A LAKE District fell running club has banned the use of GPS systems as a navigational aid in races it is responsible for organising.

A statement from Ambleside AC, which organises the Fairfield Horseshoe, Great Lakes and Three Shires races among others, has said such devises are no longer allowed to help runners complete races.

“The quality of GPS-enabled devices has improved to such an extent that it is now possible to navigate a route ‘on sight’ without ever deviating more than a few metres and, crucially, without any ability to read a map or compass,” said the club in a statement.

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“Ambleside AC believe that the ability to navigate using a map and compass is central part of the sport of fell running.

“We feel strongly that this element must be retained and that fell runners should possess not only a map and compass, but the ability to use them.

“For this reason, it has been decided that all Ambleside AC races will now impose a total ban on the use of GPS-enabled devices for navigation.

“This applies to all devices including handheld GPS devices, GPS watches and mobile phones.”

Ben Abdelnoor, chairman of the club, stressed the decision had been made only to ban devices being used for navigation.

Runners will still be able to carry them for logging their own runs, just not for directional assistance.

He also said it had been made with the backing of the Fell Running Association, other organisers and key figures including the legendary fell runner Joss Naylor.

“Fell running is, and always has been, about running on the fells and using your mountain craft skills, and that’s what we are try to protect.

“We will readily admit it will be quite a difficult rule to police.

“However, fell runners are an honest bunch and I’ve had enough people tell me they would wave the flag if someone was seen using GPS.

“But when a club implements a rule, with the backing of the FRA, you expect people to abide by that.”

Nick Owen, team leader of the Langdale and Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team, said he could foresee no problem with the club’s decision.

“I do think anybody taking in any activity on the fells should be able to navigate properly,” he said.

“That includes the old-school methods because sometimes technology does fail.”

He added that it made ‘perfect sense’ to allow competitors to still carry GPS-enabled devices in the rare cases of emergency.

“One of the biggest challenges with any rescue is where the casualty is,” he said.

“So it makes sense if people can quickly identify where they are because that is crucial, and one way to do that is with electronic devices.

“But I do not see any danger in what they have done because people can still carry things to identify where they are if they do get into any sort of trouble.”

The rule came into effect for Saturday’s Fairfield Horseshoe – a nine-mile starting from Rydal Hall.

The race was won by Helm Hill Runners’ Joshua Jardine, who completed the route in 01:21:29 to beat teammate Rob Jebb to the top of the podium.

Keswick’s Sam Stead was third was Peter Bray while the first Ambleside AC runner to finish as came in fifth position with a time of 01:25:10.

It was a Helm Hill runner who finished as the fastest lady as well, with Sharon Taylor taking the honours following a 01:41:00 run.

Keswick’s Jenn Mattinson was second fastest but more than seven minutes behind Taylor.

Ambleside’s Alice Fellbaum was 33rd.