Hardmoors 60 – Saturday 21st September 2024
After completing Manchester Marathon in April, I gave myself a few weeks to consider what I should do next. For some reason trying to go longer seemed like a sensible idea, rather than trying for a sub-3 hr marathon. This is how I ended up at the start of the Hardmoors 60 event at Guisborough Rugby club on a misty September morning ready to run for 63 miles to Filey.
Taking inspiration from the MAC festival of running, there was drama with the coaches with one of the buses bringing people from Filey to the start breaking down. Fortunately, most of the competitors had managed to convince a friend or loved one to transport them to the start so only a few people needed transport. After a slight delay we all set off up to Highcliff Nab before heading out to the coast at Saltburn-by-Sea. I had chosen to run without any headphones so was unable to listen to Sophie Ellis-Bextor whilst dancing along the sea front to meet Jen (my wife) who’d agreed to crew for me.
It was misty through the whole race which made it easier in a lot of ways as I didn’t have to worry about taking on as much fluid. The mist didn’t make it so easy to drive between meeting points though. After a quick top up at Saltburn it was onwards through Skinningrove then on to Runswick Bay to pick up my first drop bag. I was moving well still at 20 miles which came as a pleasant surprise.
At Sandsend I met Jen and switched to road shoes and dry socks to get me through the tourist hordes in Whitby. After a jog up the 199 steps I was met by an out of breath Jen (who’d only just made it through the traffic to the rendezvous point) with the trail shoes for the cliff top run to Robin Hood’s Bay.
By the time I got to Robin Hood’s Bay I was starting to feel the distance in my legs. With the long drag up to St. Hilda’s Church at Ravenscar ahead I trundled along keeping the sea to the left. The mist started to come back in, this was a bit of a blessing as it meant I couldn’t see what was ahead. By now I was trying to keep running but had to slow down to walking pace from time to time.
After leaving the check point at the church it was onwards through the mist to the Sea Life Centre at Scarborough. Jen was there with my lovely fresh road shoes and snacks to keep me going along the sea front. Jen took the opportunity to enjoy a pint (or two) whilst waiting for me to arrive.
I managed to take a line on the Spa Bridge roundabout that meant I missed John Thorpe at his marshalling point. The change of shoes allowed me to make good speed through this section. At the South End of Scarborough, I met Jen for the last time and switched back to trail shoes and fired up the headtorch for the final push to Filey.
The combination of mist and dark made it easy to get disorientated in this final section with a few paths trying to draw you down to the beach. The final two miles to Filey seemed to take forever, I did manage to get a decent shuffling pace going as I thought there was someone close behind. The finish is cruel as you have to go from the sea front in Filey up to the finish church in the town. This felt even harder than the climb back up to the Arc after the MAC winter 10k.
I finished in 11th solo in 13h08m05s. The winner was Oliver Shaw of Loftus & Whitby AC in 10h00m54s. First female was Esmee Price-Coates (unattached) 12h47m44s (Jen said she looked fresh – even at the end – superwoman!). Full results are here Finish Results (hardmoors110.org.uk). Many thanks to my wife, Jen, for crewing and putting up with the overcast weather.
