The Three Peaks Race is a fell race held annually on the last weekend in April, starting and finishing in

Horton in Ribblesdale Horton in Ribblesdale is a small village and civil parish in Ribblesdale in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the Settle–Carlisle Railway to the west of Pen-y-ghent. The parish extends from Helwith Bridge, south ...

. The course traverses the

Yorkshire Three Peaks The mountains of Whernside (), Ingleborough () and Pen-y-ghent () are collectively known as the Three Peaks. The peaks, which form part of the Pennines, Pennine range, encircle the head of the valley of the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales ...

. The present distance is about . The first known circuits undertaken by athletes, as distinct from walkers, were not made until the winter of 1948/49. Three Leeds climbers, Des Birch, Jack Bloor and Arthur Dolphin, who were also members of Harehills Harriers, completed the course in times varying from 4:27 to 5:20, with Des Birch setting the first record at 4:27. The first race was organised by Preston Harriers and took place in 1954 and it was thought that there was a good chance of Des Birch's time being beaten. The conditions for the race were reasonably good but with a strong easterly wind making it feel cold. The start was at the Hill Inn,

Chapel-le-Dale Chapel-le-Dale is a hamlet in the civil parish of Ingleton, North Yorkshire, England. It is in the Yorkshire Dales National Park in a valley of the same name, and was previously in the West Riding of Yorkshire. History The hamlet is situated ...

, with six runners taking part.

Ingleborough Ingleborough () is the List of peaks in the Yorkshire Dales, second-highest mountain in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is one of the Yorkshire Three Peaks (the other two being Whernside and Pen-y-ghent), and is frequently climbed as part of ...

was climbed first, where the competitors were bunched together after 27 minutes, followed by

Pen-y-ghent Pen-y-ghent or Penyghent is a fell in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is the lowest of Yorkshire's Three Peaks at ; the other two being Ingleborough and Whernside. It lies east of Horton in Ribblesdale. It has a number of interesting geolo ...

which was reached by the leader Fred Bagley in 1:48, one minute ahead of Stan Bradshaw. At the summit of the final peak,

Whernside Whernside is a mountain in the Yorkshire Dales in Northern England. It is the highest of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, the other two being Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent. It is the highest point in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire Mickle F ...

, Bagley's time of 3:28 gave him a lead of 12 minutes over Bradshaw, and the former returned to the Hill Inn with a total time of 3:48. Bradshaw finished in 4:06 and the third finisher was Alf Case in 5:02. From 1964 onwards, the event was organised by the Three Peaks Race Association and in 1975 the race venue was transferred from Chapel-le-Dale to

. The shortest time for completion of any version of the race is 2:29:53 seconds, set by Jeff Norman in 1974. However, the route has changed multiple times since then, with alterations leading to a longer or a more difficult course being made in 1975, 1983 and 1987. In 1981 the race was postponed due to heavy snowfall and took place in October. The 2001 edition was cancelled due to an outbreak of

foot-and-mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious disease, infectious and sometimes fatal virus (biology), viral disease that primarily affects even-toed ungulates, including domestic and wild Bovidae, bovids. The vir ...

. The 2020 race was cancelled and the 2021 edition postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The 5th World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge was incorporated into the 2008 race.Hughes, Danny (2008-04-27)
Pichrtova, Lennox take Three Peaks title – WMRA World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

. Retrieved on 2011-06-23. A women's race has been run since 1979.

Winners

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.threepeaksrace.org.uk/
Three Peaks Race at ''arrs.run''
Fell running competitions Athletics competitions in England Sports competitions in Yorkshire Yorkshire Three Peaks