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 😀

Elsecar Skelter 27m 2016

I have done this LDWA event three times before, but the last time was 2012, so it has been a while and I was looking forward to going back. The attractions are some lovely countryside, a fair number of follies and country houses, checkpoints with food, a meal at the end in a pub and all for £10 !

I also used to work in one of the country houses, Wentworth Woodhouse, when it was known as Lady Mabel College of Education

It has fantastic grounds surrounded by a deer park. Sadly it isn't possible to see in the house as it is now privately owned.

Last time Melanie and I did this event we ended up going through nettles which were head high. Melanie has not let me forget this, so unusually we decided to recce that section the night before. We found the well hidden stile we were supposed to have taken last time, so we knew we would not make that error again. It is a largely unmarked route. There is a route description which is is pretty clear and a GPX of the route provided by the organisers.

Melanie was planning to do the 15m route, while I was doing the 27m route, but the first 10m were the same and I would be running Melanie's last 5m as my last 5m.

There was a short briefing about a couple of changes to the route and then it was a simple, 'off you go' and we headed off from fairly near the front so we were not stuck behind any walkers on the narrow paths soon after the start.

We went past the first folly, Hoober Stand, which you can see in the distance in the photo

Then past another folly which you can't see much of because of woods from where we are. Then into the deer park and up to Wentworth Woodhouse

We were taking it steady, walking the hills and running most of the rest and being passed by other runners including Jon and Sarah who are fellow 100 marathon club members.

The second checkpoint at 10m (it was also the 6th checkpoint for me) was the best for food - sandwiches, malt loaf, crisps, cake and this is where I parted company with Melanie.

I headed off into the woods and promptly made a navigational error turning left a little early. It was no problem really, I was soon back on the right path without having to backtrack. I went round the edge of a cornfield and through the middle of the next one - I do like running through the middle of corn fields

There were quite a few opportunities to do this at this event and another one came along shortly

The weather was pretty warm, but there was nice breeze to cool us down. However, I don't think I drank enough water in the first 10m. I was trying to make up for it, but I don't think I managed this very well

Through another checkpoint and then across a few fields before the one muddy section before a bit of a climb up. Then there was a lovely descent down a farm road and onto the lovely Warncliffe Crags

I love this section, lovely views and slightly downhill through woods with breaks in the trees for a view. The descent is a bit rocky and technical but I just took my time.

The next checkpoint was Wortley Hall, where there is usually a wedding taking place and there was again. The checkpoint was offering tea, bananas, jelly babies and biscuits, so I had half a cup of tea before heading onwards to the edge of the Hall grounds

Then more farm roads, a bit of tarmac and back into the woods where I made the navigational error earlier. This section was taped, but at one junction I was a bit doubtful and tried the other way. However with ten yards my watch was showing I was off course, so I quickly turned round and found my way back to the checkpoint where Melanie and I had separated. More food and drink was very welcome.

Then onwards along slightly overgrown paths to Tankersley Hall, which was used in the filming of Kes. The last self clip checkpoint was there and the route went through some woods which were a little muddy. Finally I came to the section that Melanie and I had recce'd the night before and onwards across another cornfield

before entering the park next to the finish. There was a grand certificate and a badge both featuring Wentworth Woodhouse at the end.

The finish was in a pub and I realised I was pretty thirsty and two pints of different guest ales quickly disappeared. This and the dry first 10m was probably not a very good idea as when I was dozing later, I woke with the most painful cramp I think I have every experienced ! I will be more careful in future !

Lyke Wake Challenge 2016

I have been aware of the Lyke Wake route from Osmotherley to Ravenscar for a number of years and I have always thought that one day I would do it. Finally, I got the chance and I ran it with the two friends Kath and Sara who I ran the Hardmoors 60 with last September.

The Challenge is organised by the Quakers Running Club in Darlington and they did a fantastic job. The checkpoints were well organised and apart from the basics, jelly babies, peanuts, jaffa cakes and crisps, one checkpoint had rice pudding and fruit and hot drinks, another had the largest slices of watermelon I have seen and another one had yummy chocolate brownies !

It is a handicapped event where slower runners set off earlier in small batches. I was up at 3.00 am and collected Kath at 4.00 and Sara at 5.00 and we got to the start at 5.30 for a start time of 5.50. After a thorough kit check from Sandra from the Quakers we started with five other runners.

Kath had been worried about a knee injury and Sara had not had much time to train so we expected to use all of the ten and half hours that we had predicted. We started gently from the car park to the north of Cod Beck reservoir and we were soon on the very familiar Cleveland Way. We went over Carlton Bank

and down to the first checkpoint at Lordstones.

We contoured round the three sisters and arrived in Clay Bank.

