Spires and Steeples 2016

I did this one for the first time last year. It is low key event, there is no fuss. It follows the Spires and Steeples footpath from Lincoln to Sleaford. You park at the finish and a coach takes you up to the start. There is also a half marathon which starts halfway down the route and there are also walkers who set off an hour earlier on the marathon, so there are usually lots of people around.

After a lovely descent through Lincoln it is a pretty flat route which passes through numerous villages, crosses fields and and quiet country roads (and of course goes by many churches).

I came down the night before and as last year treated myself to this the night before:

I was up at 6.30 and left the Travelodge at 7.30. The dawn colours looked attractive

I caught the coach up without any problem. There was a different start from last year, just around the corner which made the distance about 0.25m longer which was fine.

They had the same checkpoint system as last year, we were given six elastic band with our race number on and we left on at each checkpoint and one at the finish.

A couple of people came and up and chatted as I was wearing my Elvet Striders hoody which as nice - one an Durham Harrier who now lives in Beverley and somebody else who is a good friend of one of our club members.

The start was well organised

Just as we left the rain which had been forecast arrived and it got quite heavy. We went down through the quiet Sunday morning streets in Lincoln. I didn't notice this in Lincoln last year

The rain lasted for about 3 hours so that wasn't great. The route also got quite muddy in places, much worse than last year. We crossed a few pretty bridges

and quite a few, probably ten, fields like this

These just got tougher as it went on, my shoes (Inov Ultra 290s) were picking up loads of mud and the only way of moving forward at any sort of pace was to adopt something like a cross country skiing action.

When the rain finally stopped, the sun came out but the wind picked up and it was a headwind. I was also a bit tired and I was walking far more than last year. Consequently, I finished 35min slower than last year. Not great but the conditions were definitely worse this year.

The course was signed very well except at one point (or maybe someone removed it the sign) where a few people made a mistake, but I was lucky as I could see them coming back to take the correct turn.

We ran through a field of chickens near the end, there seemed to be thousands of them

It was definitely worth doing this one again, but I think I was lucky with the conditions last year.

Round Ripon Ultra 35m 2016

This is a 35m run to the north and a little to the west of Ripon and mainly follows part of the Ripon Rowel footpath. I have done it one before in 2010. I got a little lost at one point that year, but I don't think I added too much too much my time which was just under 8hrs. I couldn't remember too much of the route, only sections which overlapped with the Rock and Rowel event, but they were in the last 7m or so.

This route has a little bit of everything - trails, farm roads, quiet country roads, woods, fields and moors. There was a little more tarmac than I remembered, even some of the farm roads were tarmac.

The first half lulled you into a false sense of security as it was pretty flat. There was a 4hr cut off at Masham which was at 16m, so my aim was to get there well before the cut off. The cut offs got even easier after that.

At the start I met up with Gromit from Fetch and chatted to her and two friends she was running with. Mark Dalton from Hardmoors was also there and we chatted for a while.

We started at the Village Hall in the lovely village of Studley Roger and we ran part of the Jolly Holly route into Ripon.

Ripon is lovely and we ran past the cricket club which is used as a base for the Jolly Holly

Then we turned on to the Ripon Rowel footpath which runs north and follows the river fairly closely. We went past some lovely farmhouses

The first checkpoint was at a caravan site, so there was access to some toilets there. I am not sure what was wrong with the womens' toilet, but there seemed to be lots of women using the men's facilities. 

We then approached the lovely village West Tanfield

We then went into the muddy woods between West Tanfield and Masham again following the river

There was one point where there was a choice of three routes. Two of the routes looked to be heading in the right direction, so I chose one up to a viewpoint and on the way down the other side met up with some of the runners. Maybe I should have taken the other route, but I don't think it was much different in terms of distance.

I ran through Masham (16m) which looked very busy and got into the checkpoint in 3h 2min which I was pleased with. I now had 7hr to do the last 19m, so that was going to be fine. I also managed to reunite a runner with his watch which I had picked up about 4m previously.

Shortly after we left the checkpoint we crossed a stile and were confronted by a field of 7ft corn with a faint path through it. That was the way to go and it was fun !

The route continued fairly flat with a few undulations, but after the halfway point the hills started in earnest. And there were quite a few of them. After halfway we plunged down to a river and had a long drag upwards, maybe 2m on a country road. At the top was the third checkpoint which was close to a cafe selling ice cream which was very tempting. A short descent across fields followed by a another steep climb on tarmac. The climbs and descents continued and we crossed moors a couple of times

At this point I was running with runner who had lost his watch, Ben, who turned out to live in Coxhoe near Durham and works in one of the Colleges. We chatted away and I was doing the navigating, but after a while I was slowing and he attached himself to another group. It was noticeable that runners were often running in groups, presumably because some of them were not sure of the route.

