Life is an ultramarathon

Weather forecast for the North Yorkshire Moors this Saturday is sub-zero temperatures, strong wind, and snow... Tough forecast for the first Hardmoors 55 reverse! I know someone who must be thinking hard about whether to let loose a 200 strong pack of runners.

And I'm camping before and after the race :)

Ultra decision time

Jon has set the prices for next year's Hardmoors series, and all have gone down, against the trends! The 110 registration is now only £40 for early birds, against £60 last year. At 36p per mile, it's a real bargain. It's actually ten times cheaper than most big marathons that now cost around £80 (ie. £3.05 per mile).

Next year's Hardmoors 30 and 55 fees are currently £15 and £25, when this September's inaugural Hardmoors 60 late fee is a mere £35.

Ultra discount

Two weeks ago, I was back in the North Yorkshire Moors once more for the Hardmoors 55. Just like last year, I stayed at the Fox Inn in Guisborough, and just like last year, the music downstairs made the walls vibrate until midnight.

More than 100 runners were registered, so it was quite packed at Helmsley, and I caught up once more with the Hardmoors community. Jon himself had risen to the challenge of organising and running. Top man! I was given the number 72, the same as the PTL last year.

The start was given under a glorious sun and the day was generally sunny, but the air was not particularly warm. The water puddles were actually frozen in the morning, and the wind was a bit chilly on the ridges.

I was not feeling super confident at the beginning, with an achy right knee, and every tiny climb sending me out of breath. But I spent a lot of time chatting around with runners, and everything cleared up before Osmotherley.


First serious outing for my altimeter.
Shortly after the checkpoint, a great scenery on the Moors was offered as far as Roseberry Topping. The characteristic shape of the summit looked rather distant when thinking we had to run over it towards the end of the race!

Being immersed in the Moors landscape at last (after the Hardmoors 110 2008 by night, and the Hardmoors 55 2010 in the hill fog) gave me a great psychological boost. I managed to push a bit between Bloworth Crossing and Kildale encouraged by the "singing" grouse, whereas I was bored and tired last year. This time, I played the yoyo with Andy C. But overall, my split times were very similar to last year's!

Checkpoint	2010	2011
Osmotherley	03:44	03:40
Kildale	08:21	08:20
Guisborough	11:14	11:10

Just past Roseberry Topping, a massive amber moon (it was indeed at its nearest from the Earth in nearly 20 years) welcomed us. I managed not to get lost in the woods and finished with Pat and Paul, 4 minutes faster than last year.

I spent a bit more time at the finish line, catching up with Steve and Co before dragging myself to bed, knackered enough not to mind the music!

Ultra like last year, but better :)

Jon seems to be trying very hard to please the maximum number of runners. Three major news came out in the last couple of days. A new Hardmoors 30 has been announced on New Year Day. In order to get more daylight, the original Hardmoors 110 will now be run in June. And to complement the Hardmoors 55, a new Hardmoors 60 will be organised on the week-end left by the Hardmoors 110 on the coastal section of the Cleveland way! The energy Jon is putting into the races leaves me speechless.

In less than 4 years, the Hardmoors have moved from a single event to a race series... Which leaves us with this choice for 2011:

• Hardmoors 30 1st January (circular around Whitby)
• Hardmoors 55 19th March (Helmsley to Guisborough)
• Hardmoors 110 3-5th June (Helmsley to Filey)
• Hardmoors 60 24-25th September (Saltburn to Filey)

Who's up to the challenge of running all 4 of them in the same year?

Ultra moors

Updated 25/03/2010: speeds and graph.

Last week-end, I went to the North Yorkshire Moors once more to run the inaugural Hardmoors 55 race, from Helmsley to Guisborough on the Cleveland Way. I know I'm late, John K has already posted his full race report on Sunday!

After an uneventful journey to Guisborough I was happy to find a small, yet cosy room at the Fox Inn. Unfortunately, my opinion changed quickly when the live music downstairs started at 9pm to last until midnight. I eventually fell asleep for a few hours and got up at 4:15 to tick off runners on the coach to the starting line at Helmsley. I caught up with the Hardmoors community, Jon (obviously), John K who had just recovered from his chest infection*, Steve, Mark B (sweeping), Shirley, John V, Dave, Flip, ...

I started the race easily, chatting away with Steve. I didn't feel amazing at first, but that didn't seem to have any impact on my speed (see graph below).

