Archive for the ‘Sport’ Category

God’s Own Backyard Ultra is a backyard event that takes place in Bramley Fall Woods and the canal towpath each May and November. In a backyard, you have one hour to complete a 6.7km loop. You have to be back in the starting pen on the hour for the next loop and anyone that doesn’t make it is eliminated. The winner is the last person standing.

I’ve never had a “proper go” at one. I did God’s Own back in 2022 but had to make a planned drop out after 11 laps. I then did Dublin Mountain in 2023, but with 250 metres of elevation gain per lap, it is not comparable to other races. This time, I was going to see how far I could go.

That said, I was doing it for fun, so I didn’t want to put any pressure on myself. If I went and did one lap, that was fine. If I got a PB, that would also be good. And that’s the thing about packing for a backyard. You take so much stuff and have no idea whether you’re going to be running for an hour or a full day (or more). I felt silly walking down to the race in my changing robe at in 20 degree heat, but felt very glad of it after it got dark.

Early laps were good. I used arm screens and a wide-brimed hat to try and protect myself from the sun. I also went for leggings initially, but abandoned this after the first couple of laps. The Saturday was relatively cool, peaking at 21, and much of the race is in the woods so you get some shade. I certainly didn’t envy those still running on the Sunday and Monday when it got really hot. Last time I did the race, I fell twice, so I was pleased to get through without any issues.

Once I was through 11, things changed. On the plus side, exciting things were happening. 12 was a PB, 13 was a double marathon, 14 was the first night loop, 15 was 100k, and 17k was a 24-hour PB. The only lap I didn’t want to stop on was 16. At the same time, I was increasingly hurting and not able to each as much between laps.

Food wise, pizza really worked for me. I think I got through most of one during the day, as well as some crisps, an ice lolly, some potatoes, half a sandwich and maybe a few other bits. The real food sat very well compared to sports-specific stuff. There was also a catering tent on site and I drank my way through three slushies throughout the day. I would have done more but they closed as it got dark.

The first night loop was fine. I didn’t get back to camp any faster, though. Lap 15 was hard. I was getting really sore. My hip had been bothering me since the early laps, and Andy kindly let me use his foam roller, but by this point everything was sore and it was becoming harder and harder to run. By lap 16, I decided to walk it and see how I felt. Walking was almost equally painful. I managed a little jog at the end and got back to the corral with less than a minute to spare.

I couldn’t face lap 17. And it felt pretty reasonable because 16 was the lap I didn’t want to stop on, so I think I was just empty by this point. I did cross the timing mat to start lap 17, though. This is important because is technically means I was timed out on lap 17 rather than refused to continue, and because retiring at 12:00:05, meant I can say “I ran into the early hours of Sunday morning”. Both of these things make me happy. Total distance covered:

107.289 kilometres

Five laps added to my backyard personal best and only three kilometres short of my 24-hour PB.

Loads of thank yous: to Gav and Ruth and the whole race team for putting on another great event. The marshals for keeping us safe and offering encouragement. Richard for turning up with ice lollies and orange juice. Everyone who came down and supported, it was lovely to have people cheering us on at the start and end of every lap. My fellow athletes for making it such a communal, encouraging race. And Elina and Venla for putting up with “I’m going for a run; not sure when I’ll be back.”

Back in the day, Leeds had a marathon. Then, in 2003, just before I became an adult, they stopped having one. And for twenty years there was no city marathon. In 2022, I went travelling. And Leeds announced they were launching a new city marathon. Finally, in 2026, my schedule and the Leeds Marthon schedule lined up. I feel like Baddiel and Skinner should write a song about this.

I’ve had a tough time with marathon running recently, most recently running Dublin Marathon on my birthday. This time, I felt quite anxious for the first four kilometres or so. Maybe it was that feelings of “this is going to be hours of suffering ahead”. After this, though, it mostly went away. I had some light headedness about 16 kilometres in, but otherwise felt good.

I also moved well. My last few marathons have all been around 4:30 mark, so I was expecting to be slower than this with the big hill coming back from Otley. But it just never materialised. I kept ticking kilometres off at just over six minutes. I think I had mentally prepared myself for it to be super hilly, and so once I was up onto the ridge line, and even coming back from Otley, it just never felt that bad. I ran almost the whole way up to Bramhope with only a short walking stint to eat.

At about 34k, the marathon and half marathon routes merge. This meant those of us running a marathon at six minutes a kilometre, and those running a half at what I would guess would be 12ish minutes, were jammed together on the same road. It was hard to find space, and I felt sorry for the half runners who suddenly found themselves swarmed by marathon runners. It was crowded the whole way down Otley Road and into the stadium. Lovely finish line, though.

