UPDATE ON 8TH OCTOBER 2024 : THE RACE SOLD OUT 1000 PLACES ON DAY 1. WE KNOW MANY MISSED OUT AND WE ARE SORRY. HOWEVER, WE CAN’T SQUEEZE ANYMORE IN (WITH EXCEPTION OF BELOW). THERE IS NO WAITING LIST AS WE DELIBERATELY OVERSOLD AS WE KNOW ON RACE DAY FROM PREVIOUS YEARS HOW MANY ‘NO SHOWS’ TO EXPECT.
THE ONLY EXCEPTIONS ARE WE STILL HAVE A FEW FREE PLACES LEFT FOR ACTIVE MEMBERS OF UK MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAMS OR IF YOU ARE AN ELITE AND CAN SHOW EVIDENCE THAT CAPABLE OF RUNNING SUB 4:20 MEN AND SUB 5:15 WOMEN THEN EMAIL KCACRACES@GMAIL.COM WITH DETAILS.
Saturday 8th March 2025 – 8am
Entries for 2025 Haworth Hobble will open on 1st October 2024 on SI Entries. Set the date in diary as likely to sell out quickly again. CLICK HERE TO ENTER FROM 1/10/24.
Entry fees and optional extra costs for 2025 are:
a) Entry fee is £25. This is first cost increase for 4 years as the effects of inflation and introduction of significantly enhanced medical cover need to be covered.
b) A £4 discount will be applied to entry fee above for Fell Runner Association (FRA) members.
c) An additional £10 discount will be applied to any competitor aged under 25 on race day.
d) Active members of UK Mountain/Fell Rescue teams may apply to organiser via email for free place as we offer 15 free places as a ‘thank you’ for what your teams do.
e) There are long sleeve/short sleeve options for race T-shirt in 2025 and you select when entering or can edit your entry to add at any time on SI Entries. T-Shirts are optional and an extra cost but they are of a high standard with new design every year. In addition for 2025, we will also be offering a high quality hoodie at £32. We charge only just above cost price as we like to see our t-shirts widely worn – we have a reputation for some of best quality/design t-shirts around.
- Short sleeved race t-shirt – £8
- Long sleeved t-shirt with 1/4 zip suitable for smart/casual – £13 ( 2023 design below which wasn’t on public sale)
- Quality hoodie – £32
- Apologies about the quality of model in photos below which show some of our recent designs for short/long sleeve and hoodie.
General Information
Start Time: 8am for mass start. Early starts available from 6.30am to 7.15am (Checkpoint 1 has opening time to prevent anything other than slowest runners/walkers using this option).
Category: BL
GPS: not allowed for navigation
Distance: 51km / 31.7m
Climb: 1340m / 4396ft
Venue: Haworth Primary School, Rawdon Road, Haworth, BD22 8DW.
Grid ref: SE 03143 37265
Skills & experience: ER, LK, NS
Minimum age: 18 (see age limits below)
32 miles traversing gritstone moors around Haworth, Todmorden and Hebden Bridge with 4,400 ft of ascent/descent. Maximum time allowed approx 11 hours (see cut offs at each checkpoint for full schedule). This race is on edge of winter and there is expectation that you have all the skills required for navigating and looking after yourself on remote moors in potentially very wintry conditions.
This is a tough race and it is expected to go ahead in almost all conditions as if you have signed up, you have acknowledged that you have suitable skills and that you are carrying all the right gear. However, for the first time in 2023, we had to make a last minute decision and shorten the course due to heavy snow as otherwise very few people would have finished and we could not have safely looked after people who tried but failed as that would have been majority. In exceptional circumstances only, we reserve the right to reduce the race to the 21 mile bad weather course.
Age Limits
The minimum age is as per FRA rules for events over 10km. You are eligible if you turn 19 years old by end of year in which race is held. Therefore as long as 19th birthday is prior to 31st December then you may enter.
