How would you spend the hottest Saturday of the year so far? Firing up the BBQ and sitting in the garden with a cold beer or racing against a steam train in the North York Moors? I like a challenge or I’m just crazy (I’ll let you decide) so I covered myself in factor 50 and went for the latter option.
We set off with the 14:00 from Grosmont to Goathland running along the rail trail before returning along the public footpaths on edge of the moors and re-joining the rail trail near to Crag Dike back to Grosmont. Family and friends were aboard the train – getting off at Goathland to cheer us on before catching the train back 50 minutes later.
The rail trail was lovely, reasonably flat with some shady areas – the hilly parts came later in the race. As we were running at the hottest part of the day I took it steady – stopping to take photos, it was absolutely beautiful! It was a mixed terrain run – I need to replace by trail shoes (top tip: never but trainers in the washer) so wore my road shoes and they were fine. I ran the last mile behind a guy who had got a can of John Smiths from somewhere – that’s one way of keeping hydrated I guess!
I came in 20 minutes behind the train – I had no aspirations of trying to beat it in that weather- it was more about enjoying it. Huge thank you to all the marshalls/volunteers and to Mark and Martin at Racebest for organising this event. These guys are super speedy and replying to emails!
Race Breakdown:
Entry Cost: £21 affiliated – £24 unaffiliated – packet pickup on day
Water stations: 2 – 3 miles in Goathland and 6.5 miles in Beck Hole. Non-sports 500ml bottles
Parking: Plenty (free)
Baggage Facilities: None I was aware of but parking on site
Post-Race Goodies: Medal, beer, Kitkat
Highlights: Beautiful scenery
Low points: Warm weather
