Created by : Tom Shaw On : Tue, 09/24/2024 - 13:35
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Just Five Senior Harriers in action this weekend but a collective 375 miles made for an incredible weekend! Unsurprisingly, most of the running started on Saturday and we start just along the canal over in Wheatley as the Robin Hood 100 mile got under underway at 8 am as runners made their way along the chesterfield canal back to Worksop, two 30 mile laps of Clumber, Welbeck and Creswell Craggs (including through the night) before back on to the canal to make their way back to base in the early hours of the morning. The last day of Summer made a last gasp appearance as a very warm day made for unfavourable conditions and adding extra challenges to an already mammoth task. Being close to home did have its advantages though as our two Worksop Harriers were well supported on course as well as having the opportunity to have pacers from the second half of the race, having already covered 50 miles solo. Great training, planning and sheer grit proved the remedy for on-going challenges as both Henry Brady and Natalie Cunningham as the both bagged big PB’s in a classic 100 mile race. Henry rallying late in the race to come home 22:15:52 and 15th overall whilst Nat followed soon behind in 24:50:37 and 33rd overall. Two fine performances from 83 finishers overall plus and additional 55 DNF’s
By sheer coincidence you didn’t have to stray far from the course to find another potential hundred miler as Autumn edition of the Rasselbock Backyard Ultra took place at Sherwood Pines. With laps of 4.17 miles on the hour, every hour the race offers runners the opportunity to cover 100 mile with 24 hours providing they can complete the loop each time before the start of the next lap. Aidy Hopkinson was not long recovered from his recent HIM as he took on another epic challenge and boosted by great support from the local training group ‘Your Training Partner’, Aidy made a fine BYU debut as he was one of a small number of runners clearing the 24 lap/hour marker to cover a full 100 miles, bowing out at 24 laps with the lowest cumulative run time.
Looking a little ‘middle distance’ by comparison this weekend but no less epic Sally Hamer was further North as she took on the Hardmoors 60, running from Guisborough and then South along the very testing Cleveland Way, Sally made her way through Saltburn, Staithes, Whitby, Scarborough and finishing late at night in Filey in 17:22:55, covering nearly 8,000 ft of climbing on route!
13.1 miles and it’s practically a sprint this week by comparison and Nick Mould ran the Tissington Trail Half Marathon. Downhill and point-to-point along the Teversal Trail from Parsley to Ashbourne the course promises an opportunity for some rapid times, and one Nick grabbed with both hands. Nick ran 1:35:26 knocking over 2 minutes off his half marathon PB at just two weeks ago!
Finishing off this weeks report we look to our juniors with two fantastic runs as George and Freddie North raced in the Mansfield XC competition over at Berry Hill with Freddie finishing an excellent 9th but top marks going to George taking 1st place.
