Race Date: Sunday 21st April 2024
On the day that all eyes were on some minor marathon around the streets of London and a few Striders were competing in Cat Lane Canter for the club championships I did a low key cross country race on the South Yorkshire/ Nottinghamshire border.
I was the sole representative from Striders in the Roche Abbey half marathon, a trail race that took place in the grounds of, and the surrounding countryside near to, the ruins of Roche Abbey in an attractive, but unsung, part of South Yorkshire. Founded in the 12th century as a monastery for the Cistercian Order, Roche Abbey was once home to over 150 monks and lay brothers. It was suppressed in 1538 when most of its buildings were dismantled leaving just the imposing ruins seen today.
As with all events organised by the Grim up North team there was a choice of races: For this event competitors were registered for one of an ultra, a marathon, a 20 mile, a half marathon or a 6.6 mile which then determined how many laps they completed. Each lap consisted of a mix of footpaths, woodland trails, grassland and a couple of short, sharp climbs through woods, together with gates, styles and even stepping stones over a stream meaning that it was quite technical, muddy and very strenuous. It’s fair to say that I was pretty exhausted at the end.
At the end of the race competitors received a blingy medal, cakes, chocolates, drinks and a free chip butty!
The first male runner was Rob Alexandra-Duncan (City of Hull AC) with a time of 1:45:37. The first female runner was Olivia Barlow (Morley RC) with a time of 1:50:35. There were 58 finishers in the half marathon race.
Striders results in the half marathon race
