Fifty years of Three Peaks racing
The famous Ron Hill at Ribblehead
As part of our build-up to that classic of classics, the Three Peaks, we look forward to Saturday by first of all looking back. This article first appeared on MST a couple of years ago, and is a race history from 1954 – 2004…
You cannot fail to be moved by this heart-warming story of fell racing across the decades as it logs legend after legend amongst the Three Peaks roll-call. So, go and make a nice cup of tea, sit in your favourite chair, put your feet up and enjoy…
(With kind permission of David Hodgson www.threepeaksrace.org.uk)
Fifty Years of Three Peaks Racing
Bill Smith
The 50th Three Peaks Race should have been held last year but because the 2001 event was cancelled due to the Foot and Mouth outbreak, this year’s race marks its Golden Anniversary. Yet the challenge of traversing the summits of Penyghent, Whernside and Ingleborough goes back much further than 1954, for like several other fell race routes, this one originated as a walk, the earliest recorded attempt dating back to 1887.
However, the first known circuits undertaken by athletes, as distinct from walkers, were not made until the winter of 1948/49 when three Leeds climbers, Des Birch, Jack Bloor (race winner in 1956 – certificate on centre page) and Arthur Dolphin, who were also members of Harehills Harriers, completed the course in times varying from 4hrs 27mins to 5hrs 20mins.
The man responsible for inaugurating the Three Peaks Race was a Lancastrian, Fred Bagley of Preston Harriers, a keen fellwalker and competitor in the Lake District Mountain Trial. Whilst the event now has a 600 entry limit, a ceiling which has risen steadily over the years, there were only six runners in that first race, all of them Lancastrians, of whom three completed the course.
The date was Sunday April 24th 1954 and the race began outside the Hill Inn at Chapel-Le-Dale, though the start was later moved to the field behind the Inn. Bagley took 26 min 30 sec to reach the mist shrouded summit of Ingleborough but then headed too far south, hotly pursued by his rivals, before eventually getting back on course at Sulber Nick.
The route from Horton to Penyghent then took a more direct line over the intakes and up the fell’s steep south western flank, between the crags. Stan Bradshaw of Clayton–Le- Moors Harriers attained the summit in second place and eventually caught up with Bagley at High Birkwith, though they took different routes beyond Nether Lodge, Bagley taking the road whilst Bradshaw kept to the fields.
Bagley arrived first at Ribblehead after 2.5 hours running but then struck a bad patch on the steep ascent of Whernside, reached via Winterscales Farm. This did not deter him, however, and his triumphant return to the Hill Inn was accomplished with a time of 3hrs 48 mins, Bradshaw taking second place in 4hrs 06mins after descending from Whernside too early and emerging into rough boulder fields, whilst his Clayton clubmate Alf Case finished 3rd in 5hrs 12mins.
The latter pair were to become closely associated with the event for many years, Bradshaw completing 24 races and afterwards serving as a course marshal until his late eighties and then continuing to attend as a spectator. Case became involved in the organisational side in 1956 and served as Secretary of the Three Peaks Race Association from its inauguration in 1964 until the 21st race in 1974, after which Doug Croft gave sterling service in this post for the next 25 years, afterwards becoming a Life President.
Preston Harriers again promoted the 1955 race but the next eight events were organised by Clayton-Le-Moors Harriers, one of whose members, George Brass, set new records in both 1955 (3:28:45) and 1958 (3:08:25), whilst Jack Bloor (Leeds Harehills), who had helped to pioneer the route as a run in 1948/49 triumphed in 1956. Brass went on to win the 1961 and 1962 Mountain Trials, being the only competitor to finish in the severely inclement conditions of the latter year.
The 1959 winner Frank Dawson (Salford) who hailed from Ambleside, created a Three Peaks landmark the following year by becoming the first man to complete the course inside 3 hours, clocking 2:58:33 after a well paced run in which he progressed from 5th on Penyghent to make up a 4 minute deficit.
The start from Hill Inn, early 1960's
Runner up on this occasion was Dave Hodgson (then with Leeds St Marks but now of Fellandale), a position he was to achieve thrice more, whilst 4th man home was Geoff Garnett (Bingley), who once finished 2nd in the Pikes Peak Marathon in Colorado and has since maintained a close relationship with the Three Peaks Race, both as competitor and marshal.
Hodgson too has provided invaluable service to this event right up to the present, along with his wife Shirley, and after serving as Chairman for 15 years, is now a Life Vice President. Amongst his other athletic achievements were two victories each in two other hoary Yorkshire fell races, Harden Moss and Burnsall, between 1954 and 1960.
Dawson’s record stood for four years before it was broken by Peter Hall (Barrow) who had led over the first two peaks and then overtaken Dave Hodgson on the descent from Whernside. Hall was one of the best fell runners of the 1960s and also excelled on road, track and country.
1969 witnessed the closest finish yet between two more great all-rounders, Colin Robinson(Rochdale) and Jeff Norman (Altrincham), the former prevailing by 13 seconds with a time of 2:44:44. Norman, who seven years later became our fastest marathon runner at the Montreal Olympics, now embarked on an as yet unbeaten run of six straight wins which included four new records, the fastest being 2:29:53 in the bad conditions of 1974.
Jeff Norman at Ribblehead
With the steadily-rising number of competitors and supporters, the Hill Inn venue was now deemed too small to cope and the start/finish was therefore moved to Horton-in- Ribblesdale. The Pennine Way route was followed to Penyghent and Norman set a new mark of 2:41;37 for the revised course.
The rain, wind and mist of the 1978 race resulted in Ted Pepper (Blackheath), a newcomer to fell racing, dying from exposure after going astray coming off Ingleborough and safety measures were increased following this tragic incident. Three-times runner-up Harry Walker (Blackburn) achieved the first of his three victories that year and it is worth noting that his son, Dave Walker (Clayton), won last year’s race.
