Preparing for Scafell Sky Race

To give you the best chance of reaching the finish line ahead of the course cut-off and to avoid an unplanned bus ride home from Stonethwaite at the head of Borrowdale, we would recommend that you take on an appropriate level and amount of mountain training.

The following are a number of ways to help make sure that your experience at Scafell Sky Race is unforgettable – for all the right reasons!

Build up your relevant race and terrain experience

Completion of any of the other unvetted races in the Skyrunning UK National Series – such as the Ring of Steall Skyrace or the Mourne Skyline – is ideal preparation on the types of terrain that you will find at Scafell Sky Race.

If this is your first sky race, we recommend that the ‘long’ category fell races or Scottish hill races, and technical trail races like the Keswick Mountain Festival 25k or 50k will all make good preparation.

Head for the hills

Got a hill near you? Then go out and make a day out of it. When it comes to preparing for a good day running in the hills, there’s no substitute for running in the hills.

We recommend that you have the navigation skills to read a map and plan a route. Go for route with a mix of terrain if you can – grass, paths and trails – all of this will help to build your confidence and experience.

Join us on a course at Mountain Run Sky School

If you love the sound of all this but are worried that you don’t have the time, access or confidence to get the race or hill running experience on your own, then check out our Mountain Run Sky School training packages.

We have a number of Skills Training Weekends and Route Recce days that are aimed at making Scafell Sky Race entrants gain the specific experience and confidence they need to run their first (or fastest!) sky race ever.