Hip Hip Hooray, it’s Hornsea

These are generally low key events without too many frills – such as portaloos. They do however offer a range of distances including a 5k, 10k, half marathon, 20 miles, marathon and ultra, all based on an out and back course with strategically placed marshals at the relevant turning points. Our MAC duo observed that if you wanted to run a 5k on a Saturday morning, you must really really want a medal to pay £14-£16 to do this instead of a parkrun!

Hornsea is described as a charming seaside town providing a serene escape from the hustle and bustle of urban life – this is probably Estate Agent speak for “there’s not a lot to do here”, but the town does provide access to the Trans Pennine Trail. The trail from coast-to-coast between Southport and Hornsea is 215 miles long, but our epic duo would be sampling just 6.55 miles of the route, following the same out and back course as the half marathon runners, and then doing the same again. What the route lacked in imagination, it made up for in trees – which was quite convenient given the lack of portaloos.

For Dan Ashcroft, this was number 53 in his mission to tick off 100 marathons before completely destroying his body. For Andy, this was part of his “run for guilt-free wine and pizza” initiative. Andy would also claim that this was a selfless gesture to support Dan in his mission, although forcing him to get up 15 minutes earlier for a 5:45 journey up t’north might be the sort of support that Dan can live without.

The Dandy combo were both rewarded with a top 10 finish (yes, there were more than 10 runners… although not too many more) . Dan was first V40 (and first Dan). Andy proved that the faster runners obviously prefer Sunday events and fluked a rare win. Well done Dan – just 47 more to go!