Hardmoors Saltburn marathon 2018

This was going to be my twenty fifth Hardmoors marathon. Some of these marathons have been over 30 miles so it gets a bit confusing when there are Hardmoors 30 mile and Hardmoors Princess 30 mile events. Today I was meant to be running with Elly and Kath, but sadly Kath is injured so she was helping out in the Sports Hall which is the start and finish. Melanie was running the half and she came down separately and I was able to see her briefly before we started.

What is lovely about the Hardmoors events is that they are friendly and the marshalls out on the course play a big part in that. They are all runners who are either injured or who are volunteering to stand outside in the windy and very cold conditions. This marshall was at Lauren and Chris's party marshalling point.

The event starts with a run down a road before the descent into Valley Gardens where it is sheltered

Then onto the sea front

before the climb up on to the cliffs and these are the views back to Saltburn

At the top of our climb is the famous wind vane (this picture was taken by Melanie)

and shortly after there was an unofficial photographer (photo taken by Steven Carter)

 and the descent down towards Skinningrove where last year the wind was so strong it was nearly blowing us back up the steps. This year the wind had been behind us and not as strong

After Skinningrove there is sharp climb upwards

where the Sports Sunday photographer was positioned

and then onto the party checkpoint which was full of inflatables and music

 The views back before we left were great, the weather was cold but you could see for miles

Then it was into the wind which I could feel despite three layers on my upper body. Through Skinningove Mining Museum, Carlin Howe and out into muddy fields

Through Skelton, West Skelton and Slapewath and into Guisborough Woods. Jon, the race director, plays a cruel trick with the route at this point. You climb up to be this high above Guisborough

and then he send you down a very muddy descent

before you have a long muddy drag all the way up to High Cliff Nab. Here is the very muddy final section

and then you get another view of Guisborough

Through the woods and out on to the waterlogged moors, which were very grim in the wind and the rain last year. This year there was a bit if a cold wind, so not as bad, but bot really fun. You then start to go downhill back to the finish. You descend down into Valley Gardens and under the Saltburn Viaduct.

In the hall it was pretty cold, but there were hot showers and after that Jon presented me with my 1000 miles Hardmoors fleece - I completed the 1000 miles at Goathland in November, but it takes a while to get the fleece sorted.

A tough day out again with the cold and the mud, but it was great to have Elly's company !

2017 blog

Wilmot Wander 32m 2018

I did this event two years ago and I found it very, very muddy. A brief summary of this year's event is that it was muddy again

but not quite as bad as two years ago. Last time it rained during the event, this year it was mainly cloudy but we did have some sunshine 😊

This event also has a relatively unusual start, you are allocated a start time with two or three others and there is a four minute gaps between groups. Walkers leave in groups from 7.00 and runners start in groups from 8.00. So you have to be on the ball with your navigation straight away. Apart from two or three signs at Radbourne (17 miles), the route is not marked.

I had the route on my Garmin and on my phone as a backup. I was also carrying the not very clear map and the detailed route description. My memory for routes is not too bad, but this route has lots of twists and turns up until you reach the canal at 23m. It is pretty straightforward after that - canal towpath followed by cycle paths.

I chatted with the only other person I left Race HQ with and we were both pleased by the weather and grateful that it wasn't like last weekend when there was lots of ice and snow.

I remembered most of the start out of Derby and then we were into the start of the muddy field edges

but soon after we were into a private estate, Locko Park

and then off into more muddy paths and fields

Soon after this I made my first mistake. I came to a gate, failed to notice a small gate slightly to the left and saw a large gate going slightly right. I took that and was followed by three others. I waded through a big mud pond the other side of the gate and then immediately realised something wasn't right. I asked my followers if they were sure this was right as they were about to run off, but they clearly weren't sure. Then other runners appeared at the original gate and called us back and said we should go through the small gate. So back through the mud pond again and on to the right path.

Down to the first checkpoint, biscuits, jelly babies, juice and hot drinks - all the checkpoints were the same. They recorded your number, which you had to remember, there was no cards to stamp or numbers to attach in this event.

Then a short windy road section where I lost sight of the runners ahead and made another error. I missed a turn but realised pretty quickly and cursed myself for not paying more attention to my watch.

After that it was more woods, fields, quiet roads, a bit of a climb before reaching the second checkpoint. By this time I was starting to catch some of walkers and some of the runners who had started before me. After the second checkpoint there is a footbridge over the railway and a one mile climb up a muddy hill. 

More pretty Derbyshire villages and meandering footpaths with plenty of scope to go the wrong way before a long climb up a farm road into a wind which seemed to be picking up. Down the other side of the valley and up again to a water tower on the horizon. The route at the water tower is unclear, the route description says left round a new partially finished estate so that is the way I went, but there is a footpath straight through the new estate on the map which has presumably been diverted because of the building work as I saw runners on it at the other end.