We climbed out of there

and into the cloud surrounding Round Hill. Up till then the weather had been warm but with thick cloud overhead, perfect for running. Once in the cloud, we lost the fantastic views as visibility was down to 30 meters. On the way down from Round Hill to Blowarth Crossing, Kath's knee suddenly went. We stopped and she put extra tape on her knee and it seemed to help. We made our way to the Lion Inn and as we got closer the rain started and got pretty heavy.

After having lots of food, we went out of the lovely dry tent and out into the heavy rain and up the road. Luckily the verge was very wide because some of the cars were going too fast and some didn't even have lights on, which was madness in the limited visibility.

We then went into what is known as the boggy section that I had recced about a month ago. It had got wetter since then. Despite the recce, I still managed to lead us and another runner off course. I realised pretty quickly because of the route being on my watch, but we had to cross some boggy bits to get back on track. Both Kath and Sara fell over into boggy bits whilst getting back on track. Luckily because the temperature was so warm, there were no consequences to these falls. I wasn't the only one who made a mistake in this section, some reckoned they had added 5 miles to their distance by going off route here.

Progress in this section was slow but at least the rain had stopped by about half way through and we reached the Hamer checkpoint and the lovely brownies.

The next section was said to be rocky and muddy but maybe not quite as muddy at the boggy section. There were fewer bogs, but there was plenty of mud and rocks and again we were walking most of this section. The cloud finally lifted and we got some of the lovely views of the moors. Lots of runners were overtaking and almost everybody was saying 'hi' or 'well done', it was a very friendly atmosphere.

We reached the Stape Road and the checkpoint and went down to the stepping stones.

A climb up to Simon Howe and down to the railway line and just got across before a train went by.

More food at Ellerbeck and then the long boggy climb up Lila Cross.

The next section was new to me and seemed to last much longer than I expected. Finally we came to the ravine before Jugger Howe and Kath found it tough going down so steeply. Once we left the Jugger Howe checkpoint we started the final climb up to the radio mast outside of Ravenscar.

It was a bit of relief to finish, we had been on our feet for over twelve hours. The finish was as well organised as the rest of the event and it was great to see so many friendly Quaker club members at the end.

Durham Dales Challenge 30m 2016

I like this event, it is very low key. The food at the checkpoints is probably the best ones of any local event. I can't understand why it isn't as popular as the Swaledale 'marathon', which fills very quickly. The Durham Dales usually has places available on the day, but this year it was full for the first time that I can remember. The start and finish were also a bit different this year and there were were three other small variations to the route.

I parked in the Demesne Mill Picnic Area where there were ducks waiting to be fed

and walked across the field towards the Parish Church to register in the hall behind. They use to use the secondary school which had lots of parking, but this year we were parking in various place around Wolsingham.

Last year I was recovering from injury so I did the 16m route, but this year I was down to do the 30m route which I haven't done since 2013.

I started possibly a little too quickly, although that sounds like I sped off, but it was more of a small increase to my normal speed (slow) on these events. I had had a cold for most of the previous week and I should have preserved what energy I had.

We climbed up to escarpment but instead of using the road we went along the Weardale Way, which was much more pleasant. There were some nice views down the valley as we climbed upwards.

Soon after we reached the top the two routes went their separate ways. I soon caught up the Quakers team that I often see on these events and we ran together over the moors, crossing streams

and through Hamsterley Forest. The first manned checkpoint was there and there was a good selection of savory and sweet food to choose from. The flies were a bit of a nuisance in the forest, but once out on the moors again, they dispersed.

I had left the Quaker Team behind as one of them had an injury which was slowing them down.

 We came down into the valley of River Tees.

 and the route followed the river for a a while

before heading away and through some lovely buttercup meadows

The Middleton-in-Teesdale checkpoint was amazing as ever, the food was just incredible. It started to rain slightly as I went through the town, but it wasn't heavy at this point. There is two mile or so road section here, which then goes through an old quarry and into old mining areas. There is quite a bit of ascent and descent in the route, but nothing too serious.

I reached the second last checkpoint and stocked up on more wonderful food - quiche, cake and flapjack.

At this point I was aware that my hamstring felt a bit sore. I have a leg of the club charity relay next week and the 40m Lyke Wake Challenge a week after that, so I thought I should be sensible and walk the remaining 8 miles or so - I didn't want to make it worse. I was also feeling that I was very low on energy, so walking seemed to be the best thing to do.

The weather got a little worse with heavy showers coming in, but nothing too bad. I came across some 16m walkers who were unsure of the way and hopefully guided them in the right direction.

As usual there was a meal at the finish - vegetable casserole or vegetable curry followed by sweet. If I can make the event next year I will be coming back.

2013 blog