As races go, the Exterminator is right up there as one of the Peak District’s toughest. It’s a very easy one to underestimate, as I always do, but with over a kilometre of ascent over about 17 miles, it’s that has that funny position where you can only really compare it to Lakeland races. Also, taking place in September, it means you never know exactly what the weather is going to do. It could be hot and dry, but equally it could be cold and very wet. On the day this year it was a funny mix of hot, cold, dry and wet.  

As we assembled at the start of the race, there was a real humidity in the air. The weather forecast said it would be about 20 degrees, and it certainly felt close to that. We’d had a lot of rain in the weeks leading up to the race, but the sun was trying to pop out and the air was still.

The race starts with a 2.5km uphill section on tarmac then trail to the first checkpoint – the Totley Trig. The race then decends to the Stepping Stones in Blackamoor, up over Houndkirk Road to Burbage Moor, over the packhorse bridge and up to Higger Tor before a long slog over to the Stanage Plantation and you’re just over half way.  

The race is ‘supposed’ to be an orienteering race between checkpoints, but besides the odd short corner cut, everyone sticks to the same route. Also, in recent years, the section through Padley Gorge (a permissive footpath) and Longshaw are now also required to follow a set route –  which also happens to be the fastest route anyway.

A long descent to North Lees, then over to the Church at Hathersage before the second big ascent which takes you back up the Hathersage Moor via Smeekly Farm. After that it’s a gentle decent to Padley Gorge which is the beginning of the third and final big ascent, up through Longshaw and back to Moss Road. The final checkpoint is back at the Totley Moss Trig before the final 2.5km decent to the Totley Pavilion

First over the line was Felix Watts (MSEN) in 2:27:08 followed by Martin James (M40) of Porter Valley Plodders in 2:34:18 and then Neil Northrop (M40), also of Dark Peak in 2:37:06. First lady was Sally Fawcett (F40) of Dark Peak in 2:41:04, Helen Roberts (FSEN) of Dark Peak in 2:41:42, and then Ashea Furlong (F50) of Gridleford Goats in 3:00:02