Reccy/Training Runs
There will be 4 reccy runs that we will arrange guides for and dates will be confirmed towards end of 2024. These have been very popular in last 3 years and they are always very social. We have had as many as 50 people turn up. We take no responsibility for anybody attending as we are simply showing you the route and our expectation is that everybody turns up with full safety kit as it is winter and you have the skills to get round. Once we establish paces, groups tend to form naturally and nobody is left behind.
Probable Dates For Hobble 2025 below:
- Sunday 29th December 2024 and Sunday 26th January 2025 – 8.30am – Haworth to Todmorden – 18.5miles
- Sunday 5th January 2025 and Sunday 2nd February 2025 – 9.30am – Todmorden to Haworth – 13 miles
- There will be about 5 separate pace groups on each reccy run.
- An email with details will be sent to all competitors who dates are set and the race Facebook site is always useful place for arranging lifts/car positioning.
Kit Requirements
Full FRA mandatory kit is required and in addition you must also carry foil blanket or bivvy bag, minimum 0.5 litre of water carrying capacity and an additional long sleeved thermal base layer not to be worn at race start. However, given the date then it is highly likely that you should be carrying much more than the minimum.
Course Information including race map, feedstation locations and cut off times
Race Videos
Race Day Food
Whilst full details will not be confirmed until the race brief issued approximately 7 days before race, based on last few years you can expect following:
– Pre Race will have tea, coffee and squash available at no charge. Bacon sandwiches from 6am at small charge.
– During race there are 6 well stocked feed stations with all the basics of chocolate bars, bananas, melon, orange, jelly babies as well as water, squash and Cola. However feed stations 3, 4 and 5 have additional options including tea, coffee, soup, OXO and on food side hot dogs with onions, fresh filled donuts, chip butties, freshly cooked Tom Yum soup and other surprises. We are well known for having great feedstations with exceptional volunteers.
– After the race there is tea, coffee, soft drinks along with freshly cooked hot pizza and cake.
Refunds, Deferrals and Substitutions
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I Use Poles? – Yes, although please be careful (it’s now against FRA rules but we have dispensation due to long standing and unique nature of race).
- Can my dog run with me? – No, this is against FRA rules and can trip other competitors.
- How do I learn the route? – We organise reccy runs in December, January and February. Emails are sent to all entrants.
- How tough is the route? – Whilst much of route is runnable, other than a few short road sections, it is mostly trails and moors. There are some very exposed remote moors which can be very challenging in bad weather which is why we expect you to have sufficient skills for the race and to carry all mandatory gear as an absolute minimum. At the front end we have some of the UK’s top off road runners however we also have people who walk the whole route and have a brilliant time in doing so.
- Can I run as a pair? – Yes, this started off as a pairs race and we always have a large entry of mixed, male and female pairs. We also have a non-binary category for individuals/pairs.
- When can I get. map? – Maps will be on sale at £2.50 at all the reccy runs and they will also be on sale on race day. As well as route on front page, on the rear they include course description, details of all checkpoints, distances between checkpoints and cut offs.
- Are there any refunds, substitutions allowed? – Please read above on this subject. It seems that people ignore this and ask anyway – this is immensely frustrating to volunteers who have to respond whilst trying to organise the race. Our entry fee is exceptionally cheap for what you get – if we offer refunds or later deferral date then quite simply, the entry fee would have had to have been much higher plus the unpaid volunteers end up with lots of extra admin close to race.
Race Organiser and Contact Details
Gary Chapman
kcacraces@gmail.com
KCAC actively supports sheRACES
Haworth Hobble fully supports SheRACES and we actively ensure that all guidelines are met to ensure our races are seen as amongst the most female friendly around. We already have a female participation rate over 30% which is well above average but we always want to do more. Our other main race, the Yorkshireman Off Road Marathon and Half Marathon had a 52% female participation rate in the half marathon in 2024. We will always ensure equal status in results and prize giving, separate ladies toilets and availability of sanitary products at start/finish/all feed stations, generous cut off times to encourage inclusivity for all, free guided reccy runs in groups to promote safety/confidence on route, free deferral for 2 years when pregnant up to race day and ensuring all imagery/race information actively encourages participation of women.