My time was:

4:02:50

Elina and Venla came to meet me after the race. It was tricky finding each other as both o2 and Vodafone’s networks were down around the stadium.

The support was excellent. I’ve never done London but I’ve done Dublin twice and I would say in Dublin, there are people watching more than there are not people. Leeds wasn’t quite Dublin good but much stronger than any other race I’ve done. I think that says quite a lot given it is not a city marathon: Dublin stays within the city at all times, whereas this is an out-and-back to Otley and still enjoys great support along a lot of the course.

Overall, great race. I would still say it is pretty hilly to make a PB attempt on it, and you risk getting trapped behind half marathon runners. But as a nice day out with great support, it’s a lovely race to do.

Track sessions are back in full flow at Hyde Park Harriers, and I was back coaching last week. I also had the pleasure of leading group one on Monday, including loads of people running with the club for the first time.

Stokesley Leisure Centre is a pool-based sprint triathlon based at Stokesley Leisure Centre in Yorkshire, run by Cleveland Triathlon Club. The pool was wide enough and there were only 3-4 of us in each lane with participants starting every three minutes. The bike course is absolutely beautiful: it just enters the North York Moors National Park so you get panoramic views without any hills being involved. The run is a road-based out-and-back. The only thing I was surprised at was they didn’t check bikes in and out of transition, but maybe that’s the joy of living in a town of 6,000 people. Would do this race again.

First triathlon of 2026 is in the bag. Tadcaster is a lovely chill race and always a pleasure to take part in. It is part of the HPH club championships, and with only four of us competing, myself and three women, I only had to finish to take the championship lead after one races.

Setup was fine, including a pre-race brownie from the coffee van. I went for a complicated three-shoe setup so that I had one pair from pool to T1, then bike and run shoes. It’s a lot of shoes to bring, but a 600m run from the pool to T1, along multiple roads, so the extra pair of shoes was well worth it.

I felt good in the swim. There were only three of us in our lane and I was the first out, although that probably says more about how accurate my 400m prediction time was. I clocked my swim at just over nine minutes, which isn’t my fastest ever, but consistent with previous efforts but something I thought I was taking quite steady.

It was a beautiful day for cycling. Clear, cool, and no wind. I haven’t done any work in the aero position all year but I got down on the bars for several sections of the course and felt pretty quick. The only slight panic was when the guy in front of me missed the turn back into transition and I had a split-second question about whether it was me that was wrong. But no.

Out onto the run. This felt quite weird because someone started catching me. This isn’t how these things work. People overtake me in the swim and the bike and then I catch people on the run. But with zero overtakes so far, someone was breathing down my neck until the water station. They backed off and then caught me on the trail section at the bridge. Not for too long, though, and I managed to take the place back. Up the steps and across the finish line for a well-earned pork pie.

My overall time was:

1:14:35

My splits are below. It should be noted that in 2021 the river flooded and the run course was changed to a shorter out-and-back on the road, hence why we all have amazing run splits for that year.

New fastest T2 time, and not bad for my first race in the 40-44 age group. Thank you to all of the volunteers and marshals, and to Elina and Venla for keeping me company.

Last Sunday I did my final big training run before God’s Own Backyard Ultra. Modelled on last year’s mega run, it was a little shorter: five hours moving time over six hours, rather than six hours moving time over seven hours. But, on the plus side, I did make it almost as far, clocking up 50km, 3km short of last year. Although it is difficult to compare across different routes.

Goole parkrun takes place at West Park and is totally flat. It is two and a half laps that partially follows a horseshoe shape. Some of it is tarmac with the rest of the course being on gravel trail, mud or grass. Plenty of friendly volunteers to cheer us on: thank you to everyone who was there yesterday.

Goole was the last one I needed for the Staying Alive challenge: Burnley, Bramley, Bushy, Griffen, Gorey, Goole.

Punk Panther is a Yorkshire-based race organiser, predominantly doing ultras. I first signed up for one of their events in 2021 but never made the start line. Luckily, I finally did make it to one of their events, and their 10th birthday and 100th event no less. It starts in Otley, loops over hills and fields to Ilkley and then back along the other side of the Wharfedale Valley.

It was certainly outside of my comfort zone with the trails, running past livestock and navigation. But the trails weren’t too technical and after the first half I got into my stride and was able to focus on the physical discomfort, as well as the beautiful scenery. They had a lovely race HQ at Otley Common, including post-race refreshments. I had a cheese toastie and it was good.

If you find yourself in Easingwold, they have a lovely parkrun and an excellent jigsaw shop.

I think the major victory here is that, despite my advancing years, I stayed awake for the whole thing. The end scoreline might suggest there was a bit of a contest. But the Seahawks were never under pressure and always in the driving seat. Bad Bunny’s half time show was excellent.