9 Edges Endurance for Edale MRT
Info: New entries for this event closed on Saturday 5th September 2026.
| Entry Fee | £35.00 |
WALK, RUN OR CLIMB
THE 20th NINE EDGES ENDURANCE
Saturday 12th September 2026
Edale Mountain Rescue Team’s Nine Edges Endurance fundraising event will take place for the 20th time in 2026. The route takes you over some rough moorland and along gritstone edges. Some navigational ability is required to get you from Fairholmes in the Upper Derwent Valley to the Robin Hood Inn near Birchen Edge.
You choose your challenge, walk, run, or climb. All largely follow the same path but in addition, climbers climb a route of their choice on each of the nine gritstone edges. It is a 20 mile off road event with about 900 metres of height gain.
The running event is a Fell Runners Association (FRA) event and the FRA provide Public/Products Liability insurance allowing it to go ahead. We anticipate many of our runners are members. But if you are not a member please consider joining. FRA members provide many events each year and it is only possible with the support of runners who are also members. £16 well spent, £12 if U23. If you are already a member please have your membership number to hand when you complete the entry form.
Public/Products Liability insurance for walkers and climbers is provided by Mountain Rescue England and Wales but walkers and climbers still need to follow the FRA safety guidance.
Entry Fee
The entry fee is £35. This includes a £2 per participant donation to the Peak District National Park Foundation. Also included in the entry fee are refreshments at various marshal points, a drink at the Robin Hood Inn at the finish and bus transport back to Fairholmes.
Past experience suggests that the event will be full well before the closing date.
No entries will be accepted on the day. It is not permitted to swap your entry (and entry fee) to another participant under any circumstances. We operate a waiting list and therefore offer drop out places to the waiting list first, it is unfair for runners to pass on an entry to a friend and this can also risk event safety. Please notify us if you cannot make it so we can pass your space on to the next person in line and make the necessary adjustments.
Refunds
Unfortunately we cannot offer refunds or deferments.
The event raises funds for Edale Mountain Rescue Team and all the organisers and marshals are volunteers, quite a few also turn out operationally for the team. The event has significant upfront costs.
If you need to pull out for any reason please consider your entry fee as a donation to the rescue team which helps fund the emergency service the team provides. Thank you.
Sponsorship
Edale Mountain Rescue Team organise the event to raise money for the team and would encourage all participants to collect sponsorship. Contact [email protected] if you would like a sponsor form or use the campaign page on justgiving.com to set up your own justgiving page for the event.
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/nineedgesendurance2026
T-shirt Design
Saul a regular competitor and running climber, has once again agreed to design the event T-shirt as he has done for many years, always coming up with a fabulous design. We anticipate this year’s design will highlight the 70th anniversary of Edale Mountain Rescue Team and / or the 20th Nine Edges event both happening in 2026. Thanks Saul.
You can order your T-shirt for an additional £9 when you enter the event.
The Rules
If you take part in the event you must familiarise yourself with the Fell Runners Association Requirements for Runners and Rules for Competition, these can be located on the Fell Runners Association website.
Hover over “FRA” on blue header bar, select “Documents” from drop down menu, click on the blue button labelled "Rules and Principles" then click to view the appropriate document from the list.
For your own and others safety you must also be familiar with the information in the Hypothermia leaflet, Hyperthermia leaflet and the First on the Scene leaflet at the same location. Jump to these documents using the blue button labelled "Runners" and click to view the documents.
The event is a FRA category BL (B Long) event, skills and experience ER (Experience Required), PM (Course Partially Marked), LK (Local Knowledge an advantage), NS (Navigational Skills required).
Age Limit
Minimum age of participants is 18.
All age categories including U23 are defined by age on the day of the race.
For Runners
GPS navigation is not allowed for runners. You must carry a physical (not electronic) map and a traditional (not electronic) compass and know how to use them. This includes the use of GPS on phones and watches, which may be carried but must not be used for navigation.
Dogs are not permitted with runners.
Poles are not permitted for runners.
For Walkers and Climbers
GPS navigation is allowed for walkers and climbers. For your own safety you must also carry a physical (not electronic) map and a traditional (not electronic) compass and know how to use them.
If you are walking or climbing as a group and will not be splitting up, except in an emergency, it is acceptable to carry two sets of map and compass within the group. In the event of an incident, one group can go for assistance and one group can stay at the incident.
Dogs are allowed with walkers and climbers provided they are kept on a lead and under control.
Poles can be used by walkers and climbers.
