It was one of the busiest weekends of the year for runners of Pickering Running Club with 3 big local races to choose from. Eschewing all these, however, Nick Cousins ran the Athens Marathon to raise funds for Day One Trauma Support, a cause close to his heart. 20,000 runners were bussed to the start in the town of Marathon where they began their journey to retrace the footsteps of the first marathon runner, Pheidippides in 490BC, back to Athens finishing in the Panathenaic Stadium. It is a tough course with 336m of elevation in humid heat. Nick found the experience both emotional and exhilarating completing the event in an excellent time of 4 hours 41 minutes and raising funds via his justgiving page.

Closer to home were the Hardmoors Goathland races.

Michael Todd ran the Marathon (27.6 miles, 3,700 of climb) for the 10th time achieving a brilliant time of 4 hours 46 minutes placing him 9th overall and 2nd M50.

Simon Jones had a cracking race in the Half Marathon (16.8 miles, 2,500 feet of climb) bagging the 1st place and 1st M50 trophies with his time of 2 hours 32 minutes. Bridget Houlston also had a good run, her time of 2 hours 58 minutes placed her 5th female. Then came Rachael Harper in 3 hours 26 minutes followed by Anna Bailey in 3 hours 38 minutes, Chris Adams in 3 hours 42 minutes and Lynn Humpleby in 3 hours 50 minutes.

In the 10k option (7.8 miles, nearly 1,000 feet of climb), Graham Robinson was 2nd M70 in 2 hours 15 minutes. Charlotte Dennison ran with daughter Liv clocking 2 hours 19 minutes.

The latest race in the East Yorkshire Cross Country League also took place on Sunday. The 6.8 mile hilly route through muddy farmland and woodland trails was based at Welton. Ryan Gaughan demonstrated his usual flair crossing the line in 41 minutes 21 seconds placing him 8th out of 364 runners. Josie Rawes ran superbly earning her 1st female with her time of 44 minutes 21 seconds and Kirsty Brown was 12th female in 51 minutes 23 seconds. Then came Richard Newbert in 52 minutes 5 seconds, Kelly Richmond in 52 minutes 37 seconds, Paul Smith in 53 minutes 25 seconds, Mike Wilson in 55 minutes 41 seconds, Lucy Saggers was 3rd F55 in 56 minutes 29 seconds, Emily Loftus in 56 minutes 58 seconds, Andrew Garside in 57 minutes 6 seconds, Nicola Thorpe in 63 minutes 40 seconds, Jenny Richards was 3rd F65 in 67 minutes 15 seconds and Carol Wilson in 68 minutes 16 seconds. In his first race with PRC Martin Sunley finished in 69 minutes 50 seconds, then came Karen Harper in 70 minutes 58 seconds, Shirley Tyrrell in 74 minutes 10 seconds, Nicola Wise in 74 minutes 46 seconds and Mike Punchard in 79 minutes 57 seconds.

Also on Sunday was the annual Dalby Dash, raising money for Help for Heroes. This 10k starts with a 558 foot climb followed by a brief flat section before runners can let themselves go down a 2 mile descent.

Chris Croft was first back for PRC in 38 minutes 30 seconds placing him 17th out of 421. Richard Robinson was next back in 39 minutes 39 seconds, followed by Paul Simpson in 43 minutes 2 seconds, Richard Johnson in 49 minutes 46 seconds, Serena Partridge in 54 minutes 24 seconds, Suzy Hodgson in 55 minutes 4 seconds and Lisa Adams in 64 minutes 35 seconds. Sally Vaughan and Ailish Lilley ran together in 89 minutes 37 seconds.