Report by Nik Vogan
On a sunny summer evening in Bishop Wilton, a group of us Harriers deciding that a trip to the seaside was in order for a bit of running, some fish and chips, an ice cream and an afternoon at the seaside. However the appearance of hurricane Bertha put paid to the afternoon on the beach and made the running that extra bit harder.
Having experienced this Hardmoors’ race before (which for those of you who don’t know lead to Stef Durkin running a 19 mile half marathon), we all turned up prepared to run a couple of extra miles and more importantly, with a map and route directions.
The half marathon set off first with Chris Roberts, Andy Bell and Richard Ashcroft taking on this 15 mile race with Sue and Paul Adams acting as sweepers and the 10k set off half an hour later with myself (Nik Vogan) and Alistair McQueen tackling this distance. The 10k set off at a fairly quick pace and I soon found myself in the top 5 with 4 guys ahead of me. As we made our way through the woods at the start of the race, the guys ahead of me kept stopping and waiting for me which I thought was really nice and polite until I realised that they were more interested in my map than looking out for me!
After their quick route checks the guys ran off ahead again and I was left to run along behind them. At the seafront we climbed some steps to the Cleveland Way and stayed on this for 3k up a slight incline and this is where I started catching the people ahead of me. By the time I caught up with Paul and Sue Adams who were marshalling at the back of the half marathon, they told me I was second overall which surprised me and I presumed I had set off too fast as normal.
The second half was downhill to the seafront and then we retraced our steps back up through the woods. I spent the whole time waiting for people to start passing me but they never did and I made it back to the finish as the first lady and second place overall – I was amazed!
After finding his Tiger onezie a little warm at the York 10k the previous weekend, Alistair reverted to normal running kit and had a much better race finishing in 8th position – his first top 10 positioning this year.
In the half marathon, Chris Roberts set off fast chasing the guy ahead of him and lead until about 9 miles. Then his fast start and hill training the day before caught up with him, as did a runner from Selby Striders who eventually won the race. About 90 minutes into the half marathon, the rain that had been promised arrived and drenched all the competitors. Chris Roberts crossed the line in second place in just under 2 hours after having a good race and not getting as lost as last year thanks to the better course markings..
Andy Bell had a great race and crossed the finish line looking very soggy but still smiling and he was followed shortly after by Richard Ascroft who had a tough run after falling over half way round and injuring his knee.
Chris Roberts and myself collected some lovely photos of Saltburn as our prizes and then we all headed for the fish and chip shop for some much needed post race nutrition. The ice cream and afternoon by the sea will have to wait for next year though – only ducks would have enjoyed it today.