Hornsea Harriers is a thriving club which regular travels to venues in different parts of the country to take part in runs, some of the them particularly gruelling!
On Saturday 24th November Bradd Braddock, Jason McCoubrey and Mark Williamson took on the challenge of the Hardwolds 80 . Here are some excerpts from Brad’s report:
06.00 we all met for the start of an epic 24hrs. We were off on the inaugural HardWolds 80 mile race along the Wolds Way with a few twists and turns to get the ‘Hardmoors’ miles in.
We set off with a race strategy in mind and managed to stick with this for the first 30 miles then it was a case of run/trot/shuffle whenever we could and power walk the rest.
Our aim was always to make Millington before dark and hopefully Fridaythorpe, half way, as night fell. With the sun beginning to set and dark just around the corner we marched up the valley to Fridaythorpe and to meet our support crew. At this point I must thank Sue McCoubrey and Abbie Morgan for all their hard efforts over a testing 24 hrs. They drove to points in between checkpoints to feed and water us and they kept us going. We really can’t thank them enough.
We left Fridaythorpe in the dark and knew the next 40 miles in the rain were going to be a challenge. Heading into Wharram Percy was absolutely marvellous and the marshalls and volunteers here were a credit to the Hardmoors brand and family. With Fairy lights showing the way and music playing from the old church we were amazed at this sight and off we headed knowing the ‘girls’ were round the corner somewhere with a hot brew and friendly smile.
After some words of encouragement and a laugh and joke, off we headed to Wintringham Village Hall. With the continuing rain the trail was now very slippy and difficult to negotiate. Heading towards Sherburn we got the nod that Clair Williamson had made it out to greet us and this lifted Mark’s spirits as at this point he was struggling with a horrendous blister on his left heel.
Past RAF Staxton Wold and we knew we only had a half marathon or so to go with a few ‘cheeky’ hills in between and some steps at Filey. Down we went onto the sea front. With waves crashing onto the sea wall this was a special moment knowing we only had a few miles to go. Up and over the first set of steps, this was starting to hurt, up the next flight and onto the grass and we could see the Wolds Way stone lit up about 500m away. With smiles on our faces off we headed to the end. Clair, who had volunteered to do a stint at the hall was there to greet us and show us the way in.
Into the hall we were presented with our medals and hard-earned t-shirts. Totally wiped and exhausted we hit a chair and laughed.
We finished in 21hrs 30mins covered 81 miles and ascended no less than 8900 feet.
We’d all like to thank Jon and Shirley Steele, the marshals and volunteers for a superb run event. Nothing was too much for anyone it was an excellent and enjoyable day.
Most of all though we take our hats off to Sue and Abbie for their support and help without who we would have really struggled. Look forward to the next one.
On Sunday 25th November members travelled to Derby and Doncaster. Alexia Morgan ran in the Derby 10 Mile event knocking almost 12 minutes off her time from last year.
The following weekend Mark Williamson and Neil Thompson completed a marathon along the Leeds to Liverpool Canal organised by ‘It’s Grim Up North’. They finished in a time of 4:09:31. Well done fellas.