Fed up with pounding the streets night after night? If you want to spice up your training and are looking for a more challenging event than your average road race, why not have a go at fell running? Lisa Unsworth loves nothing more and has some pearls of wisdom for those of you thinking about taking to the hills.

1. Fell running is a little more tricky than your average road race and one of the first things you should do is familiarise yourself with the rules of your chosen event. These rules, designed to keep you safe, are usually given on the entry form.

2. Check you have the right kit - and we're not just talking waterproofs! You may need a compass and whistle, a map and some emergency food rations - especially for the longer events.

3. Invest in some proper fell shoes. Tripping across the peaks in a pair of road runners is probably not a good idea; if you want to have the poise of a mountain goat, you will need a shoe with fantastic grip, waterproof uppers and a durable sole.

4. Make sure you enter the right type of event: there are three categories of races (A, B and C) and three different lengths (short, medium and long); if you choose a category A race you are in for a tough time, since average climbs are no less than 250ft and you will spend no more than 20% of your time on the road. If you are new to fell running you may want to go in at level C, where you only have to run up to around 100 feet and will spend more time on the roads

To prepare for fell running, you will need to build up your strength - and where better to do this than on some hills? Most of you will be familiar with hill sessions, so get out there and start working on your leg strength and stamina. You will also need to get those arms pumping: they're going to help with your propulsion on the way up and your balance on the way down.

I don't know about you but I'm getting tired just writing about it! If you fancy rising to the challenge you can get some more useful tips from the journal credited below.

The Coach, Issue 9, 23-27

Nick Grantham