Hardmoors Goathland
Saturday saw the sixth race of the 2019 trail series for Hardmoors, which started and finished at Goathland village hall. As always three distances were offered; marathon, half marathon and 10k. The Goathland races are notoriously wet underfoot each year, partly due to the time of year and partly due to the majority of the course being ran on open moorland but this year it was exceptionally muddy for long stretches making the routes more challenging. All three distances were new routes for 2019. The predicted forecast for the day was accurate – cold but clear skies and very little wind making for good running conditions and allowing for some fantastic views however any runners still out on the moors after the sun went down would have been very cold. The marathon has a 10 hour cut off, with a 9am start, meaning many runners would complete the marathon in much colder temperatures and in the dark.
Three Ripon Runners completed the marathon distance, which was 28 miles and had approximately 4000ft of climb. The new marathon route included a 3 mile section after Levisham that could only be described as a mud fest and which many runners found very challenging. First home for the club was Claire Baker in a time of 5:53 and claiming 2nd female overall. Kim Holden followed completing the course in 7:05 and Lena Conlin completed her 99th marathon in 7:35.
Helen Cox completed the half marathon, which was in fact close to 16 miles and packed 2200ft of climb in a fantastic time of 3:27. This is the furthest Helen has ever run and it wasn’t your average 16 mile run!
Kathryn Smith completed the 10k in 1:43. No actual distance and climb have been provided for this route.