In 1980, Mike Short (Horwich), became engaged in a thrilling duel with Colin Donnelly (Aberdeen University) which climaxed with Donnelly leading up the last little climb of the Beecroft pastures, only to be caught at the top by the Lancashire lad who then stormed down into the Horton sportsfield to win by 5 seconds in 2:43:32.
John Wild (RAF Cosford)an Inter-Counties cross-country champion and Commonwealth Games steeplechase finalist,set a new record of 2:37:30 for the Horton course in the perfect conditions of 1982, though with the Sell Gill diversion being introduced the following year, the new mark of 2:53:34 was established by the reinstated ex-guides racer, Kenny Stuart (Keswick).
Runner-up on the latter occasion was Hugh Symonds (Kendal) who seven years later was to complete an epic run over all the 3,000foot summits of Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland, 303 in all, in 97 days. Symonds won the next two Three Peaks Races in recordbreaking times of 2:50:34 and 2:49:13 respectively and achieved his third record of 3:00:01 in 1987 following the introduction of yet another diversion beyond Ribblehead the previous year.
1988 saw the first victory by a Yorkshireman since Jack Bloor’s 32 years earlier and the man responsible, Ian Ferguson (Bingley) also lowered Symonds’ record to 2:57:29 on a fine day. Shaun Livesey (Rossendale) bettered this time by nearly 6 minutes with his second win the following year, though Ferguson was to notch up two more victories in 1991 and ’92, setting another new record of 2:51:41 on the former occasion, with another Yorkshireman, Gary Devine (Pudsey & Bramley) having triumphed in 1990.
The narrowest victory yet was achieved in 1993 by the Thirlmere shepherd, Gavin Bland (Borrowdale), over another Cumbrian athlete, Mark Roberts (Kendal), on a rainy day which saw both Sell Gill and particularly Little Dale Beck below Whernside running high, with a number of competitors requiring treatment for mild exposure. Mark Croasdale (Lancaster & Morecambe) had actually held a 5 minute lead on Ingleborough but had then faded to eventually finish 4th, though he was to later redeem himself by winning the 1999 race.
Current record-holder, Bingley's Andy Peace
Meanwhile, the strongly-running Bland had surged into the lead to finally pip Roberts by only 4 seconds with a time of 3:05:17. The next three races witnessed the first true hat-trick of victories by a Yorkshireman, Andy Peace (Bingley), who also holds the distinction of being the only athlete to achieve the unique “double” of winning both the Three Peaks fell and cyclo-cross races – not once but twice: 1995/1996. In his last victory, the day after he’d competed in the National Road Relays, he set the current record of 2:.46:03.
Another Bingley Harrier, Ian Holmes, the outstanding fell champion of recent years, triumphed in 1997, with Mark Roberts (now representing Borrowdale) prevailing over Mark Horrocks (Clayton) by the narrow margin of 11 seconds in the gruelling conditions of the following year. A very warm day in 2000 saw another Borrowdale runner, Simon Booth, defeating Ian Holmes by over a minute, the same man besting his club mate Andrew
The first ladies’ race over the Three Peaks course took place in 1979 when Jean Lochhead (Airedale and Spen Valley) track, cross country and cycling international defeated an 11 strong field with a time of 3:.43:.12, which was subsequently lowered to 3:35:34 a year later by her clubmate, Sue Parkin, a champion orienteer.
Amongst the other competitors in these races were some who had helped to pioneer women’s fell racing on a regular basis during the preceding years, including Joan Glass (Eryri) who was 3rd in both events, Anne-Marie Grindley (Clayton) who was to place 2nd in 1981, 1979 runner-up Bridget Hogge (Eryri) and cross-country international Brenda Robinson (Bury & Radcliffe), wife of the 1969 Three Peaks winner, Colin Robinson, who came 4th in that first ladies’ race.
A new mark of 4:08:01 to allow for the Sell Gill diversion was jointly established in 1983 by Wendy Dodds (Clayton), an outstanding long-distance mountain runner, and Carol Walkington (Horwich), who again emerged triumphant three years later.
Jean Rawlinson, Katy Thompson & Wendy Dodds
Another Clayton Harrier, Vanessa Brindle (now married to clubmate Tony Peacock) began her run of four victories in five years in 1985, with a new record of 3:38:10. She then set a new mark of 3:44:05 for the Ribblehead diversion route two years later and successively lowered it over the next two years to 3:32:43 in 1989.
This record was decisively shattered by Olympic marathon runner Sarah Rowell (Leeds) in her 1991 debut race, clocking 3:16:29 in misty conditions with heavy going underfoot which caused times in general to be 10 minutes slower. She reduced this mark even further to 3:16:17 in her fourth victory five years later, when she finished 20th overall in good conditions.
Another outstanding athlete, Bingley’s Carol Greenwood (nee Haigh), achieved three wins between 1993 and 1998, experiencing a severe ducking in the rampaging waters of Little Dale Beck on the first occasion, while in 1999 Sarah Rowell was outpaced by 7 minutes by another great champion, Angela Mudge (Carnethy), who became the second-fastest lady with 3:20:17, gaining her 11th position overall.
It is of interest to note that Three Peaks Race winners have included twelve male and six lady English or British champions – including Ian Holmes the current English champion – three also having been World Mountain Running Champions (Stuart, Greenwood and Mudge). Though no junior race is now held in conjunction with the event, each of the summits has in the past served as the turning point for junior courses, Ingleborough having been ascended from both the Hill Inn and Horton.
In conclusion, it should be mentioned that the Three Peaks Race has been at the forefront of fell race organisation systems, with the safety of competitors always being given high priority.
