Ian Roberts Memorial Fell Race

This race is a 6.5 mile fell race on boggy, rough moorland on the edge of the Pennines. Be prepared for the weather - whatever time of the year it is!!

Ian Roberts Memorial Fell Race (BM) 2026

Date

Sunday March 15th 2026, 11am

Registration

Minimum age - 18 years old (on day of race)

Marsden Cricket Club (HD7 6NN) - from 09:30 am.

Race start is about 10 minutes walk from registration.

As we found in previous years, there is always a possibility of wintry conditions prevailing, so please come prepared to carry full FRA kit. The kit requirements on the day will be posted in the Cricket Club and must be adhered to.

Please note:

We have been asked by the cricket club committee to remind all runners to try & keep the clubhouse as clean as possible. Please ensure that after the race you take off any muddy, wet shoes and do not clean your shoes or socks in the sinks in the toilets. Failure to respect the cricket club’s facilities may jeopardise future races.

Partly-flagged route

Course map below

Ian Roberts 2026 – race route description:

• Straight along the track to road crossing (1)
• Flagged tussocky trod, then gently uphill to reach the catchwater; along catchwater to junction (2)
• This time continue along catchwater to a boggy area beneath Swellands dam. Up to footbridge (3) and along a decent trod to another footbridge at Black Moss (4)
• Join Pennine Way path here and follow it to junction with Standedge Trail (5)
• Follow Standedge Trail eastwards to junction with a narrow path by a catchwater (6)
• Turn off left along catchwater to reach road (7)
• Left on the road briefly, then straight up Pule Hill (8); good path gently downhill above edge and quarries
• At (9) a path comes up an incline to the left, but instead head right (east) on another of those tussocky trods (something of a local speciality). Eventually re-join the main track at the old quarry workings near the start
• Same as outwards route along track, across the road (10). Follow outwards route up to the catchwater. At the junction (11) follow flags down and leftwards on occasional sheeptrods, becoming more tussocky lower down
• Cross stream in the bottom of Butterly Clough (12) and go up to cross a fence (care with the stile) and reach a stone wall. Follow walls to join a good path (13) which zig-zags down to again cross the Butterly Clough stream lower down. Please note that the footbridge at the bottom has been removed by Yorkshire Water on safety grounds, so please cross where indicated. You WILL get your feet wet! Short sharp uphill to the wall corner and then follow a narrow path along a fence before reaching the finish just before the cricket ground.