseberried fool but an elated one and so I crabbed it down the crags, while someone slid past me in a deliberate manner – I wanted to be more slay than that.
The white flag came more quickly than I expected – life in the old deer yet – the finishing funnel really was elating – what a delight to be able to ‘sprint’ past all of the other team mates proudly looking out for their finisher – it didn’t matter whether, like Gaby, you crossed with a shoe in your hand, or like Ben with a freshly swollen ankle, you crossed that line by God, like all the other proud runners today – the same message relayed in all batons – oh harriers, you raise me up, to more than I can flee .