Climbers
The intention is you climb one route on each of the Nine Edges, the route you choose is up to you but please make sure it suits your level of expertise.
All participants
Please ensure you finish by 1800.
Please consider bringing a drinking vessel to reduce the number of disposable cups the event uses.
Peak District National Park Requests
The Peak District National Park is a living landscape. Please respect the privacy and needs of residents and landowners.
You can find out more about the area on www.peakdistrict.gov.uk
Comply with the Countryside Code at all times. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-countryside-code
Be aware of and sensitive to farming and forestry operations. Be wary of the cattle which may be present on part of the route especially if there are people with dogs in the area.
Try to give something back to the local community by staying locally and buying locally where possible. The Robin Hood Inn is very grateful for the custom the event provides.
National Trust Requests
As a conservation charity, the National Trust cares for an area comprising 13% of the Peak District National Park. Maintaining footpaths and public infrastructure across the Peak District and delivering on nature conservation is a constant challenge for their small Peak District team.
Please consider donating to the Peak District portfolio. Please remember to select the Peak District as your favourite place, to ensure your donation directly supports valuable conservation projects in the Peak District.
https://donate.nationaltrust.org.uk/s/
The Route
In 2026 we are pleased to have permission for the traditional route along Derwent and Stanage Edge.
Registration is at Fairholmes (SK 17200 89300) in the Upper Derwent Valley.
The event is a traverse from Fairholmes, over nine gritstone edges (Derwent, Stanage, Burbage North, Burbage South, Froggatt, Curbar, Baslow, Gardom’s and Birchen Edge) to the Robin Hood Inn near Baslow. Transport is provided back to the start, further information below.
The route and checkpoints can be found on Google Maps.
Car Parking
Please arrive in as few cars as possible. Severn Trent are concerned about parking in the Upper Derwent as the available spaces fill up quickly. If possible please arrange to be dropped off at the start. There is limited Peak District National Park pay and display parking on the road approaching Fairholmes and Severn Trent pay and display parking adjacent to the visitor centre.
The Peak Park pay and display machines take cash or you can pay once you get a signal using the RingGo app. This can be done within 24hrs of parking, don’t forget to note the location code before leaving the car park.
The Fairholmes Pay and Display operated by Severn Trent takes cash and card payments.
Please ensure you have adequate change to pay for car parking if that is your chosen approach.
Toilets
There are toilets at Fairholmes Information Centre close to registration, at Longshaw Lodge and at the Robin Hood Inn at the finish.
The Kit
Participants must each carry the following equipment as a minimum. You will be asked to sign to confirm that you are carrying the full kit. Random kit checks may take place and if you do not have the correct kit you will not be allowed to participate. Please carry the full kit and don’t put us in the embarrassing position of having to disqualify you.
- Waterproof jacket (with integrated hood) and leg cover, both with taped seams
- Hat and gloves
- Warm layers appropriate for the weather conditions but the minimum is a long sleeved warm layer additional to the baselayer you are wearing when you start
- Whistle
- Sufficient food and fluids for the duration of the event
- Map and compass suitable for navigating the course. Some options include.
OS Explorer 1:25,000 mapping you need both Dark and White Peak maps.
OS Landranger 1:50,000 mapping, sheets 110 and 119 required.
Harvey Maps 1:40,000 British Mountain Maps, Dark Peak map required.
Harvey Maps 1:25,000 Superwalker Peak District Central map required.
Printed extracts, cut down maps, bespoke sheets are all acceptable provided they cover the area in sufficient detail for navigation. It must be a physical (not electronic) map and a traditional (not electronic) compass.
- Survival bag or bespoke emergency shelter, lightweight polythene allowed, no foil blankets, foil bags acceptable, Blizzard Bags allowed.
We are not allowing foil blankets as they are very difficult to shelter in during inclement weather. Please be aware that foil bags and blankets deteriorate with time and can shred when they are opened in an emergency. If you use one as an emergency shelter we strongly recommend you unwrap it to see if it is still functional and replace it at frequent intervals. Once unwrapped they are very difficult to repack. Get a lightweight polythene survival bag and it will give many years service.
We have compact lightweight polythene survival bags with a total weight of 100g for sale at £5. You will be able to buy one at registration on the day.
Whatever the weather everybody must carry the full kit. This is to look after you if you are injured en route. Hopefully no one will require to use the kit but it must be carried in case of emergency.
Change of Clothes
We will transport a small bag for you to the finish. Please remember to collect at the finish! Please mark your bag clearly with your name, race number and phone number before handing it over. Bring a suitable label with you to the event. This service is provided at your own risk.