At this point 16 miles, I realised I was pretty tired, the mud was just sucking my energy away and I was only half way. I walked a bit until I got to Radbourne where I had plenty to drink and started on my way, passed the lovely church and

though the Radbourne Estate and into yet more muddy fields. Crossed the A516 and made another very minor error, but soon got back on track and reached checkpoint 4. Soon after this there is the horrible crossing of the A38, a busy dual carriageway with crash barriers between the carriageways.

This time I saw runners crossing a bit further down from where I had climbed over the crash barriers last time. I followed them and saw that there was a gap in the crash barriers which would save climbing over them (not something you want to be doing when you are next to the fast lane). This made it a bit easier to cross, but it is still a hairy crossing.

Then onto the village of Findhern which you approach from the north west and leave by the south east and there must be many ways of getting through the maze of little streets. I stuck to the way I went last time in order not to get lost again.

Then there is about a mile to the canal and here you can relax in terms of navigation. It was raining here last time, but this time it was sunny and not as muddy as last time and I enjoyed it. I knew it was going to be a long 3.5 miles but this time I was prepared for it. There were some interesting things to look at

Finally I got to the point where we leave the canal

and the final checkpoint. Five miles to go along cycle tracks from here to the finish. I had started to run less on the canal, I was just too tired and it was a run a bit, walk a bit routine all the way back to the finish. There was hot soup and some cake at the Race HQ, but I needed more and ventured into McDonalds, somewhere I haven't been for a very long time. I got one or two looks going in there with still some mud on me. Then back to the hotel where I cleaned myself up and treated myself to a gin and tonic

One year I would like to do this one without making any errors so maybe I will try again at some point in the future.

2016 blog

Hardmoors 30 2018

Nailed it this year !

You can see from last year's event I didn't get the photo quite right.

I have trained all year for this, built up slowly, paced myself and gone to other events where Sports Sunday have been taking photos. All the preparation has now paid off and this year's result is

The event itself was tough but enjoyable. The car parking was very difficult  this year. I arrived shortly before 8.00 for a 9.30 start and got one of the very few remaining places in the overflow car park.

In the hall, I had my kit checked and had a good chat with Fran who I haven't seen for a while. Darren, Katie and Viv were also there and I had a brief chat with them - they had had to park about a mile and half away and a local had given them a lift to the Village Hall.

I decided this was going to be a 'get round' event. I haven't done a Hardmoors event since early November (Goathland). I did a flat marathon (Town Moor) late November but no long distance event in December. On Saturday I ran Sedgefield parkun , Sunday, the Jolly Holly Jog 10K and although I took both of those very easy, I wasn't expecting my legs to last on the Monday. Also it sounded like the course was going to be very muddy and not at all like it was in 2017.

I decided to run slowly on the Cinder track out of Robin Hood's Bay towards Whitby. It was a lovely day with great views out to sea

There was some wind from the south west but it was behind us in this section and I managed the gradual climb fine. Then there was the lovely run down to Whitby, via the Hawkser rail carriages

Soon after this I got chatting to Kathleen who was doing her first trail ultra or trail marathon and we ran together to the Whitby checkpoint where Phil and Sue were marshalling. Through Whitby, which was quiet, and up the steps where I took a a couple of photos and lost touch with Kathleen who went on ahead

Up to the Abbey

The path to Saltwick Bay is always clear of mud and there were great views north and south

Once through Saltwick, the mud started in earnest, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. It wasn't too runny except in one or two places, mostly it was the gooey, sticky type which make your shoes twice as heavy. Past the fog horn and lighthouse at Ling Hill

and soon after I passed the Sports Sunday photographer and onward along the muddy coastal path.

I caught up with Kathleen again and after a while she asked if there were any first aid facilities at Robin Hood's Bay and I said there probably was but I was carrying some basic kit. She had slipped on the mud and caught her arm on the barbed wire fence and had a long cut on her arm. None of my plasters were long enough, so the next best option was to use a long crepe bandage to keep it protected. This all took a while and lots of other runners going by offered to help which was lovely and typical of the spirit in these events. We started to run gently but Kathleen's knee started to play up, she had twisted it in the fall. We walked the rest of the way back to Robin Hood's Bay 

and once we were in sight of the checkpoint she encouraged me to go on. She was planning to retire there which was probably wise considering what the second part was like.

The Cinder track initially goes downhill from Robin Hood's Bay in the direction of Ravenscar, but then starts to rise (the first photo is looking back. 

I found it hard to do much running once this started, so I spoke to Melanie on the phone (who had done two parkruns and run in between them and so covered 13m !) and I looked down on the leaders running the coastal path before Stoupe Beck and they seemed to be moving very quickly over that section - hopefully not much mud there, I mistakenly thought.

Ravenscar and its lovely view back to Robin Hood's Bay finally appeared

The Ravenscar checkpoint is very exposed, I didn't envy the marshalls there, but as with all the marshalls they were cheery and helpful.

