Hardmoors 55 2014

The first Long race of the series was on Saturday, along the Cleveland Way across the North Yorks Moors.  Conditions weren’t extreme this year – last year we had to cope with a lot of snow on the ground as well as biting winds.  It was a lot pleasanter this year, reasonably dry underfoot.  There was one spell of rain/hail/snow for about 45 minutes, but other than that it was mostly clear with great views, and the good conditions made for some fast times.  Bert Goos came over from Belgium just to run this race – he wanted a long run this weekend and couldn’t find an event closer to home.  He was a bit surprised not to be running in forests, but he didn’t let that stop him winning in a record time of 8:09:27.  Dan Anderson was nearly 10 minutes behind him, then it was a long wait for the 3rd runner Matty Brennan.  Not far behind Matty, Charmaine Horsfall finished in 8:59:26, 7th overall and another new record – a great run.  Shelli Gordon, the women’s winner for the past 3 years, had to make do with 2nd place this year.

Many thanks to Jon Steele and his team for another well-organised event.  Results are here.  Karen Nash has written a race report, and you can find it on her blog here.  I took some photos, mainly at Kildale and on the descent to Clay Bank Top, and you can see them below.  I managed to get most of the runners, but ran out of batteries before the later ones came through – apologies for that.  Summit Fever also took a load of photos, and you can find those here.

The first Runfurther Leader Board is now up, and you can find that here.

Finally (apart from the photos), Mike Dobson-Hornett has sent me a link to his Hobble report, and you can find that here.  Other links, reports and photos are welcome – just send them to me.

Haworth Hobble 2014

The Hobble on Saturday was a bit windy & a bit cold, but that didn’t stop Kim Collison from winning in 4:04:31 – the fastest time since 2007, and 35 minutes faster than his time last year.  A brilliant run, with Adam Perry just a couple of minutes behind him, & Ian Symington coming in 3rd.  First woman home was Carol Morgan, in 5:10:35, with Josie Greenhalgh & Kate Jenkins in 2nd & 3rd.  Full results are on the Keighley & Craven AC website here.  The Runfurther leaderboard won’t appear until after the 2nd race, i.e. next week.

As ever, Brett and his team put on a great event.  Clif Bars managed to get sponsorship goodies to us at very short notice, so every runner got a Clif Bar at registration, & there were boxes of them for some of the prizewinners as well.  Thanks to David at Clif Bars for that!  We got our sponsors’ flags up outside, & they got a bit of a battering from the wind, but all damage has been repaired & we’re ready to go for the Hardmoors 55 on Saturday.

Karen Nash has written a race report accompanied by a few photos, and here it is.  I also took a few photos before my camera packed up, and for what they’re worth here they are.  I only got a few at Widdop of some of the earlier runners, plus one of Derby Tup marshalling at Mankinholes.  The sooner Nick Ham’s back to take proper photos the better – I’m hopeless at taking action photos.  Nevertheless, I’ll be having another go on Saturday, this time with a borrowed camera.  If anyone else has race reports and/or photos from any of the events please let me have them for the website, or send me a link to wherever else they’re posted.  There are plenty of quality Sport Sunday photos of the Hobble here  , and Mike Dobson-Hornett’s blog Hobble report is here.

Early March News

The Haworth Hobble is nearly upon us, & the Hardmoors 55 is the following week.  We’ll be there so look out for us.  We’ve busy getting sponsors lined up for the 2014 series, and as you’ll see from the logos on the website we’ve got 4 signed up so far:

Clif Bars are providing every runner in every race with a free Clif Bar, plus more for prizes.  I’ve already got vast quantities of Clif Bars in my dining room, so they’ll be there for you at Haworth.

The Ultra Marathon Running Store will be sponsoring packs, & we’ll be talking to them about just what they’ll be providing for prizes shortly.

Ultimate Direction and Injinji will be sponsoring hydration and socks once more, and again we’ll be talking to them next week to sort out the details.

Thanks to all our sponsors, & we’ll see you at Haworth.  I won’t be running, so I’ll be able to spend a bit more time chatting & getting more of you registered formally as Runfurther members.  Not laziness: stress fracture!

Andy