Hardmoors Roseberry Marathon, 8th December 2024
Simon Lowe is no stranger to a tough challenge, but taking on the Hardmoors Roseberry Marathon (nearly 6,000 feet of climb) in a storm must be up there with his toughest. He certainly rose to the challenge, finishing in 2nd place in a time of 4:38:37 – a fantastic effort! Here is his tale of the race:
“A (slightly) shortened/ diverted route compared to previous Roseberry Marathons, due to the storm – no climb up to Highcliff after Tees link (took wide track instead), only went 3/4 the way up Roseberry (instead of up and over twice), and the bog section just after Commondale was diverted (for another bog section).
Conditions at the start were windy but at least not raining, which actually worked in our favour, giving us a small amount of propulsion up some of the hills at the start. Initially there was a pack of 6 of us that took the lead. The pace felt a little too fast for me so held back around Tees link.
On arriving at Roseberry, I managed to catch 4th and 5th place and passed them on the decent. The wind up Roseberry was so strong it knocked me to the ground. On leaving Roseberry, the front 3 runners took off with speed. I didn’t see them after the climb up Little Roseberry – not even on the long stretch towards Captain Cooks Monument. I pressed on in the hope that they went out too hard and that I could catch them later on.
The next 20 odd miles were bloody grim. Climbing up to higher ground onto the North Yorkshire Moors, the wind felt significantly stronger and I felt more exposed.
Around mile 17 the route turned to run directly into the wind. It was at this point I caught sight of 3rd place, way into the distance. This gave me a bit of a drive to push on, especially having not seen a sole for the last hour. The initial tailwind that we had at the start had now turned into a crosswind, blowing me off my feet 4 times or so, largely due to running through narrow gullies edged in heather making it difficult to get a wide footing.
I managed to catch-up to, and pass third place around mile 19 – a great lift! Shortly after moving into third place I took a nasty tumble on a downhill section, caused by a combination of fatigue, the wind, and large rocks. Fortunately I was able to pick myself up and shake it off. The next 7 miles or so I felt like I was constantly looking over my shoulder to see if I was about to get passed.
Cramp had started to niggle in my calves and combined with a constant headwind made it a right grind to progress. The cherry on top was the torrential rain just before reaching Castleton, which remained consistent for the remainder of the race. My spirit was lifted at around mile 26 when I managed to catch a glimpse of 2nd place in the distance. With only 2 or so miles to go I thought it was unlikely that I’d be able to catch him. I pushed on and to my surprise I was able to move into 2nd place around mile 27.
Having done this route several times before I knew the awful muddy decent in Guisborough woods would be the place that would likely be the spot where I could get passed. Looking over my shoulder ever few paces until I had exited the woods section. The final 0.5 miles seemed to last an eternity, trying to do a sprint finish, but barely breaking a 7:30/m, downhill on road was frustrating.
A massive relief to finish in 2nd place, and in return taking first place in the Hardmoors Marathon Series. Now to relax before picking up the training for the HM55 in March.”
