Olympic great Alistair Brownlee to tackle iconic fell race on unprecedented marathon weekend in the UK

Triathlon legend Alistair Brownlee has announced he is taking on one of fell running’s most iconic events this weekend – The Three Peaks Race.

Saturday (26th April) sees the 70th edition of the ‘marathon with mountains’ in the Yorkshire Dales, just a day before the UK’s two biggest road marathons – London and Manchester.

The Three Peaks Race has been a fixture on the Yorkshire racing calendar since 1954 and now one of the county’s sporting greats is throwing himself into battle against what will be another top-class field.

Sponsors INOV8 have assembled a strong team of their athletes – including a contingent from France – but it sounds like Brownlee is up for the showdown.

‘Can’t wait to get stuck in’

He retired from triathlon late last year after a glittering career and he remains the only person in the sport to successfully defend an individual Olympic gold medal thanks to his triumphs in London (2012) and Rio (2016).

Writing on Instagram, he said: “Looking forward to a new challenge this week.

“Training’s been going well and I’m looking forward to lining up for the Three Peaks Fell Race this Saturday.

“It’ll be the 70th edition of this race; it’s 24 miles across some of the most rugged and spectacular terrain in the Yorkshire Dales, with over 2,500 feet of climbing. A proper classic.

“Tough course, big hills, and a special atmosphere. Can’t wait to get stuck in.

“First of a few events I’ve got coming up over the next month or so, more on those soon.”

Brownlee has already featured in another big Yorkshire running event this year – Quid Games near Skipton.

The Three Peaks in a nutshell

The Three Peaks Race starts and finishes in Horton-in-Ribblesdale in the Yorkshire Dales.

The inaugural edition took place in 1954 but interruptions due to foot and mouth and Covid means this weekend will see the 70th running.

And to celebrate that fact there is a first-ever relay event, allowing more people to get a shorter taste of what is a tough event.

The full race is actually a little under marathon distance at 24.2 miles but that’s more than made up by an elevation gain of nearly 1,600 metres as the runners conquer the peaks of Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.

The race is part of the World Mountain Running Ranking which showcases and rewards the best mountain running athletes and races.

Here’s our guide to taking part in the event.