The weather was not great to say the least. For the first 7 hours, ie. until Bloworth Crossing, it was windy and drizzling. High on the moors, the wind was particularly strong, and even if it was not raining hard, after a few hours everything starts to get damp. I was wearing shorts, a long sleeve T-shirt, a waterproof jacket and my Hardmoors 110 Buff. I put on a fleece at the road crossing between Wainstones and Bloworth as I started to feel uncomfortable. Although I got commented on quite often for wearing only shorts, my legs were fine. My hands were numb, though. According to John K, at least two runners dropped out because of mild hypothermia.

My hopes to see more of the moors than during the Hardmoors 110 night didn't get fully realised, as the fog was sometimes so dense you couldn't see much more than 50 meters away. It was rather grim at times. Everything went rather well for me though, despite the wind draining mental and physical energy. I was expecting to hit some kind of marathon wall at some point after 4 of 5 hours but that didn't actually happen.

After Bloworth Crossing, the drizzle stopped. But the dirt track/road between Bloworth and Kildale is so boring (especially when you can't see anything) that I didn't feel so much better. Two runners I was with (including the first female) left me behind at that point and I didn't get a chance to catch up later.

At Kildale, the legendary Mike M (always marshalling at the cosiest checkpoints) was fulfilling every needs, topping up my water, providing tea and coffee, ... Nice to see a friendly face at that point of the race!

Before the race, Jon said the weather might clear up later, which made everyone laugh. It seemed quite obvious that the day was definitely doomed. But shortly after the Captain Cook monument, the clouds magically cleared up, and the sun even came out at Roseberry Topping for literally 10 minutes before sunset. It was really beautiful at last, the moors in all shades of red, orange and yellow, and the sea in the background. Well predicted Jon! You should write the weather forecast!

The uphill sections were quite hard for me, and I even started cramping up at some point. I think I really need to improve that point. Quite a few runners said that the inclement weather have slowed them down. I think this doesn't really apply to me. For sure, I had to take it easy on the stony downhill sections (well, kind of...) and the wind in the face doesn't really speed you up, but it also forced me to keep a decent pace to stay warm :) . Overall, it was hard physically, but my mental was strong and held it all together until the end.

As I passed the unofficial checkpoint at Highcliff Nab, I still hadn't checked my maps a single time. I was already thinking about the e-mail I was to send to Murdo: "Navigation is easy, getting lost is for newbies"... Alas, as the night started to fall in Guisborough Woods, I followed a random bridle way instead of the Cleveland Way at some point at got a bit lost... The situation forced me to take out my head torch to read the map, I could have finished without it otherwise. I finally ended up on the disused railway line halfway between the last checkpoint and the finish line, so I had to run to the checkpoint and double back to the finish. Looking at the maps on Sunday I don't think it made any difference in terms of ascent or distance, but it's a bit frustrating.

I finally arrived at Guisborough shortly after 8pm, finishing in 11:16, 17^th out of about 50 on the starting line. I got congratulated by Jon, got a pint of black stuff and a massage. I then manned the finish checkpoint, marking down the times of the last runners. These guys were incredible - to find some energy in the night after a day like that... Well done to everyone!

Overall, the race appeared to me slightly more "professionally organised" than the previous Hardmoors 110 editions. Jon is probably getting the hang of his race director role :) . Nevertheless, the race kept its usual friendly atmosphere. I also met quite a few runners I didn't know before that seemed to read my blog on a regular basis. Hi guys!

Here are my recorded split times. Wainstones is incorrect, as I marked it at the road crossing.

	Checkpoint	Distance km**		Time				Speed
		Total	Split	Planned	Arrive	Depart	Diff min	km/h
Start	Helmsley	0.0		08:00		08:04
CP1	White Horse (Sutton Bank)	14.5	14.5	09:35	09:33		-6	9.78
	Sneck Yate Bank	22.6	8.1	10:30	10:24		-10	9.53
CP2	Osmotherley Village Hall	35.5	12.9	12:05	11:48	11:59	-10	9.21
CP4	Wainstones	52.0	16.5	14:15	(14:27)
CP5	Bloworth Crossing	58.9	6.9	15:26	15:11		-19	7.31
CP6	Kildale Village Hall	68.5	9.6	16:40	16:25	16:42	-2	7.78
CP7	Roseberry Topping	75.5	7.0	18:17	17:45		-34	6.67
CP8	Disused railway	84.5	9.0	19:37
Finish	Guisborough Cricket Club	86.6	2.1	20:00	19:20		-44	7.01

(speeds are calculated on the moving time only)
It's quite clear that I followed my plan fairly well until Kildale and then managed to keep the pace up more than expected. This is confirmed by this graph comparing Hardmoors 110 and 55 speeds.