The Exterminator 2025 results

Official results here

Name	Bib	Club	Cat	Time	position
Felix Watts	104	Dark Peak Fell Runners	MSen	2:27:08	1
Martin James	129	Porter Valley Plodders	M40	2:34:18	2
Neil Northrop	143	Dark Peak Fell Runners	M40	2:37:06	3
Sally Fawcett	38	Dark Peak Fell Runners	F40	2:41:04	4
Helen Roberts	85	Dark Peak Fell Runners	FSen	2:41:42	5
Jose Dias	28	danum harriers	M50	2:41:58	6
Richard Snowden	89	Totley AC	M50	2:43:57	7
Patrick Lewis	69	Steel City Striders	MSen	2:46:52	8
Matthew Burden	10	Totley AC	M40	2:47:22	9
Mark Jacobi	127	Totley AC	M50	2:51:01	10
Max Saleh	132	Salford Mets	MSen	2:54:53	11
John Evans	37	Beeston AC	M50	2:55:09	12
Colin Earl	123	Kimberworth Striders	M60	2:55:42	13
Jon Hallam	122	Penistone	F40	2:56:18	14
William Taylor	94	Holme Pierrepont Running Club	M40	2:56:43	15
Thomas Pearson	81		MSen	2:57:32	16
Andrew Ellwood	134	Dronfield	M40	2:57:40	17
Nigel Barnes	141	Steel City Striders	M50	2:57:51	18
Ayshea Furlong	41	Grindleford Goats	F50	3:00:02	19
Nick Keith	63		MSen	3:01:24	20
Rachel Thorley	95		FSen	3:02:22	21
Thomas Cliffe	15		MSen	3:02:25	22
Paul Turner	131	Totley AC	M50	3:02:45	23
Sarah Thorp	136	Beaumont Runners	F40	3:02:49	24
Hannah Hoggren-Johnson	53	Smiley Paces	F50	3:03:02	25
Phil Wells	105	Calder Valley Fell Runners	M50	3:03:47	26
Toby Sydes	92	Calder valley fellrunners	M50	3:04:35	27
Philip Knapton	66		M50	3:04:53	28
Daniel Dunn	32		M40	3:05:38	29
Helen Dale	125		F40	3:05:57	30
Mark Barnabas	7	CVFR	M40	3:06:02	31
Will Doyle	31	Totley AC	M40	3:06:21	32
Chris Ledger	126	Dark Peak Fell Runners	M60	3:07:20	33
James Cooke	20	Calder Valley Fell Runners	M40	3:07:54	34
Thomas Trotter	96		MSen	3:09:49	35
Mark Winn-Smith	112		MSen	3:10:16	36
Jonty Cope	22	ShUOC	MU23	3:11:05	37
Chris Day	119	Totley AC	M50	3:12:03	38
Will Johnson	58		MSen	3:12:18	39
Phil Applegate	3	Totley AC	M40	3:13:21	40
Nick Burns	11	Steel City Striders	M50	3:13:39	41
James Hogg	52	Dronfield RC	M40	3:13:55	42
Samuel Wattret	102		MSen	3:14:06	43
Ian Beckingham	9	Redhill Road Runners	M60	3:16:07	44
David Greenwood	43	Holme Pierrepont	M50	3:16:11	45
David James	57	Phoenix MC	M40	3:17:59	46
Jonathan Morgan	135	Dark Peak Fell Runners	M40	3:22:32	47
See Wah Cheng	14	Headington RoadRunners	M40	3:22:38	48
niall akers	2	Totley AC	MSen	3:23:26	49
Rachel Lee	68	Long Eaton Running Club	F40	3:24:30	50
Shaun Taylor	93	Porter Valley	M50	3:25:03	51
Liam Overett	77		MSen	3:27:30	52
Dave Bish	121	Beeston AC	M40	3:28:36	53
Mark Yallop	117	Totley AC	MSen	3:30:23	54
Simon Rayner	83	danum harriers	M50	3:31:48	55
Stephen Stewart	91	TotleyAC	M50	3:32:13	56
Peter Wilcock	110	Calder Valley Fell Runners	MSen	3:32:50	57
Richard Ward	99	Sheffield Running Club	MSen	3:33:57	58
Libby Jones	60		FSen	3:34:58	59
Peter Dooley	30	Totley AC	M40	3:37:47	60
James Mussett	74		M40	3:38:02	61
Jonathan Jones	59	Dark Peak Fell Runners	M50	3:38:43	62
Andrew Pearson	137	Beaumont Runners	M50	3:39:13	63
Mark Wood	114		M60	3:39:22	64
Rachel Howard	54	Stocksbridge Running Club	F40	3:40:16	65
samantha hartley	48	Calder Valley Fell Runners	F40	3:40:34	66
Matthew Gray	42		M40	3:40:58	67
Amelia Cook	139	Beaumont Runners	FU23	3:41:26	68
Nicola Frow	39	Totley AC	F50	3:42:34	69
