There were three Higham Hurtle’s this year (April, June and August 2023). This report is for the last of these, which took place on the 24th August 2023. As this was a Championship race there was a good number of Steel City Striders in attendance on what turned out to be a very pleasant sunny evening.

The Higham Hurtle starts and finishes at Higham Cricket Club, which is close to Junction 37 on the M1. Take the left exit at the Barnsley Motorway Roundabout. As the name may suggest, Higham is fairly high and has a fantastic view (over the very near M1) towards Huddersfield and the Emley Moor Transmitting Station (seen in the sunset photo).

Strava recorded the total event distance at 8.2km. Unusually, compared to a number of my recent events, the first 2.5km are almost all downhill. From a road start, the route drops downhill, sweeping under the motorway on to a narrow dead-end road, before the joining a muddy wooded trail. At the end of this, the route takes a near 170 degree turn where the inevitable climbing starts, gentle at first, but it ramps up at about 4.5k into a steeper 1.5km of fairly challenging (rutted trail) gradients. Strava has the total elevation gain at 150m. The final 2km are mostly downhill(ish) with a small roadside section before a small (through a gap) climb back to the cricket ground. This is a short sharp 10m scramble from the road back onto the cricket ground. The finish line is at the far side of the ground which is reached by completing a near full lap of the well maintained grassed perimeter. For information, this is a stile free route!