On Saturday 6th June, David Owuor and John Cheetham tackled and conquered the Dalby Inferno. As the name suggests, it’s not easy! Participants are required to run a 5k forest loop, starting on the hour, every hour for 10 hours. David and John completed the 10 laps qualifying them for the 11th ‘Centre of Hell’ lap which is a timed race. In total, they ran 35 miles with nearly 4,000 feet of climb, and in the process raised funds for Scarborough & Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team.

The rain held off for Swaledale Marathon on Saturday 13th but runners did have to battle a strong westerly wind on the climb up Gunnerside Gill. At 24 miles this a short for a marathon but with nearly 5,000 feet of climb it is a tough challenge. Runners are rewarded with wonderful views from the tops, checkpoints with snacks and water, friendly support and a commemorative hand thrown mug and a hot dinner at the finish in Reeth. Simon Rycroft tapped into his inner mountain goat to finish in 4 hours 6 minutes placing him 32nd out of 466. Lucy Saggers also had a great run finishing in 4:43,10th female overall. Nick Cousins crossed the finish line in 5:21 with David Stephenson only 5 minutes behind in 5:26 and Debbie Rycroft finished in 6:05.

On Sunday 14th Robbie Preston ran the Windermere Marathon, a scenic 26.2 miles around Lake Windermere with 2,000 feet of climb. Robbie was justifiably buzzing with his outstanding time of 3 hours 15 minutes which placed him 21st out of 748 competitors some of whom would have still been on the far side of the lake when he cruised across the finish line.

Sunday also saw the Hardmoors Wainstones taking place, the toughest races in the Hardmoors Series taking in the myriad stone steps of the three sisters along the northern edge of the North York Moors. Erin Outram was a sweeper for the marathon, 28 miles with a humongous 5,300 feet of climb, collecting course markers and ensuring no competitors had fallen by the wayside. Erin finished after the last runner in 8 hours 21 minutes. Anna Bailey ran the half marathon, 16.5 miles with 3,500 feet of ascent, in 3 hours 54 minutes and Charlotte Dennison crossed the finish line in 5:05. The 10k option was 9 miles with 1,700 feet of climb.
Mandy Hepton finished in 2 hours 2 minutes, her son Lewis leaving her for dust! Chris Adams ran with son George finishing in 2:17 and Graham Robinson’s time of 3:01 earned him the trophy for 1st M70 to add to his growing collection.

The Cleveland Way Relay also took place on Sunday. This is a friendly but fiercely competitive race between running clubs to run the 110 mile length of the Cleveland Way in a single day. 24 clubs took part this year, the largest number so far. Lynn Humpleby started the race in Filey at 4am and Chris Croft brought it home for PRC by dashing up the steps to the Market Cross in Helmsley just after 7:30pm and earning silver for Pickering. The support and camaraderie during the event was incredible and those not taking part were able to follow the action and offer encouragement via social media. It clearly demonstrated what a fabulous team PRC are.