We finally reached the last checkpoint by which point I had used all my water. I filled up and drank loads. The weather had been fine, cloudy with the sun coming out only rarely, little wind, perfect running conditions. I had started in long sleeves as it had been cold at 9.00 and I didn't roll up the sleeves all day. We ran through a few fields with cows and I did think that maybe a red shirt might not have been the best choice ....

From the fourth checkpoint, most of the route was familiar from the Rock and Rowel events. There was a lovely stretch in woods along the side of a lake near Eavestone. At this point I had picked up a couple of shadows who weren't navigating who were about twenty yards behind me and following me because I looked like I knew where I was going. This was fine and there were occasions when they got closer and chatted and there were times when I shouted where I was when there were a couple of sharp turns in quick succession.

Finally we made it into the beautiful Studley Roger deer park, one of my favourite places

We were also running down the central path to the finish, which was great. I ran into the finish aware I was going to beat my time from six years ago. I came in 5min faster which was very pleasing. 

Finishers received a very heavy medal. We had been given a technical tee shirt before the start, together with a map book which I didn't use as I had downloaded the route to my phone.

My 140th marathon/ultra which is a nice round number.

Hardmoors Princess 31m 2016

I have enterted this event four times now. The route is the same as the old Hardmoors 30 route which I have also done three times so this would be my seventh time on this route. There is normally a big difference between running it in the winter (the Hardmoors 30 is on New Year's Day) and September especially on the Whitby to Ravenscare section on the Cleveland Way. In September there is normally no mud. 

It is a lovely route, from Ravenscar to Hayburn Wyke on the Cleveland Way, then back to Ravenscar via the Cinder Track. After that 8m loop we carry on the Cinder Track to Whitby via Robin Hood's Bay and then back to Ravenscar via the Cleveland Way. I think it's easier than some of the Hardmoors marathons which are sometimes only a little shorter bit shorter than the Hardmoors Princess, but have much more ascent.

The Hardmoors Princess is also a charity event in aid of the local mountain rescue team. Runners were encouraged to wear Princess attire a bit more strongly this year and many responded. You can see pictures on the Hardmoors facebook page if you want to see more.

In the last year I have run two ultras with Kath and Sara. Sadly Kath could not make this event as she is recovering from a injury, so Sara and I ran together. It was lovely, we chatted away and the day just flew by.

The run down to Hayburn was fine although the wind was fairly strong in our faces, but we had just started and we were fine. I did wonder what it would be like on the last 11m from Whitby when we would be more tired. We ran almost all of the uphill drag on the Cinder Track and road back to the Village Hall in Ravenscar. Ann Brown snapped us just before we got there

About halfway between Ravenscar and Robon Hood's Bay the rain started. It was then on and off, but mainly on for the rest of the event. It did get a bit heavy at times and you can see what we looked like arriving at the Whitby checkpoint (thanks to James Campbell for these):

We thought that Whitby would be quieter because of the rain, but it was still busy. The smell of fish and chips reached us as we ran past shops. We climbed the infamous 199 Whitby steps, the wind and the rain eased and I was able to get a shot of the harbour

Soon after we were on to the Cleveland Way where the route is very good underfoot for about a mile. After that it became more muddy. Not as bad as it gets in Januray, but definitely the worst September conditions that I have experienced. I had worn light trail shoes but I could have done with more grip. Those in road shoes, which would have been fine normally, were all over the place.

We found that we were see sawing with a few other runners, including Angela from my club. Once we got beyond Robin Hood's Bay (where they had watermelon at the checkpoint !) we stuck together and finished as a group of three.

In the Village Hall there was a round of applause as we entered. Lorna kindly ensured we had something warm to drink and we helped ourselves to the chips and cakes that were provided.

There were quite a few Striders at this event some of them doing their first ultra. Everybody did great. Phil was also marshalling on his birthday.

As usual, we received a certificate, a medal and a bag of sweets for completing the route.

I am sure I will be again next year !

2014 blog

Hardmoors Wainstones 2016

Melanie and I last did this in April 2014 and it was my 100th marathon/ultra. It was tough and afterwards we both said we would give this one a miss in future. I marshalled it in April 2015, an experience I won't forget as the wind was strong and it was throwing it down with rain. We were also in a very exposed spot between the first and second sister on the Cleveland Way.