On to the Cinder track 

Just 12 miles to go at that point ....

I soon caught up with Emma and we started to chat and ended up staying together until the end. It was great to have her company and she dragged me along sections I might have walked otherwise.

We made it down to Hayburn Wyke in good time and then through the woods until we got close to the sea

The Cleveland Way was muddy here, more liquid mud and quite a bit of it is uphill, so we made slow progress on this section. We were faster than some others, we were both wearing Saucony KOA ST shoes (thanks Tony from Let's Run where we both got them from) which were better than most other shoes in the mud.

We were both getting a bit cold towards the end of this section, the wind was picking up and it was starting to get dark. Returning to the Ravenscar checkpoint, the marshalls were sensibly checking that we were layered up and had head torches.

After a quick toilet break in Ravenscar, we started down the hill to the cliffs and the head torches were soon on. It was pretty dark at this point and I realised that the mud here was probably worse than anywhere else and navigating it in the dark was far from easy. It also started to rain for a short time. I nearly fell and I was doing all sorts of arm movements to stay upright. Finally we made it to the road down to Stoupe Beck and up the steps on the other side.

Then the same at Boggle Hole, up and down steps. We were passing a few runners in this section. Finally down more steps into the bottom of Robin Hood's Bay and the steep road climb back to the top and the finish at the Villlage Hall.

I don't have the exact time yet, but I think I was about an hour slower than last year, but that doesn't matter, I made it, and hopefully it will set me up for the winter ultras and marathons coming up.

I think this maybe the first time we have had long sleeved tee shirts which was great

There was plenty of food at the end (Jon and Shirley do a fantastic job organising these events) and I chatted to Fran, Darren, Viv and Katie at the end and gave Darren a lift back to his car so he could drive back to pick up the others.

A tough day out in the mud, but it was good fun 😀

2017 blog

Newcastle Town Moor marathon 2017

I haven't done a road marathon for over a year - the last one I did was Morpeth to Newcastle and I was very happy with a sub 4hr 30min time there. The weather conditions on the Town Moor can be very variable and if it is windy it can be a bit of a nightmare. However, the forecast for this year was cold, sunshine and small amount of wind and that turned out to be accurate.

I last did this event in 2012 and I had completed it the previous three years. By that time I had had enough of laps of the Town Moor. It has taken me five years to come back and give it another go. They have changed the course since I last did it, the one hill which you covered five times has been omitted and we now do seven laps. I not a great fan of lapped courses so I knew this was going to be a mental challenge.

I had expected to see about four or five people I knew, but it turned out of be far more than that, probably about twenty people, some running the full marathon, some the half, the organisers and some of the marshalls. That made it so much better. It was particularly good to see Kate from Fetcheveryone who I haven't seen since we ran the Northumberland Coastal marathon together a few years ago. The marshalls were as encouraging as they always are at this event 😀

There was no particular plan, I thought it might be good to get sub 4hr 30min, but I would be happy to get round. Since Goathland last Saturday, I have had an ache on the left side of my right knee, but I am only really aware of it when running downhill or uphill. As this course is pretty flat I was hopeful it wouldn't be be and issue and it wasn't.

There were probably about one hundred and fifty doing the marathon, maybe slightly less doing the half (who set off an hour after the marathon).

The course ? Well what can I say, it was the Town Moor, if you have ever run there you will know what it's like. Flat, no trees or shrubbery on the moor itself. There is a section where you run on the pavement close to the road which isn't much fun, but that isn't too far from the end of a lap so I was just focusing on getting the lap finished. However, there is short part which is in Exhibition Park where you run round the boating lake and past the Wylam Brewery which is more attractive.

I set off at a pace what I thought was gentle, but I was feeling pretty good and I speeded up more than I should have done with hindsight. But if you don't try running a bit faster, you will never know what you are capable of.  Also it was very cold throughout the race and I wanted to get a bit warmer. I had three layers on for the first lap and my hat and gloves never came off.

Thanks to George Routledge for this photo taken towards the end of the first lap

For the first lap I was wearing a base layer, short sleeved top and a windproof jacket as I was so cold. The jacket came off at the end of the first lap.

My first half was really good 2hr 2min. I knew I would slow down in the second half as a consequence of running Goathland last weekend. However, I thought I had banked enough for a sub 4hr 30min finish.

At 16m the wheels started to come off and I had my first walking break. However, lap 5 wasn't too bad, but things started to go downhill in a big way on lap 6. I still expected to be less than 4hr 30min at that point, but the final lap was worse. Twenty minutes from the end, I knew I wasn't going to make it, so I just took it easy from then on and finished on 4hr 33min, Pretty close, but not quite there. First half 2hr 2min, second half 2hr 31min tells its own story

Chatted with a few people at finish before heading for the 'Cafe in the Park' before heading home. The goody bag was impressive for the price of entry 😀 Besides the hat and medal, there was a smartie packet and a bag of crisps but they didn't make it home ...