Neal Hockley

I came to fell running from a background in climbing and mountaineering. Mountain marathons like the KIMM and Saunders were my gateway drug, then when I moved back to Wales and had kids I realised fell running was easier to squeeze into smaller blocks of time than climbing and I started doing a few proper fell races as well. For quite a few years I mostly just ran in the hills by myself, but in 2020 I began coaching the juniors with Eryri Harriers (thanks to a daughter hooked on running) and then in late 2021 I joined the WFRA as junior coordinator and helped organise our first Junior Fell Running Series in 2022. In retrospect we were probably a bit over-ambitious (12 races across Wales!) but it went OK, we learned a lot and it showed there were a decent number of kids out there who wanted proper adventurous fell races, every bit as gnarly as the adults'. Our aim is to provide kids with opportunities to develop as independent, self-reliant fell runners so that when they start doing senior races they have the skills, knowledge and ethos to enjoy it and keep this wonderful crazy sport alive and true to its roots. Dw i hefyd yn siarad Cymraeg :-)