Starting from Filey Brigg and finishing in Helmsley the Hardmoors 110 is a 112 mile continuous foot race, with 6000 metres of ascent, to be completed within 36 hours.

Neil Midgley and Peter Kidd toed the line at 8am Saturday 6th May looking forward to an epic day (and a half) out.

Plenty of training had taken place although Neil was concerned that he maybe hadn’t done enough long distance. A 3 day 85 mile training session had helped to build confidence.
The race can be broken down into 3 sections: the coastal path from Filey to Saltburn (54 Miles); Saltburn to Osmotherley (36 miles with most of the ascent); Osmotherley to Helmsley (22 miles).
The first section was fairly straightforward Neil completing that section in 12 hours and Peter in 12 hours 20 minutes. A planned stop for food, a change of clothes for the night section and then back on the trail.

A further 10 miles in Peter went hypothermic – disoriented and staggering and retired at Gribdale Terrace having completed 64 miles.
Neil got his race face on from Saltburn and started picking through the field. Having got through the worst section across Bloworth Crossing and with the sun starting to come up the determination to finish and get the best placing possible kicked in.
It was clear to Peter (now in a support role) & Valerie (Platinum Support Crew Leader) that Neil was getting serious and digging deep. At 91 miles he was continuing to move up through the field and was in sight of a sub 30 hour finish.
At the last support stop at Sutton Bank Neil polished off a Red Bull and pushed on through the cruel detour down to White Horse and back up the steep steps.
Onto the home stretch past Rievaulx Abbey, through Helmsley and out to the sports centre Neil ran into the finish in just over 29 hours (official times and places not yet out).

Congratulations Neil – an epic achievement perfectly executed.

Having not donned the race belt for 18 months, it was nice to get back into action in Liuzhou, China for their first time hosting this 70.3 distance event.

My excitement was quickly shunned when I arrived the day before to bad weather, traffic all over the road making a spin out on the wheel’s nigh on impossible and pollution clouding the air.
But all impressions were quickly dispelled come race day as the there were clear skies, sun shining, clean, fast, flat roads, beautiful scenery and very good organisation, including 5000 police / officials that lined the whole of the bike course. Yes…. five thousand!

Not for the life of me was my swim as fast as it suggests (21 minutes). It was a very very chilly (15 degrees) river swim from A-B from a self seeding swim start with a current very much in our favour. But 3rd in my AG and 13th overall at this stage.
T1 was probably the toughest part of the day, out of the cold water and straight into 74 brutal steps towards a long transition, and when the feet are close to frozen, this wasn’t easy.

A relatively smooth transition, after the stair climb, and onto the two loop bike course. The roads were wide, flat, and with the split recorded (2.19) ….very fast. The legs didn’t feel amazing but I was super happy at this stage with the overall time.

I came off the bike in 4th in my age group to start a run that wasn’t as flat as I thought with many false flats either up or down. I could tell from km 1 that the legs just weren’t there and for some reason the back was wanting to tighten up as well and by 7km I found myself walking slowly through the aid station to try and relieve the stiffness. I cracked on again battling thoughts of a potential DNF… I couldn’t have accepted that, so I got my legs going and eventually it started to ease and I found a little bit of rhythm, to finish the run in 1.33 and cross the finish line with a time of 4.20, 6th place in my age group and 43rd overall.

A slight bit of disappointment over my run performance but despite that, super happy with the time and an offer of a 70.3 World Championship slot in Tennessee ,USA in September. Sadly I didn’t accept due to work commitments but may shoot for it again next year in South Africa.

Onto the next one…. Vietnam 70.3 in May.

Toed the line at the White Horse Trail Marathon + (28 miles, 4000 feet elevation) at Sutton Bank on Sunday 9th April. I’m doing the double Grand Slam this year – 4 ultras (30, 55, 60 & 110 miles) and the 7 trail marathons. This was the 2nd of the 7.
It was a glorious day, sunshine all the way. Most people found it too hot but I thought the conditions were perfect, the ground had firmed up since I was last out on the moors the Wednesday before. I carried a litre of fluids and took advantage of water and Pepsi at all the aid stations.

The course was brilliant with some nice long runnable sections and fantastic views. There are some distinctive Hardmoors features though – the immediate descent off the moors to Gormire Lake, just so you have to climb all the way back up again. Also Hawnby Village where you climb out up Hawnby Hill to drop back down to the village so you can also climb Murton Bank (25%) – oh how we laughed and joked going up there.

My run was the best Hardmoors that I’ve ever done. I started a couple of years ago as a finisher but too close to the cutoffs for comfort. I finished this race 49th (of 133) and 7th (of 22) in age group.
Hardmoors 110 next – 110 miles (the whole of the Cleveland way, Filey to Helmsley), 6000metres of climbing, 36 hour cutoff.

Rombalds Stride – Saturday 4th February 2017

Rombalds Stride Winter Challenge is a 23 mile mixed terrain run and/or walk. The route takes in some of Yorkshire’s finest scenery, going up the Airedale Valley, over Rombalds Moor to Ilkley and finally and cruelly (more later) up and over Otley Chevin.
Jackpot Racing was represented by Tom Van Rossum, Eddie Howarth, Richard Roberts and Peter Kidd.
A 9am massed start saw some 500 runners and walkers setting off from Guiseley with the event having a cut-off of 10 hours to allow walkers the chance to finish. The cut-off proved to be no threat to any of our competitors with some impressive times recorded. Results are listed at the bottom of this page.
The weather was good throughout but there had obviously been rain resulting in a muddy, slippy and boggy course.
Tom Van Rossum was the first Jackpotter home, finishing in 2hours 58minutes. Tom said of his race: “A cracking event to open my racing season. It’s a testing route but the friendly support from fellow runners, marshals and spectators make this a special event. Running the gauntlet of mud alongside the electric fence was an extra challenge.”
Eddie Howarth was next back in 3hours 25minutes. Eddie observed: “A challenging fell run, I thought I was ready for but my legs fell apart after 11miles. A great early season run which shouldn’t be missed. Roll on next year.”
Richard Roberts completed in 4hours 27minutes and reported: “It was muddy, boggy beautiful and hard. Oh and I did an excellent dive and roll down from Baildon Moor as I overtook someone. I defo got a 10 from Len.”
Finally Peter Kidd returned in 5hours 11minutes noting: “The challenging muddy course tired my little old legs out. The descent at 21miles to the bottom of Otley Chevin just so we had to scramble back up it by the muddiest route possible was particularly cruel and brutal – I loved it.”
A hot meal and rice pudding and peaches provided a delicious finish to a well organised and enjoyable race.
Well done all!

Results (494 Finishers):

Tom Van Rossum: 2:58:28 – 5th Overall

Eddie Howarth: 3:25:42 – 32nd Overall

Richard Roberts: 4:27:04 – 147th Overall

Peter Kidd: 5:11:20 – 195 Overall