Jez Bragg runs into the twilight during last year's event

A minute’s silence will precede the start of one of England’s toughest long-distance races in memory of a regular competitor who was killed earlier this year.

The 450 competitors in the Fellsman will stand in tribute to Tracy Dryden who was stabbed to death in March. The start of the 97km (60-mile) race is in Tracy’s home village of Ingleton.

Ms Dryden was a regular competitor in fellrunning and ultra running events and last year finished the event in 132nd place in a time of 20hrs 40mins. The 37-year-old mother of two was a member of Settle Harriers and was a medical PhD student.

She was killed by a single stab to the chest in Halton near Lancaster in March. Her husband John Dryden, 43, also a member of Settle Harriers, is currently remanded in custody after being charged with her murder.

This year’s Fellsman race, in its 48th year, will see the return of past winner Mark Hartell, who has won the event 11 times and come second twice. The 45-year-old, who splits his time between his Macclesfield base and San Francisco, did not take part in the event last year, which was won by 28-year-old Jez Bragg of Warwick.

Night navigation is a feature of the Fellsman for all but the fastest runners

There is no word yet as to whether Bragg will defend his title, and Hartell was complaining of a painful knee leading to a long lay-off earlier this year, but a second place in the Calderdale Pike has set him up for another crack at the Fellsman, a race he loves because, he says, it coincides with the Dales countryside coming alive.

Although there’s a certain amount of sandbagging going on with all competitors – Hartell is warning he’s been used to a more ‘sedentary life’ – it’s clear he can’t be written off as a serious contender in his 17th start to the event.

The ultra-running expert is tipping Steve Birkinshaw, who may also challenge Hartell’s long standing Lake District 24-hour fell record this year. Hartell said: “Another name to look out for is Steve Watts who is going well this year.”

Women’s winner Sarah Rowell is not running this year, though she will be seen on the route as a volunteer helper. Nicky Spinks is tipped by Mark Hartell as a runner to watch. She’s a successful completer of the Bob Graham Round, the Ramsay’s Round of munros in Lochaber, and the Paddy Buckley Round in Snowdonia.

The Fellsman has had resurgence since its last peak in popularity in the 1970s and 80s and the entry list was filled in mid-March. 450 entrants are due to set off from Ingleton on the southern fringe of the Yorkshire Dales national park for the 3,350m (11,000ft) of ascent as they tackle Ingleborough, Whernside, Gragareth, Great Coum, Blea Moor, Great Knoutberry, Dodd Fell, Middle Tongue, Buckden Pike and Great Whernside, heading for the finish, up to 27 hours later, in Threshfield.

More than 40 per cent of this year’s entrants are new to the event.

Among those making a more sedate tour of the route will be eight-day old Erin Carter, daughter of organiser Sue Carter and her sometime competitor husband Jonny. Erin will be getting her tally clipped but her mum said she’ll be confining her route to the roadside checkpoints and will certainly be assisted in her circuit of the Dales.

The race, in which both walkers and runners compete, starts at 9am on Saturday, 8 May, from the Ingleborough Community Centre, Ingleton. Further details are on the Fellsman website.