The Osmotherley Phoenix is a 32 mile course over the Cleveland Hills in the North York Moors. Starting in Osmotherley, the route follows the sandstone scarp of the Cleveland Hills to Round Hill, then turns south across the centre of the moors to finally rejoin the limestone scarp slope near Black Hambledon, rejoining the Cleveland Way to finish by reservoirs and fields into Osmotherley. The race is part of the Osmotherley Summer Games and hence a good atmosphere is almost guaranteed.
The 2009 Osmotherley Phoenix was held at the end of a short heat wave. The week prior to the race was humid and hot, with temperatures into the high twenties. It almost felt like a relief to the runners that the temperature was predicted to drop to a mere 24 degrees. A large group of runners massed outside the village hall in the sunshine for the start of the race. The organisers told the massed throng that this was the biggest Osmotherley Phoenix yet, with in excess of 350 runners and walkers taking part (split between the 17, 26 and 33 mile courses). The race was started when the church clock chimed 9am and the organiser blew the start trumpet (or bugle or whatever).
A leading pack consisting of Jez Bragg, Marcus Scotney, Brian Cole, Andy Davies and Simon White formed within the first couple of miles and these five could be seen bounding over the hills over the first few miles as the rest of the field struggled in the heat: the skies were cloudless for the first couple of miles and there was little shade to be had. Thankfully, there were many checkpoints and it was possible to fill up with water and eat at each of the checkpoints. This was a real lifesaver in the conditions. Although the conditions made running difficult, they provided great views (through sweat soaked eyes) of the Cleveland Hills and the plains to the north
There is a long drag up to Round Hill at the north eastern-most point of the course followed by a long gentle downhill to Chop Gate. The clouds and a gentle breeze appeared at this point which perked some of the runners up, though anyone who had not drunk enough in the first couple of hours would be struggling. A hot trot up onto the moors and a long fast downhill led to a wooded checkpoint at Wheat Beck.
The section from Wheat Beck (checkpoint 6) to the road near Hawnby (checkpoint 7) is the crux of the route. This section follows an intricate network of footpaths. Anyone trying to run at speed and navigate at the same time would have a hard time of it here (the 2007 winner, Spyke, and the leading pack chasing him got lost in this section in 2007). Andy Davies had clearly had a good recce of this section the day beforehand and was able to get clear of the leading pack and was able to keep this lead over the Black Hambledon hills.
From checkpoint 7, the route ascends, steeply at first, then gradually, onto Black Hambledon. Anyone wanting to make a break for it could choose no better place to make a break than here. The leading pack apparently split up in this region with Andy Davies in the lead and Jez Bragg in third place. Andy sustained this lead over Black Hambledon (a seemingly endless white stony track along the ridge), but slowed somewhat coming into the final miles by the reservoirs into the finish. Jez Bragg scented a weakness and pushed through with Brian Cole to win the race by a couple of minutes in 4h40m. Andy was third, Marcus fourth and Simon fifth: all finishing in under 5 hours - a great achievement in the heat of the day.
Jez's victory in this race was all the more noteworthy given that he'd stepped off a flight from San Francisco a few days earlier, having come a fantastic 3rd in the Western States 100 mile race in California. At the start he was heard to say that he was just out to enjoy the run. It certainly looks like he got the bit between his teeth once he got running!
The finish of the race is in the centre of Osmotherley as the Summer Games are in full swing. The southern half of a sunny Osmotherley was filled with sweaty happy runners, the northern half with people throwing things at coconuts, hitting things with hammers, winning goldfish and eating candyfloss. The ideal thing to do seemed to be to sit in the sun with a cold pint of beer in hand, cheering the runners in, soaking up the atmosphere and talking about races past, present and future.
[note: at the time of writing this report, the official reports weren't in and so it has not been possible to cover the women's race. Two of the potential Vasque series grand slammers were seen to finish the race: how do they do it?].
