by Andrew 'Nez' Nesbit

Having completed the Hardmoors 110 in 2015 but well over cut off I decided to go back in 2016 to take it on again & subsequently knocked 6 hours 26 minutes off my time which left me with the decision of either doing the 110 again or stepping up to the 160. At that point I couldn't imagine having to continue running for another 50 miles so it took a bit of convincing myself to make the decision but I finally chose to have a go at the 160, only for a matter of weeks later a post to appear on Facebook saying the 160 wasn't going to be on & a special one off 200 mile race was replacing it to mark the 10th anniversary of Hardmoors events. My instant reaction was no chance at all but within a couple of days I'd already made my mind up to have a go at it, what's the worst that can happen?

I'd say the training started in earnest in November 2016 having never really trained for a specific race before I didn't really know what I was doing so I just started hammering the miles & upping the speed. Spending most of the time running on tarmac over the winter period but seeking out hills as much as I could & some days running 2 or 3 times a day aiming for 200 miles a month I figured that would be enough, I even did 30 minutes of core work, once.

So fast forward to the 4th of May 2017, I had done recces for The Wolds Way something I'd never done before, support crew was arranged & had all my stuff, support runners were in place & I was heading to Hull on a train. I met up with fellow runner David Barker & his support crew for some food & a pint where we decided to run the race together as far as possible. We parted ways to our separate hotels & my support crew, Gareth Barnett, had just arrived we had a bit chat about the coming weekend then off to sleep, probably the best pre-race nights sleep I've had about 6 hours.

Beep, Beep, Beep, the alarm was going it was 6:00am race day had arrived some 9 months after deciding to give it a go it was finally here, quick shower, breakfast in hotel telling the waitress what I was doing got a spectacular reaction of amazement then the 5 minute drive to the start. The atmosphere at Victoria Dock Village Hall was electric, a heady mixture of nervousness & excitement filled the air then as I rounded the corner I couldn't help but laugh in typical Hardmoors style a sign next to the registration sign simply said "Not Far To Go". 

Registration done, a quick sorting of kit & race brief, where we were told not many of you will complete this race it's going to be very very hard, we were moved out to the road in the glorious sunshine to face the mammoth task in hand 200 miles, 2-f*cking-hundred miles !!! That moment of clarity hits you like a steam train all bets are off, plans & ideas lie in tatters in the gutters & you know then & there that nothing matters anymore you've just got to keep moving & hit the cut offs 3, 2, 1, GO we all moved into the sun, Not Far To Go………

Having done a recce we knew that the first part of the route was flat & easy to go far too fast on especially with how far we had to go but also aware that this section could be used to gain a bit of a buffer for some of the very tight cut offs. We were cruising along nicely when every runner ahead of us turned left & it was meant to be right so for a very brief moment David & myself led The Hardmoors 200! Before we knew it we were arriving at The Humber Bridge & checkpoint 1 (7.5 miles) quick chat with our crews & necked a morning fuel shake & we were away again passing under the bridge & further along the river.

We finally turned inland, again this section was quite flat & the day was starting to heat up nicely but with a perfect cooling breeze. We were going along at a good but easy pace having a laugh & chatting with any fellow runners we met, again, before we knew it we were dropping down the descent into Brantingham and checkpoint 2 (17.5 miles) to another comedy Hardmoors sign.

We stopped for a bit food & picked up our cheaty Mccheat sticks as we knew there were several big climbs between here & checkpoint 3. Despite the climbs again this section flew by. I was running along chatting to a girl from Edinburgh called Lynsey when she realised she'd dropped her iPod, before long I could hear the dulcet tones of Mark Dalton approaching we ran a good few miles together through some stunning countryside.

We soon arrived at checkpoint 3 (27.5 miles) & stopped to take on some good food & drink & leave our poles behind. We set off in good spirits on our way to the first cut-off of the race at Millington once again this section has nothing too taxing & we cracked on through it at good pace still having a laugh & enjoying ourselves.

To be honest my memories are a bit sketchy of this first day a lot of the sections blend into one. There's some truly stunning countryside to be seen & on a beautiful day like that day it's amazing but with the tight cut offs ahead of us always in the back of our minds we had to stick to the job in hand & we arrived at checkpoint 4 (40 miles) 3 hours 10 minutes ahead of the 7:00pm cut off, 1 hours 10 minutes up on the plan. That was the kind of safety net we knew would come in handy, we just didn't realise how handy at the time! This was the first indoor checkpoint of the day & time for use of the facilities as I'd failed with a pre race poop without going into detail I was in there a while & felt sorry for whoever followed me. Then off to the crew vehicles for the first hot food of the day a lovely plate of homemade pasta which went down a treat. Upon leaving this checkpoint we were heading into territory David hadn't recced so the navigation was up to me, I felt quite confident of getting us through despite knowing night would be coming soon. We were still going at a good pace even though there were some big climbs again in this section we left our poles & joked about who's stupid idea that was half way up one of the climbs where the moon sat at the top of the hill in the clear blue sky.