Speed (km/h) against distance (km) on Hardmoors 110 and 55.
The adverse weather raised a question amongst many runners: "What if that happens on the Hardmoors 110?". Getting cold and wet for 12 hours is one thing. Spending 30 hours out (including a night) is a completely different story, especially with the decrease in pace. I also thought that it could have been much worse. Indeed, it was probably around 5°C and only drizzling. What about 0°C with heavy sleet?

Ultra cold.

* And who was celebrating his birthday on the race day, event which I was unaware of at the time, so Happy Birthday John! And sorry for being late.
** You'll notice some minor differences in the distances as compared to my plans. These ones are based on John K's data (corrected for his meanders) which I believe is a bit more accurate.

There are 80 runners registered so far, and my race number will be 37. The field will probably be fairly competitive, as the race is part of the Runfurther Vasque Ultrarunning series.

1. Route

I've received the official route for the first edition of the Hardmoors 55 last week. A few changes to the route as compared to the Hardmoors110. Checkpoint 1 is at the tip of Sutton Bank (White Horse), which brings a few extra kilometres. It follows the Cleveland Way after Osmotherley, instead of short-cutting by Cod Beck reservoir. And finally, the race passes through Slapewath for the last checkpoint before finishing at Guisborough

2. Mapping

Before the inaugural Hardmoors 110, I was wondering what kind of mapping solution would be appropriate, and went for the full 1:25,000 laminated OS maps. This has been proved not ideal, as folded maps are cumbersome on the run, and not suitable for the occasional peak.

This time I've made some small laminated route cards bound with a key-ring. The easiest way I found to build them is simply to slice my laminated OL26 map. I have to admit that cutting a map into pieces made me feel a bit awkard, as if that was a sacrilege. The map is double-sided and the route crosses the whole map, but rather luckily the route doesn't overlap across both sides. The advantages are two-fold: first it'll reduce the weight by about 60% from 200g to 80g, and secondly it will be much easier to keep in hand and follow the route card by card. The drawback is obviously that if I get seriously lost or need to withdraw, I will lack of an overview.


Hardmoors 55 OL26 map slicing.
The card sizes and placements are accurate, but the route is approximate.

3. Objective

In 2008, I took 14 hours to reach Saltburn on the Hardmoors 110. Completing the Hardmoors 55 in 12 hours seems like an achievable goal, but it's not going to be easy! Here are my expected split times (slightly updated on 12/03/2010), based on speeds measured on the Hardmoors 110, and hoping to slow down a bit less in the second half on the Hardmoors 55.

			Split		Total		Limit	Speed
			km	time	km	clock	clock	km/h
Start	Helmsley		0	00:00	0	08:00	08:00
CP1	White Horse (Sutton Bank)	w	14.5	01:33	14.5	09:33	10:00	9.30
CP2	Osmotherley Village Hall	DB	20.9	02:31	35.4	12:05	13:00	8.28
	Lords cafe		12.1	01:34	47.5	13:39		7.69
CP4	Wainstones		4	00:32	51.5	14:11		7.50
CP5	Bloworth Crossing		8.1	01:08	59.6	15:19		7.11
CP6	Kildale Village Hall	DB	8	01:11	67.6	16:31	20:00	6.72
CP7	Roseberry Topping		9.7	01:33	77.3	18:04		6.25
CP8	Slapewath	w	7.2	01:13	84.5	19:17		5.90
CP9	Guisborough Cricket Club		4.1	00:43	88.6	20:00	23:00	5.70

Ultra mapping

Jon announced he will organise a new race, the Hardmoors 55, following roughly the first half of the Hardmoors 110 from Helmsley to Guisborough. That's a good opportunity to run the moorland part of the Hardmoors 110 by daylight. It will take place in March, and the prospect of a snow cover isn't totally excluded... Which would certainly make the race rather interesting :)

For more information, please check the Hardmoors 110 and 55 new website I've helped putting together. It should be frequently updated with news.

Ultra new race.

... this flyer.

Hardmoors 110

Ultra flyer.