Control Cards
You will be given a control card at registration and will be expected to punch it at the start, at all the controls and the finish. Please write your name and event number on the card. The card will be printed on waterproof paper which is robust enough to be pinned to your clothing or rucksack strap. There will be sufficient safety pins at registration. The punches are traditional manual orienteering punches with a pin pattern, there will be multiple punches at some early controls to minimise any queues. The pin pattern may be different for punches at the same control, so don’t worry if you have a different pattern to others in your group.
You will be asked to show the completed control card at the finish.
Start Times
Registration opens at 0700.
Walkers and climbers can start anytime between 0730—0900.
There is a mass start at 1000 for runners.
If you are a runner who decides to start BEFORE the mass start please note the checkpoints may not be in place and thus no refreshments will be available for you! You will also be considered to be non-competitive and not eligible for a prize. THIS IS NOT PERMITTED.
YOU MUST LET US KNOW IF YOU ARE NOT RUNNING IN THE MASS START! ANY RUNNERS WHO DO NOT START IN THE MASS START WILL BE RECORDED AS WALKERS IN THE RESULTS.
IF YOU WISH TO RUN PLEASE START AT 1000 WITH THE RUNNERS.
Start/Finish
Please note that as per the FRA guidelines we have to double check everybody at the start and finish lines; please ensure you have been checked off twice at each point by doing the following:
Registration - 1st Check
You must sign in at registration before starting the event. Please bring the confirmation email for your entry to the event (paper copy or on screen, although please note that the mobile signal is patchy at Fairholmes), if you do not have this and your name is not on the registration list you will not be able to take part in the race. The Registration Desk will be near the Cycle Hire Centre. Registration will be open from 0700 until 0945. You will be issued with your participant number, which you need to display prominently on your chest without folding during the event. The event Emergency Telephone Number will be printed on your participant number. Please remember to complete the emergency contact details and medical information on the reverse of your race number.
In wet weather you can wear your number inside your waterproofs but must expose it at each checkpoint so the marshals can record your number.
Start Pen – 2nd Check
As you head down towards the start line there will be a marshal marking off your numbers, as your go through a single file funnel into the start pen. Please ensure you allow plenty of time on arrival to go through Registration and the 2nd Check as there will no doubt be a queue at both.
Remember to punch your control card.
If participating as a walker or climber you can start once you have entered the start pen. Your start time selected at registration will be used to calculate your completion time.
If participating as a runner. Once in the start pen. Please stay in the start pen until the start.
If participating as a runner. Please be in the start pen and ready to start at 0955. You will not be allowed to start after 1000.
Finish Line:
The route finishes in the Eastern Moors Partnership car park adjacent to the Robin Hood Inn near Birchen Edge.
There will be 2 desks one after the other at the finish, please ensure you stop at both and have your race number on display. The first will take your number and time, to the second. The next desk will mark your number on a grid.
Emergency Contact
At the start of the event you will be given an emergency contact number. Use this to request emergency assistance during the event.
Retirement Procedure
If a participant decides to retire, it is a fundamental rule that the participant must inform event control in all circumstances. This should be done speedily by:
- Reporting to an identified checkpoint and then returning rapidly and directly to the finish to report to event control.
- Reporting directly and rapidly to event control if retiring between checkpoints.
- Telephoning the emergency number if unable to return to event control.
- If for some reason the participant is unable to report to event control or to the event emergency number. Telephone the police and tell them the participant is retiring from Edale Mountain Rescue Team's Nine Edges Endurance Event and is unable to inform the event emergency number or event control.
Marshals
There will be marshals at key points along the route. If you have any problems please contact one of them. You must also comply with any requests that they make of you. Edale Mountain Rescue Team will be attending the event and will be available on-call.
Results & Prize Giving
This event is intended as a personal test of endurance for walkers and climbers. However, the event is also a fell race and so a prize giving ceremony (prizes for runners only) will be held at the Robin Hood Inn at approximately 1400. A copy of the full results can be downloaded from www.edalemrt.co.uk shortly after the event.
Course Record Holders
Male D Palmer 2h 26m 00s in 2013
Female S Fawcett 2h 48m 00s in 2013
Trophies will be awarded for the following categories.
