Yorkshireman Off Road Half & Full Marathon
Phew, that was a windy one! I only know that cos I was having a watch, so was stood around getting cold & handing out jelly babies!! It could have been worse though, not sure how or why but that's what people say so I thought, what the hell!
We had a good turnout for these two events, with 6 people competing in the full & another 10 in the half. The "half" is a bit of a misnomer however, being 15.6 miles rather than the internationally recognised half marathon distance of 13.1 miles! Who said you get nothing for free in Yorkshire?
Both events start 30 minutes apart from the main street in Haworth, and run the same route for the first 9 miles over Penistone hill and Bodkin Lane, before doing a part circuit of Oxenhope Moor and emerging at the old Withens Pub. From here the full route turns off for a loop around Denholme & Cullingworth, whilst the half continues the loop back to Oxenhope, before returning to Haworth alongside the railway. Both events finish with a nasty little run up the cobbles back to the school, just what tired legs need!
Navigation is a little tricky on both events & lack of recce'ing showed when a few people, who shall remain nameless, decided to add extra distance to their race, just for the hell of it! Unfortunately Matt Haworth had to retire with bad crabs in his hamstring (or was it cramp, maybe I misheard him!!) at the Withens checkpoint I was watching at. At least you got a nice warm ride back Matt!
Other than that, everyone made it back safe & sound, with Heath taking the TAC honours in the half with a time of 1.57.41 and 13th overall, just under 4 minutes in front of Simon Kelly. Dave Smith proved it's well worthwhile having a pacemaker (the heart type, not the Kenyan type!), finishing in just over 2.15. This is the longest race Dave's completed since his massive heart problems 3 years ago, so well done Diddy! Fiona took the ladies honours, in 2.11, just over 2 minutes ahead of Fionnuala. Tony Macro was the final TAC runner, still finishing in well under 3 hours, so well done T!
In the full event, it was Paul who took the TAC glory, finishing 6 minutes slower than last year due to the weather, but still under 4 hours in 8th overall and time of 3.58.45. Excellent result Paul! Pete Stobbs rounded off the top 10 finishing in 4.06.51 - not bad for a bloke who reckons he was limping from about 14 miles to the finish - I must learn to limp like that! Jim was next up, followed by Tony Hall, with Jenny being our sole female runner in this event finishing in 5.30. Great running everyone!
Apologies for missing Heath in the pics - I'd have seen you if you'd had your vest on!! Also apologies for not having the full finishers together - I had to go back to my sick bed!
