Fell Running - Three Peaks founder back to start Saturday's race (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Fell Running - Three Peaks founder back to start Saturday's race

10:10am Thursday 28th April 2011 in Sport

A FELL runner who founded the Three Peaks Race in 1954 and won the first event which had only six competitors, is returning to Yorkshire this weekend to present one of the trophies.

Fred Bagley, 80, will be in the Dales on Saturday, to watch as a volley fired from shotguns sends nearly 1,000 entrants off to tackle what is being promoted as “the marathon with mountains”.

Mr Bagley, a retired aeronautical engineer and teacher, who lives on the Wirral, set a time of 3hrs 48mins for the inaugural race on April 24, 1954, which started at the Hill Inn, Chapel-le-Dale. Second was Stan Bradshaw, of Clayton-le-Moor Harriers, with his clubmate, Alf Casey, third.

Saturday’s race, which begins at Horton-in-Ribblesdale at 10am, gives runners a punishing 23-mile challenge over the summits of Penyghent, Whernside and Ingleborough – a total ascent of 5,279ft.

Andy Peace from Bingley Harriers, who established the record of 2hrs 46mins 3secs in 1996, is one of five former race winners and five women’s title holders on the entry list of 999 runners.

Former winners include Jethro Lennox, of Shettleston Harriers in Glasgow, who won in 2008 when the Three Peaks was chosen as a round of the World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge.

Back in 1954 the Three Peaks Race was inaugurated by Mr Bagley and another member of Preston Harriers, Malcolm Withnell, who was the race starter before climbing Whernside to act as time keeper on the summit.

He was one of only six race officials. On Saturday the Three Peaks will have 200 marshals, medical staff, timekeepers and radio operators.

Why did the race start at the Hill Inn? Mr Bagley said: “That was the traditional starting point for the Three Peaks walk. You had a drink at the Hill Inn and when you got back you were ready for another drink.”

Walkers have tried to set records for the Three Peaks since 1887, but the first known circuit by athletes was in the winter of 1948-49 when three Leeds climbers, Des Birch, Jack Bloor, who won the race in 1956, and Arthur Dolphin, completed the course in times ranging from 4hrs 27mins to 5hrs 20mins.

Asked why there were only six competitors in the 1954 race, Mr Bagley said: “This was presumably because it did not get much publicity and it was in the very early days of fell running. It is a big thing now, but in those days it was mainly just guides’ races in Lakeland.”

Today all that has changed and routes like the Three Peaks are very popular. “I went up last year just a few months before Christmas. I went to Horton and walked up Ingleborough from there and that is very easy to follow now - easier than it was back in 1954 going the other way.”

In 1955 Mr Bagley’s wife gave birth to twins – the first of their four children – and fell running had to give way to family commitments.

He also went to work in Libya: “I was a lecturer at a college of advanced technology – a UNESCO project to get the local Arabs trained up in technical subjects.”

Mr Bagley also worked on the prototype of the English Electric Lightning fighter at Warton, near Preston, and on the soon to be cancelled TSR-2 strike and reconnaissance aircraft.

When he returned to Britain in 1967 his experience got him a job at the College of Technology in Hull, teaching a course in aeronautics for students from Blackburn Aircraft at Brough.

Although he did some Karrimor Mountain Marathons and a Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon with his wife, it was only on a casual basis.

“I did not train for it.” He added: “Until 2003 I was still running most mornings. In latter years it has deteriorated into jogging, but I think I could out-sprint a lot of youngsters if I wanted. I don’t do it now because I had a heart operation in 2004 and I am a bit aware of my mortality.”

Mr Bagley is amazed that the Three Peaks has grown into such a big event.

“But of course the whole of fell running has become a big sport. I think I am right in saying that it is still largely an amateur sport. People are not in it for the money. They are in it for the fun.”

And what does he think about his role as the founder of the Three Peaks? “It is nice to be able to tell my grandchildren and my great grandchildren that I was the starter of it.”

The 2011 Three Peaks Race Three Peaks Race is supported by Welcome to Yorkshire. Its chief executive, Gary Verity, said: “We are proud to support events such as the Three Peaks Race which put Yorkshire on the map.

“As one of the oldest and most famous fell races in Britain, this incredible challenge is close to Yorkshire’s heart.

"This major event draws in runners and supporters from across the UK and really gives us a chance to showcase our stunning countryside and hopefully entice visitors to extend their stay and enjoy all we have to offer.”