1st, 2nd, 3rd Male Open
1st, 2nd, 3rd Female Open
1st, 2nd, 3rd U23 Male
1st, 2nd, 3rd U23 Female
1st, 2nd, 3rd Male Vet 40+
1st, 2nd, 3rd Female Vet 40+
1st, 2nd, 3rd Male Vet 50+
1st, 2nd, 3rd Female Vet 50+
1st, 2nd, 3rd Male Vet 60+
1st, 2nd, 3rd Female Vet 60+
Male and Female trophies will be separate. Age classes will be combined with the open trophy, if the 1st person to finish is a Female Vet 40+, she will get two trophies, 1st Female and 1st Female Vet 40+. The 1st man to finish will then get the 1st Male trophy.
U23 are eligible to win the Open trophies.
Vet 40+ are eligible to win the Open trophies.
Vet 50+ are eligible to win the Open trophies and the Vet 40+ trophies.
Vet 60+ are eligible to win the Open trophies, the Vet 40+ trophies and the Vet 50+ trophies.
Transport
This event is a traverse from Fairholmes to the Robin Hood Inn. We provide transport back to the start. It is essential that you confirm on your entry form if you will require transport back to Fairholmes so that we can make sure we have enough bus spaces booked.
The time of the last bus back to the finish will be confirmed on the day but will leave the Robin Hood Inn between 1830 and 1900.
Photographs
Please be aware of and consent to photographers capturing images of the event for the team to use on its social media channels and for future promotion of the Nine Edges event.
THE NINE EDGES ENDURANCE ROUTE
The route is not marked and the choice of routes between checkpoints is down to you. We expect that you will run or walk directly above or below each of the Nine Edges. Please use marked rights of way or existing routes on the ground at all times.
Additionally, climbers must climb one route of their choice on each of the Nine Edges.
All participants please ensure you finish by 1800.
The owners of the high moorland in the northern section of the route have asked that entrants stick to rights of way and the concessionary paths along the top of Derwent and Stanage Edges. Please do not use point to point routes across the fragile high moorland.
You can use the path up Hollin Clough to climb onto the high moorland.
If you choose to use the footpath descending in an easterly direction from Derwent Edge towards Moscar House a marshal will be located at SK 20310 88020 (Peak & Northern Footpaths Society Marker Post 248) to ensure you find the correct route.
If you wish you can still use the bridleway descending in an easterly direction to Cutthroat Bridge.
|
Location |
Grid Reference |
Notes |
|
Registration Desk (by the Cycle Hire Centre) |
SK 17200 89300 |
|
|
Start (below Derwent Dam wall) |
SK 17239 89629 |
|
|
CP1 Bradfield Gate Head |
SK 19782 90698 |
|
|
CP2 Moscar Lodge (by footpath south from A57) |
SK 23031 87853 |
Water & Light Snacks |
|
CP3 Upper Burbage Bridge |
SK 25900 83000 |
Water & Light Snacks |
|
CP4 Burbage South |
SK 26288 80638 |
|
|
CP5 Haywood Car Park (near Froggatt) ¹ |
SK 25555 77656 |
Water & Light Snacks |
|
CP6 Curbar Gap (on footpath on Baslow Edge side) ² |
SK 26090 74634 |
Water & Jelly Babies |
|
CP7 Path/Road Junction (west of Clodhall crossroads) ³ |
SK 27627 74060 |
|
|
Finish Desk – Robin Hood Inn |
SK 28027 72138 |
Water & Jelly Babies |
¹Please ensure that you take a right on the footpath after the Grouse Inn to go into Haywood car park and DO NOT use the A625 road. There will be a marshal to stop you at the entry to the Froggatt footpath and they will ask you to go back the correct way to visit the checkpoint.
²Please use the bridleway from Curbar Gap to Clodhall crossroads (via Wellington's Monument SK 26428 73688) and DO NOT use Clodhall Lane.
³It is up to you how you get from Clodhall crossroads to the finish. But please keep to existing paths on the ground.
WALKERS/CLIMBERS – ideally you should cross the top of Gardom's Edge and underneath Birchen Edge (climbers doing a route on each) before heading down to the Robin Hood Inn. If you go past the Eric Byne Memorial Camp Site then you haven’t really been close to Birchen Edge!
RUNNERS – you have only to get from the Clodhall crossroads checkpoint to the finish point. The shortest way is up to the footpath underneath Birchen Edge and down to the Robin Hood Inn. Note there is NO checkpoint on top of or under Gardom's Edge or Birchen Edge.
Route Map
The route and checkpoints can be found on Google Maps.
View the Event Disclaimer / Terms and Conditions.
View the Event Cancellation / Refund Policy.
