Race Date: Saturday 1st March 2025

On a sunny crisp morning on the 1^st March two Striders and several hundred other intrepid runners gathered at the Saddleworth Rangers Rugby club for  the 2025 edition of the 10 Res’s Moorland marathon (also included this year is the 5 Res’s and the 15 Res’s) run by the excellent Cragrunners (seriously check out their races!). The 10 Res’s is slightly over the marathon distance with approx. 1300m of elevation.

Organisation at the rugby club was excellent, kit checks were sorted in short order and tracking tags taped to bags. Once done it was time to take advantage of the free pre-race toast and tea!

This was my second go at the 10 Res’s, 2024s race had legendary bad weather with -5 temperatures and whiteout conditions, this year was quite the opposite! The race started at 9 with the walkers (and 15 Res’s runners) having set off at 8. It was cool, but sunny, there was still ice on the ground in places but conditions were ideal.

Once we reached the moors around Blackhill and over Laddow Moss it became clear that the weeks of rain before the race had brought with them a new set of fun and interesting conditions. It was lovely and sunny, but the bogs in places were getting out of hand, I found myself wading knee deep in places and falling to my waist in plenty of others, going was hard! As such I suffered some cramp between 20 and 30k, but the final checkpoint that has now moved indoors came along at just the right time for me to rest up for a few minutes (and they still have whiskey!).

The last climb up to Laddow rocks is seriously tough, but it was the final descent from Chew reservoir that really hurt my poor aching legs, wasn’t far to the finish though. The end came in a blur of sore legs and pointing runners and walkers who were going the wrong way in the right direction (it was nice not to be the one going wrong for once!). I was pleased with my position (20^th overall), but a little annoyed that I missed my target time by 23 seconds! At the finish line the traditional pie and peas and as much cake as you can stomach were waiting. All in all this is a fantastic race and with the new additions of the 5 Res’s (half marathon) and 15 Res’s (60k ultra) there is something for everyone.

The race was won by Joe Oldfield of Matlock AC in a time of 3.39:48 and Clare Cummings of Pennine Fell Runners in 5.02:11

Striders results: