This beautiful scenic race is one of a number of fell running events in the stunning North Yorkshire Moors. It starts in Helmsley and follows the Cleveland way path with an occasional detour to take in a steep climb for some extra pain. In all it climbs 1700m with some pretty steep sections.
I convinced my good mate Chris to accompany me. We both put in the miles for several months leading up to the big day so were in pretty good shape.
The weather was fantastic which was a big relief. 2010 saw a number of people dropping out because of the harsh conditions and freezing cold topped with thick fog that made map reading tricky. We set off in beautiful sunshine and hoping to hit it hard.
It took about 18 miles to realize that this wasn't to be. I had a horrible time kicking stones on the steep rocky paths leading up the the second check point. Apart from a couple of blue toenails, I knew pretty early that it was going to be a tough painful day.
By 30 miles I was in a world of hurt. I kept asking Chris to head off without me but he refused in spite of my poor shape. The second part of the race involved getting my head down and gritting my teeth. I knew I had done enough early on to be guaranteed of making it inside the 15 hours cut off but was pretty thrilled to make it inside 12 hours. Chris was largely to blame for this. Even at 42mile mark when I was on all fours throwing up, he still stuck by me.
We finished in 11:49 which was great considering the pain. This was the closest I've come to throwing in the towel.
Thank you Chris for pulling me through this one.
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