However, this year I weakened and entered the marathon again. Melanie stayed strong and entered the half.

The reason it is so tough are the hills. There are ten of them on the marathon and the total ascent appears to be somewhere between 4500 and 5000 ft depending on which website you use.

Hill 1 The race starts (and finishes, it is basically a circular route) at Chop Gate Village Hall and parking was easy in the field next to the Village Hall. Melanie came in her own car for her start which was an hour after the marathon. It was good to see her and other Striders before I started.

I have done the first hill in several races. In the Hardmmors Osmotherley and the Osmotherley Phoenix it comes in the middle of these events. I prefer to do it at the start and get it out of the way, I think its probably the steepest of the ones on today's route. 

It does mean that I did 23min for the first mile which is one way to start a marathon.

Soon after I reached the top I caught up with Rebecca from my club who was running her second marathon and her first Hardmoors one. She had been on her hen night the previous evening and had done a 10K race that day so she was out for a day out. I also was also looking for a day out so we agreed to run together. Thanks to David for this photo

We descended into Scugdale 

and ran along a quiet country road.

Hill 2 This one is the long drang up to Carlton Bank which I did recently with Kath and Sara on the Lyke Wake Challenge. By coincidence we passed Roy one of the organisers of that event at the bottom of the climb. As we got close to the top we saw some paragliders who were enjoying the wind and the fantastic views

At the bottom of Carlton Bank near Lordstones cafe we came across Eric and Gillian who were doing the half (the half route had missed out Carlton Bank) and I learnt that Melanie was ahead of them so I knew I wouldn't see her.

Hill 3 Cringle Moor which the first of the trio known as the three sisters. This seemed to pass very quickly and we were rewarded by the great view from the lookout. The weather was warm, overcast with a cooling breeze so just perfect for running. We descended carefully and soon we climbing the second sister.

Hill 4 This is the easiest of the three sisters and there is very little rest at the top before you are on the way down.

Hill 5 The Wainstones and again the climb seemed to pass quickly. We were surrounded by half marathon runners and a group of three marathon runners so there was plenty of chatter. The final part of the climb requires about twenty yards of negotiating the wainstones themselves

There is lovely flat section at the top of this hill. Melanie had been through this before us

Then it was down to the road at Clay Bank and the checkpoint where they had watermelon !! 😀 Watermelon is my favourite checkpoint food on a warm day.

Hill 6 As we left the checkpoint a sign said we weren't even halfway yet, which was a little disheartening. However I felt that we would be over the worst once we climbed up on to Carr Ridge. 

Flip was marshalling up there and we turned south, left the Cleveland Way and ran along the edge of the escarpment.

Hill 7 At Medd Crag there was a checkpoint where the half marathon runners continued south and we went east and up a long drag to Round Hill, the highest point on the North York Moors. We rejoined the Cleveland Way and ran down to Blowarth Crossing.

Hill 8 The long drag up towards Ouse Gill Head. We turned down into Bransdale just as we stated to descend. There had been five sweepers close by and one of them came up and chatted. The descent into Bransdale is lovely and we stayed at the checkpoint a few minutes, tried not to let this sign put us off

and chatted to the marshalls and the sweepers. We then had a section on a quiet road in Bransdale, past its lovely old church.

Hill 9 Inevitably there is a climb out of Bransdale. I had forgotten how steep and long this was. It was on tarmac and at the top we came across the last checkpoint where again we chatted with the marshalls and the sweepers before starting on a track across the moors in the general direction of the finish.

Hill 10 I had remembered a dip into and out of a valley before the finish, but again I had forgotten how far down we had to go and climb out. We were mixing with the sweepers here and enjoying the chat.

Once we were out of that valley we quickly came across David and Mark who were directing us downhill to the finish

Thanks for David for this last photo. It was thena  lovely descent to the finish. Rebecca was determined to get under 8hrs so we ran along the road just before the finish

As we entered the hall Jason who had just finished his 100th marathon was just leaving. There was time to congratulate him briefly before we got to the desk to record our time.

I had barely put my running vest down before Jon called me up for a presentation. I thought I had seen four other v60 entrants on the entry list for the marathon. I was so surprised I asked whether they were sure. They were. It is not often you come in last and win something. There is a lesson here, when you get over 60 enter a Hardmoors event, hardly anybody else of that age does ! This my fifth age category 'win' at a Hardmoors event. Thanks to David for the photo

Another advatage of coming in last is that the volunteers press you to take home some of the food that is left over.

I think I will do this one again 😀