SebPflanz, Hardmoors 110 Ultra
What a fantastic event!! Now in its 8th year the Hardmoors 110 has been organiser Jon Steele’s signature ultra trail race. Covering the entire Cleveland Way, with a few bits added on for good measure, the route runs from Helmsley to Sutton Bank /White Horse, Osmotherly, along the northern escarpment of the North York Moors taking in the highest point Urra Moor, through Kildale, up and down Roseberry Topping to Saltburn-on-Sea. From there the route follows the dramatic North Yorkshire cliff coastline through Runswick Bay, Sandsend, Whitby, Robin Hoods Bay, Ravenscar, along the entire seafront of Scarborough to finish in Filey. This year saw a few minor route changes, making it slightly shorter than before, at 111 miles (plus any additions due to navigational errors), with 6,000 metres climb.
Since the inception of the 110, Jon has added further events covering parts of the Cleveland Way, and there now is a Grand Slam – the 30 on New Years Day, the 55 in March (covering the western half), the 110 in May, concluding with the 60 (covering the eastern half). Last year, apparently not content with a single stage race of more than 110 miles Jon introduced the Hardmoors 160, which starts in Scarborough the evening before the 110, taking competitors along the 50 mile Tabular Hills route to Helmsley, where it then joins the Cleveland Way.
Two years ago SebPflanz entered the Hardmoors 110, but for a variety of reasons never got to the start either in 2013 or 2014. It did give him and wife Mary the opportunity, however, to marshal a checkpoint in the 2013 event, as well as Seb to run both the 30 and the 55 twice. So finally, on the third attempt, he got to the start line on Saturday 23rd May. The forecast was good and the course was exceptionally dry, all making for a very fast event. All competitors in the 160 event had passed through Helmsley before the start of the 110 at 8 a.m. Unlike in the West Highland Way Race there was an option for runners to go unsupported, provided they had completed an event in the 100-mile range. Seb was very happy to go with support, however, particularly since his training had been relatively light. Wife Mary provided motorised support for the first half and then was joined by Seb’s daughter Lindsay as well as support runners Allie Wilson, Jacob Tangey and Zoe Kemp.
Seb set off at a comfortable pace in the middle of the field – at 91 competitors the largest by far in the event’s history. As usual on long trail ultras there is a huge amount of mutual respect between participants – the competition is primarily of runners conquering the trail. Seb felt privileged and humbled to be able to participate in the event and share stories with other runners – some had never run more than 60 miles, others had taken part in much longer events. An added feature was the experience of passing runners in the 160 events – trotting along with fresh legs over the first 40 miles, knowing that these men and women had already run a whole night and an additional 50 miles – made him feel a bit of a cheat “only” doing the 110.
Pacing on a long ultra is crucial, and any seasoned ultra runner will have stories of getting it wrong and paying the price. Seb was reasonably confident about his schedule for the first half, aiming to take about an hour longer than he had done in the 55 in March, and he held his pace cruising over the North York Moors in glorious sunshine. His overnight support team met up in Newton under Roseberry, less than a mile from the summit of Roseberry Topping, and being on schedule meant that he could wave at them fromthe summit - a great mental lift. At around that time (about 50 miles in) he hit his first low point – probably due to a combination of pushing the pace a bit too much and not taking enough energy. He met up with an unsupported runner, Andy, and the two were able to encourage each other; they were to run together for much of the next 40 miles. Reaching the sea at Saltburn (58 miles) at around 9 pm Seb met up with his full team and Allie joined him to run the overnight section. Allie had been troubled injury during her preparation for the West Highland Way Race 4 weeks later, and this would be her final major preparation run. As night fell the views from the clifftops on a starry night were truly awesome. The field had spread out considerably, and Seb and Allie spent much of the next 3 hours not meeting anyone.
Part of the logistic challenge had been to ensure adequate rest for the support team, particularly the drivers. Seb’s plan had been for Mary and Lindsay to meet him at Runswick Bay (71 miles) not long after midnight and then head to basecamp (the caravan near Sandsend) to sleep until meeting him at Ravenscar around 6 am. With lots of encouragement from Allie he got to Runswick Bay on schedule, and it was obvious that Mary and Lindsay were ready for some rest. Having both run and supported long Ultras Seb knew that support is the greater challenge – hours of waiting, worry about whether “your” runner is OK, then having to be right on the ball for a formula 1 pit stop.
