Report by Neil Stabbs.
The Knavesmire fell running contingent had another grand day out on the moors this weekend, with the longest race of the winter series – The Gisborough Moors Race, 12.5 miles and around 850m/2800ft of ascent. The route takes in a number of major summits (Captain Cook’s, Roseberry Topping, Highcliff Nab), but still manages to have a lot of good running terrain and some great views.
For once, I started the race with some sort of pacing strategy in an attempt to complete the course in under 100 minutes. Instead of the usual mad dash off the line, I took a more measured approach up the initial climb through Guisborough Woods. Once onto the moor, a decent track provides good running before a steady climb to Percy Cross Rigg. A quick descent to Lonsdale Farm is then followed by a steep road climb, before a welcome return to some slightly more level running through the woods to Captain Cook’s Monument. Arriving at the monument 1:20 ahead of my schedule, things were looking good but the hardest miles were still to come.
From Captain Cook’s, the route then drops into Gribdale, flying past the bewildered looking families out for a Sunday stroll. A quick slurp of water and a gel on the sharp climb out of Gribdale sets you up for some more quick running across to Roseberry Gate, before the toughest bit of the route (for me at least), the diversion to Roseberry Topping and back. I reach the Roseberry Topping trig point at about the same time Mo Farah crossed the line in London and 2 minutes ahead of schedule. However, a stitch on the descent slows me up and I struggle over Little Roseberry before attempting to get moving properly again. The fatigue starts to kick in on the long stretch over to Highcliff Nab, but an Easingwold runner a minute or so ahead gives me a target to aim for. The gap has closed up to a few seconds by the time I reach the Highcliff summit, but my 2 minute cushion at Roseberry is now only 15 seconds with the final descent to come.
From Highcliff, a headlong descent through the woods brings you back to the road, before a sprint in to the finish at Guisborough Rugby Club. After managing to avoid the brambles on the descent, my sprint finish was just enough for 20th place, 5 seconds inside the 100 minute target. With Chris Roberts in 6th (90:15), Simon Collins in 11th (93:06), Giles Hawking in 15th (96:33) and me in 20th (99:55), we managed a comfortable victory in the team competition. Also enjoying the good weather were Andy and Zoe Pattinson in their first fell race (34th in 104:06 and 71st/9th lady in 121:35) and Matthew Page (97th in 130:51).
With one race remaining in the series, the various categories are now largely decided. Long-time series leader Chris Roberts has dropped to second place in the Men’s Overall, behind Jayson Cavill of Pickering RC. Simon Collins has jumped up to 5th place in the Overall, having completed his 8 races. In the M40 category, Giles Hawking has also dropped into second place after leading for most of the series. Although injury prevented him competing this weekend, Barry Atkinson has wrapped up the M50 classification. Andrew Johnson still sits in 3rd in the M55 category. With the last race in the series (The Fox & Hounds at Ainthorpe) coming a week after the Three Peaks and a few days before the Summer League opener at Pocklington, we might see reduced numbers. However, for anyone wanting to try some of these races out, the summer series starts with the Carlton Challenge on Wednesday 7th May and continues throughout the summer.