Colin Alexander	133	Totley AC	M40	3:44:29	70
Helen Young	118	Totley AC	F50	3:49:37	71
Dominic Watts	103	Dark Peak Fell Runners	M50	3:49:41	72
Louise Abedin	1	Totley AC	F40	3:52:31	73
David Ayrton	5	Totley AC	M50	3:52:33	74
Nick Woolley	116		M50	3:58:10	75
Richard Nicholson	75	Totley AC	M50	4:00:53	76
Helen Colton	19	Rotherham Running Club	F40	4:02:46	77
Adelle Marsden	70	Rotherham Running Club	F50	4:04:24	78
Karl Wooffindin	115	Rotherham Running Club	MSen	4:04:26	79
Stephen Wicks	109	Wingerworth Wobblers	M50	4:04:55	80
Alan Willoner	111		M50	4:07:56	81
Kylie McAteer	72	Totley A/C	F60	4:08:15	82
Jill Davies	120	Totley AC	F60	4:09:00	83
Diane Clewes	124	Totley AC	F60	4:09:03	84
Des Ryan	86	Totley AC	M50	4:10:59	85
Marc Collett	18	Calder Valley Fell Runners	M60	4:11:25	86
Nicola Jones	61	Holme Pierpoint RC	F50	4:11:34	87
Janet Atkinson	4	Holme Pierrepont Running Club	F50	4:11:42	88
Dean Smith	87	Rolls Royce Harriers	M50	4:13:09	89
Steve Carter	140	Clowne Road Runners	M60	4:14:28	90
Pippa Weir	128	Totley AC	F60	4:20:31	91
Jenny Garamszegh	138	Grindleford Goats	F40	4:22:02	92
Helen Fulson	40	Grindleford Goat	F40	4:22:05	93
Rebecca Westland	107		F40	4:37:01	94
Philip Richards	142	West End Runners	M50	4:38:56	95
Tamsin Cooke	21	Calder Valley Fell Runners	F40	4:42:09	96
Nikki Barker	6	Long Eaton Running Club	F40		97
Gary Bates	8	North Derbyshire RC	M50		98
Helen Cain	12	Totley AC	F40		99
Richard Carter	13	Steel City Striders	M40		100
Elaine Clifford	16	Beeston AC	F50		101
Steve Clifton	17	Hillsborough & Rivelin	M50		102
Mel Corby	23	Dronfield RC	F40		103
Francis Cram	24	Fat Boys RC	M40		104
John Crewe	25	Dark Peak Fell Runners	MSen		105
Aden Davies	26		M40		106
Danielle De Simone	27	Team Derby Runner	FSen		107
Will Doole	29	Totley AC	MSen		108
Emily Eastwood	33	Totley AC	FSen		109
Tom Eastwood	34	Totley AC	MSen		110
Andrew Edwards	35		M50		111
Amanda Ellis-Hill	36	Porter Valley Plodders	F40		112
Karen Griffiths	44	Holme Pierrepont RC	F50		113
Lucy Haighton	45	Striders	FSen		114
James Harrison	46	Fat boys	M40		115
Andy Hartley	47	Fat boys	M60		116
NAOMI HARTOPP	49	Hillsborough and Rivelin RC	FSen		117
Colin Haughton	50	Chorlton Runners	M50		118
Simon Hodgson	51	South Yorkshire Orienteers	M50		119
Robert Hubbard	55	Old Mans Running Club	M40		120
Tom Hughes	56	Totley AC	MSen		121
Chris Jordan	62		M50		122
Arthur King	64	Dark Peak Fell Runners	MSen		123
Tori King	65	Dark Peak Fell Runners	F40		124
Jane Langham	67	Smiley Paces	F60		125
Benedict Mason	71	North Derbyshire RC	MSen		126
Mo McDonald	73		M50		127
Simon Nicholson	76	Long Eaton	MSen		128
Tom Oxley	78	North Derbyshire Running Club	MSen		129
ELIZABETH Oxnard	79		FSen		130
Andy Pearson	80	Totley AC	M40		131
Chris Rage	82		MSen		132
Liz Richardson	84	Dronfield Running Club	F40		133
Robert Smith	88	Holme Pierrepont Running Club	M50		134
Emma Stevenson	90	Holme Pierrepont	F40		135
Clare Walker	97	Dark Peak Fell Runners	F40		136
Heather Wallis	98	FRA	F40		137
Sarah Ward	100	Dronfield Running Club	F40		138
Andy Waterhouse	101	Dark Peak Fell Runners	MSen		139
Peter Westland	106	Totley A.C.	M60		140
Anthony Whitehouse	108	Totley	M70		141
Jeremy Wood	113		MSen		142
Tim Rutter	130	Dark Peak Fell Runners	M40		143