Ten past eight on Saturday night, my mind is shutting down, I'm starting to wander about on the narrow footpath, concentration and sleep alternate. This is not good. I'm on the cliff top path heading to Scarborough, 90 miles into the 110 mile event of Hardmoors. I find some dry grass beneath some bushes and lie down for a brief sleep.
Just over 25 hours earlier, at 7 pm on Friday night a small select band gathers together, underneath the ancient cross, in the Market Square of the village of Helmsley which is situated on the southwestern edge of the North Yorks Moors. We are about to start the second running of Hardmoors which follows The Cleveland Way. I decided to enter this event just two and a half weeks ago, and have only been able to recce the meeting-points for my back-up, which I have been incredibly lucky to get at such short notice. Ian, my brother-in-law drives and Bill, an old friend from the 70's, navigates. They make a great team. We all move off to the official start point and set off. The route is well sign posted and I'm able to follow small clusters of lights as it gets dark. 20:45 at Sutton Bank, now to Osmotherly. I meet up with Mark Barnes who I'd met the month before on the UTMB. An informal group develops, splits and reforms, as we journey northwards along the western edge of the North Yorks Moors. I recognise the ground from the Osmotherly Phoenix route and move ahead a little. Meet back-up and pass through checkpoints in an alternate blurr; Osmotherly, Carlton Bank, Wainstones, Hasty Bank, Blowarth Crossing. Then into Kildale, at 41 miles, and my stomach has rebelled. It wasn't happy with my attempt at carbo loading with a school meal at Friday lunchtime and now hates energy bars. Ian has made a 'taty hash supper, I have two bowls of it as my stomach thinks it's fantastic. I should say that Ian is a chef and has spent 15 years with Penrith Mountain Rescue Team - an unrivalled back-up man. Bill, it turns out has done back-up for both the DW canoe race, and a solo traverse of the Pyrenees and tonight comes armed with a spread sheet to keep track of progress. With such dedication I feel obliged to pull the stops out and really go for a finish, even though I'd always thought the time limit of 36 hours a bit tight. Right now with my stomach happy but feeling it's full of lead, I press on rather sluggishly. I miss the turn to Captain Cooks Monument and reach it via an anti-clockwise circuit, much to the amusement of Julien Pansiot who's manning it as a "surprise" checkpoint. On to Roseberry Topping and Jez Bragg. It's gone 7am on a stunningly clear day, a chill in the air, a hot day on the way and Jez is chafing at the bit, wanting to get running himself. 30 minutes later I feel incredibly hungry, I eat bar after bar after bar of assorted cereal/chocolate/yogurt. Refueled I'm off. However I need all this to get through Guisborough Woods where I manage to miss the trail and have to navigate through the Forestry Commission's Krypton Factor track system. Fortunately I pick up The Cleveland Way signs just before the road, arriving neatly at my backup. It's 9 am, next stop the coast and Saltburn, halfway at 55miles, cut off time 11:30. Time to go. Navigation no problem apart from a housing estate just after Skelton. Check in 10:35, straight out again. South along the cliff top, a roller coaster of ancient sea cliffs to the left and rolling farm land to the right. A clear path to follow with a few white clouds in an azure blue sky. Through Skinningsgrove, Boulby, Staithes, into Runswick Bay at 14:13, cut off 15:00, I need to keep running. 43 miles to go. I need to keep ahead of the cut offs. "Normally" I can walk a lot of the route. Not this one. Keep running. I keep pushing and pushing and pushing, to Sandsend, into Whitby, up the steps to the Abbey, arrive 16:20, cut off 18:00. YES. I've got a buffer for things to go wrong in the second night. On to Robin Hood's Bay, keep running, backup and a meal, then to Ravenscar, checkpoint 9, arrive 19:48, cut off 22:00, even better. Two legs to go. On to Scarborough, then to Filey. The last 23 miles. My quads hurt like they've never hurt before on a 100 miler and this includes the UTMB from last month. But now I'll be walking. It's dark and I'll be travelling along the cliff top. I should be able to recover if I get the pace right.
I wake up suddenly to Mark Barnes' voice, What time is it? 9:20!! Bloody Hell! Both of us are relieved. Me to get going again, an hour later than expected, Mark to find that I wasn't injured. I follow Mark along the path, he stops to check his feet and I continue, fortunately I feel absolutely great. According to Mark I rocketed into the distance. Meet Ian and Bill along the north shore of Scarborough Bay at 20 past midnight, a quick refuel and Bill walks with me along the front to checkpoint 10 then south through a maze of completely unsignposted paths, to find the route to Filey. We agree another meet at Cayton Bay which takes me an hour and a quarter to get there due to some crazy signposting of The Cleveland Way in a built up area. Leaving them at 2:30 I start the last leg, along a seemingly endless path to Filey Brigg. All sorts of lights move, come on, switch off, come on again, move unexpectedly. My brain tries to decide where the Filey Brigg is, needless to say when I arrive at 4 am it's a totally different light to any I'd been looking at. I follow the glow sticks towards Filey, Bill and Ian emerge out of a dark car park and Bill guides me through the streets to the finish at the Evron Centre, it's 04:27, 110 miles after the start. Total running time of 33 hours 19 mins. Three tired bodies disappear off to Bill's home to get showered, food and a peaceful sleep, to return for the ceremonies at midday.
A really great event, navigation is minimal, I rarely looked at the map, only half a dozen spots need to be recced, good paths and very runnable. The 19,000 ft of ascent is made up of a hilly first 55 miles followed by a coastal "plateau" cut by countless streams, providing endless steps down and endless steps up, for another 55 miles. It also was good to find the checkpoints manned by ultra distance runners, many having done the event last year.
For experienced runners like Mark, who cannot get backup, use a series of drop bags.
Well worth having a go at.
And now, purely by chance I have my own little grand slam
June: West Highland Way Race; 95 miles, 14300 ft in 30 hrs 37 mins
July: Lakeland 100; 100 miles, 23,000ft in 40 hrs 35 mins
August: UTMB; 100 miles, 30,000 ft in 45 hrs 37 mins
September: Hardmoors 110; 110 miles, 19,000 ft, in 33 hrs 19 mins
The West Highland Way Race was the only one I knew I could do, the others were a try it and see. I had originally planned to try the UTMB last year but was injured, so it all came together by accident, which is just as well because I definitely would never ever have planned this.
Yours in luck, JV
