Race Reports: Bakewell Pudding Race, Coal Aston Gala Chase and Black Rocks Fell Race 2026

Thanks to our chair Ryan Stocks for this trio of reports from a small selection of his recent spree of races. ​👍

Over the last few weeks, I’ve headed out for a crack at some basic trail/fell runs. For no more reason than to get a bit more experience and see how we fair over the technical stuff. It’s also great to go to some of these races whereby the entry fee goes back into the local community, charities or the hosting club.

​For events registered with the FRA (not all these were), the key is they are ‘break-even’ events or raise a modest amount for a good cause. 3 very different races in terms of starting elevation but all 3 were over similar terrain of grass, fields, trail and gravel. All 3 were really well organised races and honestly if you are looking to get involved with trail running all 3 are great entry level events.

Bakewell Pudding Race – Sunday 28th June

• Distance: 6.3 miles/817ft elevation
• Venue: Bakewell Recreation Ground (parking in centre but I used Justpark for a driveway)
• Fee: £9.00 which included a Bakewell Pudding at the finish

What started out as a lovely morning soon materialised into a rare downfall of rain whilst we were about to start the race. The irony was I’d ran back to the car minutes beforehand to grab the cap as the sun was blazing. As we stood on the start to embark of a short loop around the field the rain stopped and the sun came back out.

The first mile was building into the climb which we hit hard in mile 2. A solid climb meandering through the woods, just over 500ft for the first 2 miles, something I had to walk in places. Then came a nice bit of downhill across paths and fields before another steady climb which brought us into mile 4.

Then a bit of fun over the next 2 miles, a gradual decline firstly through the woods which was quite technical before a welcome bit of road where I could build up a bit of pace and picked off a couple of people. A jaunt through a camp site brought us back into Bakewell for mile 6 before the fun of a river crossing. It’s only a short, sharp dip which halfway across got slightly deeper (think going from ankle to knee deep quite quickly… we were warned).

It’s a great bit of the course where the spectators gather to encourage you through it. The scramble up the bank involves either using the rope or the arms of the marshals! Then a short sprint finish on the grass to bring us back to the finish funnel and collect your Bakewell Pudding. P39 out of 312.

​Felt I ran ok here with not knowing what to expect. Looking at the field it was quite a competitive one to be fair. Interesting with this race from looking at the finish results, 50 DNS! No photos of me from this race but the people before and after did. I‘m assuming I had my sweaty Sloth look on :D!

Coal Aston Gala Chase – Saturday 4th July

• Distance: 4.58 miles/597ft elevation
• Venue: Coal Aston Gala (free parking on the gala field)
• Fee: £9.00 (fabric goody bag at the finish with green tea bag, energy gel, nutrition bar and crisps).

This was the one with a LOT of free cake at the finish! In contrast to the Bakewell Pudding Race this one had a fast and furious downhill start after a short lap around a field which took us into the first climb. This was only a short, sharp climb but enough to bring a lot of us to a walk. It was at this point I regretted going hard at Wollaton Parkrun earlier in the day.

I was ‘encouraged’ along by a Hillsborough runner for which I was very grateful. After a glorious downhill on trail and some meandering through the woods we hit a water feature (not even ankle deep but still…) before embarking on a couple of cheeky climbs. They weren’t steep but you certainly felt them in the legs.

The last mile or so was a dash through a very overgrown field and although we could see the finish line to our left, I couldn’t help but feel there was going to be some kick of a hill that I hadn’t accounted for and I’d gone for home too soon.

​Thankfully not, after hitting a flat path the finish area appeared and after a short grass sprint we were done and could indulge in the free cake. P7 and 3rd in age category. Given I'd ran a hard parkrun in the morning I'll take that. The event is held at the village gala so after I had a stroll around the fair where there were various games, food and gift stalls and charity stalls. All the locals were out to watch the race as well which was great to see, a real community event.

Black Rocks Fell Race – Wednesday 8th July

• Distance – 6.44 miles/837ft elevation
• Venue – Matlock Rugby Club (free parking on site if early enough)
• Fee: £6.50

Matlock host a lot of races throughout the year, all really well organised including this one. Fellow Kad Chris Anthony mentioned this one to me and I couldn’t let him go alone with him being new to the club :P! It was a baking hot Wednesday evening, literally no shade at the start.

We had a quick 1 mile warm up to have a chat about all things running and discuss the course. The start is the same as the BDL they host around here, just under 1.5 mile of flat along the canal. And then you hit Cromford junction. We all know what this is just a long, horrible climb. In a slight variation to the BDL about 2/3 of the way up we branch off to the left and continue through the woods which takes away the monotony of the junction.

It was on Cromford Junction Chris came cantering past me looking very comfortable with uphill running. Eventually you pop back out onto the main path which forms part of the BDL and Parkun route. We head down towards the Black Rock car park before encountering the scramble up Black Rock. I’ve done this part of the course many times on trail run and never been able to run it.

And nothing changed at this event. With the heat blazing a couple of us resorted to walking up, but not Chris. Again, he came cantering past with a strong uphill run which he maintained all the way to the trig point. The route to the trig point is undulating, across various rocky terrain but it’s such a fun bit of the route. And once I had rounded the trig point (not before giving it a kiss) you knew it was all down hill from here.

And what a great down hill it is, meandering through the long grass, various tracks and through the woods before joining back onto the junction. Back on familiar terrain now, the last time I did this was ‘Down in a shot’ whereby I completely capitulated at the bottom. This time wasn’t much different but it was following the usual BDL route with 1.5 mile of canal back to the finish which is a real slog.

​P17, 5th in age category. Given this was the day after Carsington BDL I was content with that one. Chris came back in 21st place, 4th in age category.

All in all, I would highly recommend all 3 of these races to Kads members. All 3 are really well organised, well marshalled so you won’t get lost and you don’t need any extra kit for them other than trail trainers (admittedly you probably could get away with road shoes but I wouldn’t recommend it). There is nothing overly technical in any of these 3 events regarding climbing or descending that you won’t have done on a club run or a XC league race.