How far is the Stanza Stones 50 Mile Ultra?

The Stanza Stones 50 Mile Ultra is one distance: 50 Mile (80.5 km).

How much climbing is in the Stanza Stones 50 Mile Ultra?

The 50 Mile has 2,073 m of ascent.

Is the Stanza Stones 50 Mile Ultra course marked?

No. The Stanza Stones 50 Mile Ultra is not a marked course. You are expected to navigate it yourself.

Cragg Runner Stanza Stones 50 Mile Ultra

Marsden Cricket ClubSat, 28 Nov 2026

Fifty miles from Marsden to Ilkley past the six Stanza Stones poems, run twice a year in winter and summer.

50 Mile

80 km

2,073 m ascent

26 m per km

moorroadNavigation required

Nobody has reviewed this one yet

No reviews of the Stanza Stones 50 Mile Ultra, and nothing on what people wore. Both are things no organiser publishes and every runner wants before they enter — how it actually went, and what was on your feet.

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The course

Start time not confirmed yet — check with the organiser.

What you’re in for

Fifty miles from Marsden to Ilkley past the six Stanza Stones — Simon Armitage's poems carved into the rock along the watershed — 80.5km with 2,073m of climb, run twice a year, winter and summer. The winter running is at the end of November.

Terrain and trail

The South Pennine watershed: peat, flagged path, reservoir track and moor road over Marsden Moor, the Colne valley, Rombalds Moor and down to Ilkley. Exposed and wet in November, with the dark arriving early. Not marked. A trail shoe with grip and a head torch.

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Train for it: routes near the start

Routes starting within 20 km of Marsden Cricket Club, nearest first. Each one has a free GPX file and a TRP grade, so you can rehearse the ground before race day.

HARD

Easter Gate, March Haigh and Black Moss Reservoirs

16.8km · 349m climb · Loop · 0.5km away

You string together three reservoirs and a stretch of the Pennine Way on quiet moor tracks, with the whole of Marsden Moor opening out around you and almost nobody else about.

HARD

Marsden 10 Mile Challenge

16.4km · 357m climb · Loop · 0.9km away

It is the whole of Marsden Moor in one loop - Wessenden, Standedge and the reservoir chain - on ground that carries centuries of packhorse and canal history, and you can run it door to door from the train.

VERY HARD

Holme Moss to Snailsden and Britland Edge Hill

10.4km · 155m climb · Loop · 8.9km away

It packs a genuine sense of wilderness into ten kilometres - trackless peat, two rarely-visited tops and the huge radio mast of Holme Moss as your landmark all the way round.

HARD

Stairway to Heaven from Wessenden

13.8km · 342m climb · Loop · 8.9km away

The stepped pull out of Wessenden that gives the route its name delivers you straight onto the roof of the moor, with the whole reservoir valley dropping away behind you in one go.

HARD

Black Hill and Crowden Little Brook Loop

14.4km · 426m climb · Loop · 12km away

Black Hill's peat-black plateau feels as remote as anywhere in the Peak, and the return along the edge above Laddow Rocks is some of the best moor-edge running in the north.

MODERATE

Torside to Woodhead Tunnels via the Longdendale Trail

10.2km · 51m climb · Out & back · 13km away

It is a rare flat, fast run in the Dark Peak - a traffic-free old railway line running dead level past four reservoirs to the great stone mouths of the Woodhead tunnels.

All South Pennines routes →

How to enter

Sat, 28 Nov 2026 · Entries open

Enter on their website ↗

Entries are handled by SiEntries, not by us. We take nothing for sending you there.

Add to your calendar · as an all-day entry, until the start time is confirmed

Common questions

: The Stanza Stones 50 Mile Ultra is one distance: 50 Mile (80.5 km).
: The 50 Mile has 2,073 m of ascent.
: Not graded yet. A TRP grade is worked out from distance and climb measured off the course file, and there isn't one for the Stanza Stones 50 Mile Ultra yet.
: No. The Stanza Stones 50 Mile Ultra is not a marked course. You are expected to navigate it yourself.
: We don't hold a compulsory kit list for the Stanza Stones 50 Mile Ultra. Cragg Runner confirm mandatory kit in their race information, usually in the final instructions.
: We don't hold published time limits for the Stanza Stones 50 Mile Ultra. If Cragg Runner set cut-offs, they'll be in the race information.
: We don't hold a checkpoint list for the Stanza Stones 50 Mile Ultra. What's on the table varies a lot between races, so check the Cragg Runner race information rather than turning up expecting food.
: Not yet — we don't hold a course file for the Stanza Stones 50 Mile Ultra. Some organisers only send the GPX to entrants. If we get one, it goes up free, with no sign-up.
: Sat, 28 Nov 2026. Entries open.

Past runnings

2027Sat, 5 Jun 2027