Leaving Runswick Bay the Cleveland Way crosses the beach for around ½ mile before going up a narrow gap in the cliffs. Seb was unfamiliar with this part of the route, and as he and Allie came onto the beach they saw headtorches in different directions. Several other runners were clearly unsure of where to go, and having been given slightly misleading information at the checkpoint Seb and Allie joined another three runnersup a steep path. After a few hundred metres (and what felt like20,000 steps) Seb realised they’d gone wrong and decided to return to the beach. As he and Allie descended they met Andy, who had found another path further along the beach but had been unsure whether it was right, so had returned and started to ascend (the 20,000 steps). Adding his information, however, made it clear that he’d found the right path, and after dropping back to the beach it was readily located. In daylight finding the right path would have been easy, but even with a good headtorch the useful range of visibility is less than 100 metres, and we were clearly not the only ones who had navigational problems.
Back on route was a great relief to Seb, Allie and Andy, but the detour had taken its toll. Over the next few miles Seb realised that he was developing tendonitis on his left leg and foot, and running became quite painful. Andy felt very tired and was struggling to take on food. Sandsend (76 miles), barely a mile from the team caravan with a cosy bed, proved to be decision time. Seb had had the same injury some years before and was unsure what another 35 miles (and countless more steps) would do to it. A few minutes contemplation and prayer resulted in the decision to try to continue, with a couple of paracetamol and a caffeine gel. Further running proved impossible, but heading into and through Whitby Seb realised that he could speed-walk at a pace that required Allie and Andy to jog. Dawn brought light and encouragement as they reached Robin Hoods Bay (86 miles), where they were joined by Jacob. The next 5 miles to Ravenscar included numerous steps and finally a 200 metre climb to the checkpoint. Seb couldn’t believe the pace he managed to sustain with speed-walking; Andy was very tired at this stage and decided on a longer rest. Allie left Seb and Jacob to push on and Seb suddenly found himself ahead of his schedule. It had started to rain, so a shoe and sock changewas needed at HayburnWyke, which allowed a quick and unpleasant view of the swollen left foot and leg. Another flying support meet north of Scarborough for topping up of supplies on the go and Seb and Jacob descended down to the northern end of the Scarborough sea front.
Whilst uninspiring in comparison to the clifftop path the 3 miles along the esplanade were ideal for Seb’sspeedwalk. High fives were exchanged as they rounded the headland and 100 mile point. Leaving southern Scarborough the sign for 7 ½ miles to go was very encouraging. Competitors had been warned, however, there would be many, many, many steps at Cayton Bay. Having descended and then climbed again at least 3 million more steps Seb and Jacob met the whole team with 5 miles to go, and were joined by Allie and Zoe. The last leg felt very long and went very quickly, in equal measures. After Seb had mis-identified trees for the finish tent on two occasionsFiley Brigg, the small obelisk marking the end of the Cleveland Way and the finish flags finally came clearly into view. With massive encouragement from his support runners Seb managed to break into a run for the last 400 m to finish in a time of 27 hr 20 min (just ahead of his optimum schedule based on no navigational errors and no injuries), in 17th place, 3rd Vet 50.
The race was won by Ryan Barker in 21 hr 31 min, followed by Jonni Suckling in 22 hr 06 min. Third to finish was Hardmoors legend Neil Ridsdale, who holds the course record, finishing this year in 22 hr 38 min; he is a Vet 50 but chose to take 3rd male place, giving Jim Rodgers (22 hrs 58 min) first Vet 50 (which in effect gave Seb 2nd MV50 placing). The ladies’ race was won by Kim England in 25 hr 23 min, followed by Katie Boden (26 hr 33min) and Heather Mochrie (27 hr 11 min).
In summary – a fantastic event, through stunning scenery, supported by the best team in the world, with organisers and marshals who combined professionalism with genuine warmth. Oh yes, and lots and lots and lots of steps.