There were two outstanding accomplishments last week by Pickering runners. Firstly, Simon Tyrrell completed the Hardmoors 110. That’s 110 miles in one go along the whole length of the Cleveland Way from Filey to Helmsley. The long distance footpath takes in several summits such as Roseberry Topping and Captain Cook’s Monument totalling 15,000 feet of climb. The often technical terrain was at least dry underfoot and the weather also stayed dry although a tad on the warm side during the day making keeping well hydrated an issue for many. To help put this huge challenge into perspective, of the 111 starters, 58 didn’t finish. Simon had to pull out at 80 miles last year due to blisters and was determined to cross the finish line this year. This is Simon’s account: “This time I prepared better and was running about 50 miles a week for the 6 weeks beforehand. Race day I felt good, managed to keep my pace slow which is important and really enjoyed the day. At the 50 mile point I was overconfident and ran at pace down a lovely grassy path for 2 miles into Saltburn. Mistake. Took all the energy out of me for the next hour, felt sick and had to move slower until I felt better at Guisborough Woods. Climbing Roseberry Topping in the night was amazing. The checkpoint at the top was the Trig point decked out to look like a Christmas tree with a fantastic and very windswept Marshall at the top!
“Saw dawn break over Bloworth on the moors and reached Clay Bank where I stopped last year. So pleased to reach there and feel well, I had completely overlooked the fact that I still had 30 miles to go, including the next section that is the 3 sisters. They were really tough, very slow, couldn’t run in case I tripped and injured myself. Mentally this was a very hard part, but after that when I could run again I improved and my mood lifted.
“At Osmotherley I started to flag, just tired and having to push to eat food. Mixed run/walk now over to Sutton bank and then up the steps by the White Horse. They are so steep! Took 3 hours to mainly walk the last 8 miles from there. Finished in 33 hours 46 minutes, about in the middle of the field. So happy and still trying to take it all in. The support from club and friends was amazing, and the support crew of my wife Shirley and her sister Sue were second to none, all through the whole race!” Congratulations to Simon for such an epic achievement.

Unfortunately Boyd Brad was one of the 58 who didn’t make it to the finish. He had to pull out after 52 miles due to nausea and struggling to keep food down. This is a common problem in long distance running and finding the right nutritional balance is difficult. The warm weather tends to make this worse. No doubt, Boyd will succeed next year.

Congratulations also go to Amanda Welburn-Smith for her outstanding running of the Hardmoors 160 mile race as part of a relay team of three ladies, The Hardmoors Hedgehogs. Amanda completed four sections of the route totalling 50 miles. The team absolutely smashed it, placing 3rd overall with a finish time of 41 hours 22 minutes. Go Hedgehogs!!

Other events last week include the Glaisdale Fell Race, 8.5 miles with 1,500 feet of climb. Rich Johnson was first back for PRC with an excellent time of 1 hour 29 minutes. Paul Smith wasn’t far behind in 1 hour 34 minutes, earning him a prize for 2nd M65. Then came Nicola Thorpe in 1 hour 39 minutes placing her 2nd F55
and Lucy Saggers was only 3 seconds behind, also clocking 1 hour 39 minutes placing her 2nd F50.

Ben Myers had a cracking race at the Mulgrave Castle 10k. Ben powered up the final hill to finish in a speedy
40 minutes 2 seconds, 8th overall.

And Andrew Bates took part in the Run Through Hyde Park 10k in London finishing in a creditable 54 minutes 5 seconds.