FRA Junior Championships

For more information on Junior fell running, please see our FAQ page here.

For full details of the Junior Championship format, see below (here).

For the Junior Inter-Counties Fell Race, English Schools Championship and other Junior events, see below (here).

FRA English Junior Championships & Challenge

The FRA English Junior Fell Running Championship, or just "Junior Championship", is the National Championship for Juniors in fell running in England. The Championships are open to all Juniors, regardless of ability.

Championship points are scored from the best 3 results. Due to the Covid restrictions this year, we have have made the decision to take the 3 best results from the 4 available races. Hoppits will not be held unless there are further unforeseen changes to Government policy

2021 FRA Junior Championship Races

Championship points are scored from the best 4 results.

There will be six races as follows:

Date	Race	Link	Notes
27-03-21	Trawden	Cancelled
15-05-21	Guisborough Woods	Cancelled
29-05-21	West Nab	details
13-06-21	Up the Nab	details	Now hosting Inter Counties Championships.
10-07-21	Bradwell - Peak District	details
12-09-21	Ilam	details
Nov 21	Hoppits		Reserve race

Categories

The names of Junior categories (e.g. "Under-13") reflect the age of the runners at the end of the year.

For 2021, ages for all categories are therefore as at 31st December 2021.

Age categories (Boys and Girls)	Year of birth	Age of competitors	Maximum race distance
all based on age at 31st December 2021
Under 9's	2015, 2014, 2013	6 (from date of 6th birthday), 7 or 8	1 Km
Under 11's	2012, 2011	8, 9 or 10	2 Km
Under 13's	2010, 2009	10, 11 or 12	3 Km
Under 15's	2008, 2007	12, 13 or 14	5 Km
Under 17's	2006, 2005	14, 15 or 16	7 Km
Under 19's	2004, 2003	16, 17 or 18	10 Km

Please check www.felljunior.org.uk and the FRA Juniors Facebook page for updated information.

Other Junior events

Date	Event	Venue	Details
Date TBC	Junior Fell Running "Do"	Venue TBC	Details will be announced as and when this event is scheduled, COVID-permitting; see below for more information.
29-05-21	Junior Inter-Counties Fell Race	Up the Nab	Aligned with Championship race - see above for details of the race itself and below (here) for more information about the Inter-Counties competition, or see the dedicated Inter-Counties website.
26-09-21	English Schools Fell Running Championship	Sedbergh School	See the ESFRC home page (here) and the notes below (or click here) for more information.

Choice of Championship races

Some Championship races will inevitably clash with other sporting events and personal commitments. There is no expectation for athletes to complete all 4 races. The award to FRA members of a hoody for completing 4 races and for a tee-shirt for completing 3 races is intended to reward commitment, rather than performance.

Those athletes seeking opportunities to race at county and national level will be coached by their selectors to carefully choose which FRA Junior Championship races to enter (and not necessarily all of them). So, the following points should be noted:

1. Racing should be planned according to the season's target(s) and thinking about race frequency is important. For example, most of the athletes in the GB Mountain Running team will not do the whole British and/or English Champs fell race series.

2. There are always more races to choose from than it is optimal to do.

3. Athletes can choose 4 races to complete the FRA champs. series - they do not have to do all 6.

4. If athletes want to compete internationally (European Champs, Youth Cup, World Champs) they will need to consider whether completing the FRA Championship series fits into their programme or whether just doing 1 or 2 races would be better.

5. The race programme has been carefully selected to provide a variety of terrain, location and courses. Athletes will have various different strengths in each, so there is opportunity to focus on which course is likely to allow optimum performance tailored to each athlete.

6. If an athlete is selected to run for England or GB their selection is conditional upon agreeing a suitable racing programme with the selectors for the time period between the trial and the event.

7. All forms of sport at the junior level will find that the potential stars of the future will also have interests in other sporting activities and this should not be discouraged.

We look forward to seeing you on the fells and hope you enjoy the excitement of the championships as they unfold.

Please contact FRA Junior Co-ordinator Helene Whitaker by email (here) or via the FRA Juniors Facebook page with any suggestions for improvement or offers to host English Championship races in future.

Challenge (non-championship) Under-9 and Under-11 categories

Under-9 Boys & Girls (year of birth 2013 or later - must be at least 6 on day of race)

Under-11 Boys & Girls (year of birth 2011 or 2012)

There are no championship medals for the Challenge categories, but a commemorative T-Shirt to runners who finish 3 or more races in the series and a hoody to runners who finish 4 races, and in both cases are members of the FRA by the time of the last race.

Individual championship format

In all Championship age categories the first 49 runners score points.

Scoring for all races: 1st = 50 pts, 2nd = 48 pts, 3rd = 47 pts, 4th = 46 pts, etc, to 49th = 1 pt.

Points are based on the position as shown in the race results.

The best 3 results from the above 4 races will count towards the final positions. The winner will be the runner with the highest cumulative score. In the event of two athletes obtaining the same score that position will be shared, and if this is a medal position both runners will receive the same colour medal with the appropriate engraving.

If the age of any competitor is not known, they will not count in the Junior Championship. All competitors can only count in their respective age categories.

Vouchers will be awarded to the first three finishers of each Championship race

Team championship format

The 3 best individual scores by an England Athletics affiliated club in any Championship category at each race will count towards the club award. The winning club will be that with the highest cumulative score for all six races.

FRA Championship Awards

Perpetual trophies to first overall boy and girl in U13, U15, U17 and U19 age categories. A trophy will also be awarded to the winning club.

Championship medals to first 3 overall boys and girls in U13, U15, U17 and U19 age categories.

Commemorative championship T-Shirt to all competitors who finish 3 or more races and a hoody for all who finish 4 races and (in both cases) are members of the FRA by the time of the last race.

For further details on the Championship and Challenge statistics, including the points tables once the series are underway, please visit the FellJunior website.

Junior Inter-Counties Fell Race

The 2021 Junior Inter-Counties Fell Race will be Up the Nab. For details of the race itself, see top of page, and check www.felljunior.org.uk and the FRA Juniors Facebook page for updated information.

For details of the inter-county competition, see the dedicated Inter-Counties website.

For details of county reps, who can advise on matters such as whether a county team is to selected/sent, selection policy and who the manager is, please see the England Athletics page on Inter-County competition here.

Note: This year the Inter-Counties will include the U15 age group as well as U17 and U19.

FRA Junior "Do"

The Junior Championship Presentation will be at the “Junior Do”. The venue and date for this are not yet confirmed. Please check www.felljunior.org.uk and the FRA Juniors Facebook page for updated information.

English Schools Fell Running Championship (ESFRC)

Sponsored by Pete Bland Sports and Bridgedale Socks

The 2021 ESFRC will be hosted by Sedbergh School on Sunday 26th September 2021. Please check www.felljunior.org.uk and the FRA Juniors Facebook page for updated information.