Race report by Mandy Taylor
Organised by See York Run it’s a low key 6hr challenge whereby you run as many 6.5 mile laps as you want/can. End of each lap food/drink station could be accessed.
I entered this at short notice on a whim thinking I’d like to get back to running ultras and this would be a good starting point. With 6wks to train what could go wrong?! Didn’t factor in the pre booked events and I was doing the National 3 Peaks challenge (46hrs) with parkrun tourism thrown in!
So with only 4 weeks to go serious training started – sadly I then fell foul to hamstring/glute injury. In desperation I rested, stretched and tried short runs. Things eased a bit so 5 days before the event I abstained from running/gym classes. With the hope all would be well.
The day came and surprisingly some good running weather. Penistone Trans Pennine Trail is flat and I was feeling a little optimistic. We were led onto the TPT after a short brief from the community hall, where laps are registered.
The participants there were friendly and during the run all cheered each other on which was good as there was a distinct lack of crowd support.
Potentially this route could get boring, a 3.3 mile out and then back with not a great deal to see. However for me after mile 8/9, the view was not on my radar. The hamstring was letting me know it was definitely present! Focus then was on mile/clock watching. The running got slower and slower and by mile 15 I was struggling to walk and had to concede it would be my last lap. So finally at mile 19.6 back at the new lap point I disappointingly had to sign off. My target of 32 miles was a definite no no.
There was plenty of cake and hot drinks to have after the event.
And the medal’s not too bad!
I think I would like to try something like this again as there’s no pressure on finishing distance and times.
There were 70 people who attended/completed the event.
In 1st place Aaron Davis with 5 laps – 32.75 miles in 4.46.38 hrs. Ist female was Stephanie Turner who ran 26.2 miles in 3.54.42
I managed 3 laps – 19.65miles – in 3.41.00hrs
Full results below