We soon arrived at the unofficial meeting point at Fridaythorpe where we decided to have a wipe down & change into night clothing as temperature was dropping quite rapidly. A big coffee went down a treat & change of underwear but kept same shorts on as couldn't be arsed to swap race number from one pair to another & changed into long sleeves we were off again heading to Wharram Percy. When I'd done the recce of this section with Mark Dalton we'd been certain it would be dark by the time we arrived here, but to my surprise it was still in the last throws of daylight & by the time we'd passed through the eerie abandoned village with the creepy music playing I was glad it was still light. Over the last few miles I had noticed a rather painful sensation in my left knee, I had taped my right knee up before the race as it had been painful in training but had never had pain in left knee so this was a surprise & not a welcome one. I decided to tape my left knee when we arrived at checkpoint 5 (57 miles). Here We were to be greeted with our Chinese order special fried rice, curry sauce & chips sat in a camping chair watching the sunset while eating it was perfect.

By now the temperature had dropped significantly & I decided to put my leggings on after taping my knee by the time I got to putting my jacket on I was visibly shaking & it took 3 of us trying to get my zip fastened before it finally zipped then we skipped, well David skipped, out of the checkpoint and off at pace to try & warm up. This section from here to a point on the route I'd suggested to Gareth at 71 miles was where I had my first real low time. I was battling the silent demons in my head while David kept pushing me all the time to keep moving. On the descent down into Wintringham and the second cut off of the route at 65 miles We picked up another runner called Ian who asked if he could stick with us through the night section. Arriving at the checkpoint well under cut off we still had a good buffer but I was sick now & just wanted the night to be over when in reality it had only just started. David did a sterling job of keeping the spirits up when he must have sensed I was struggling, I was getting to the point where everything hurt & it was dark although there was still enough moonlight to get through vast sections without using headtorches. Leaving the checkpoint I knew the steepest climb of the whole Wolds Way was just around the corner which did nothing to improve my mood but I knew I just had to get on with it, it wasn't like I was going to quit by choice. The climb was soon over & the next really steep climb came very quickly from my memory on the recce they were further apart but once they were done I knew it was almost plain sailing from there to Filey. As we neared the unofficial meeting point at High Mill Farm my right glute was really hurting & I was getting more sucked into unhappiness by this so when we finally arrived I sat in the front of Gareths car for a while & tried to sort my head out drank a very very strong coffee ate a bit food then got out & rubbed my glute against the vibrating bumper on Dans ticking over van which helped a great deal. A combination of coffee, food & glute vibrating did me the world of good & my mood had picked up brilliantly also knowing Filey & "home territory" were only 16 miles away was a great help. This section we began to pick up the pace much to Ians shock & when we caught up with another 2 runners just before the 3 hills leading to the final checkpoint on The Wolds Way, Flixton Wold (79 miles), he commented to them that we were a pair of lunatics! Arriving at the checkpoint I was greeted by two familiar faces, Brian & Ian from my running club Derwent Valley Trail Runners, we spoke for a while then I went for a few nibbles & some more magic coffee. We left there pretty quickly happy in the knowledge it was only 9 miles to Filey Brigg. Before we could say boo to a goose we had hit the road at Filey School & had the 2 mile section which was the only part of the route I hadn't recced luckily David had so we were back into his hands. The early morning light was a great boost to mood but I still wished I was at the checkpoint. Ian soon disappeared off into the distance when we hit Filey & we never saw him again we ground out the 2 mile section & got to the checkpoint at 5:45am Filey Brigg (88 miles) 2 hours 15 minutes before cut off which was almost bang on the 2 hours we wanted needless to say this raised the mood but nowhere near as much as the sign on the checkpoint tent that made me laugh a lot….

We'd done it The Wolds Way was finished in the time we had wanted, we were still in good condition & onto The Cleveland Way we both knew this section well & it felt like we were home. I also had the added bonus of knowing I had moral support popping up in the form of Emma & her son Harvey who I was due to see in 6 different locations throughout the day. Gareth had me a tin of all day breakfast cooking which I hoovered up in a few minutes then decided it was time for a sock & trainer change where I found a lovely message had been printed on my socks…..

That caused me to nearly burst into tears so I quickly put them on and changed from my road shoes to light trail shoes then swapped tops & jacket. Today was going to be not as hot as yesterday which was good & the wind had died right down perfect! I Spoke briefly to Shirley who told me I had plenty time then David was ready & we left the checkpoint at 6:30am giving us 37.5 hours to do 112 miles, surely we would be able to squeeze a little power nap in at some point.

We were still running well but steep ascents & descents were starting to bring out the moans n groans but we still moved pretty well up & down them. David gave me a bit of his cranberry 9 bar I took 1 bite & made him take it back it was horrible & took God knows how many drinks to get the taste out my mouth, but he was right I must keep fuelling so I had a mars bar as we climbed out of Cayton Bay. It wasn't long till we arrived at Holbeck Hill (96 miles) I had several drinks of coke & a couple of sarnies. Chatting to the marshalls we found out the race leaders had passed through there 7 hours before us, unbelievable!! We descended Holbeck Hill and hit Scarborough seafront, I'd been dreading this 3 mile section but it passed by with out falling apart and we got to the sea life centre to find Ann Brown taking photos, I got a big hug and off we went back to the cliff tops.

I should mention Martin we'd been running with him on and off a lot during the first day & that was to continue through most of the remaining time on the route, great guy! Gareth had arranged to meet us at Crookness, where Mike had joined David's crew & also where we picked up our poles again around the 100 mile mark, we had 8 more miles to the first really tough cut off at Ravenscar (108 miles) at 13:00 so we got going pretty quickly as we were running out of time. During this section the 110 "Fun" runners started passing us, many well dones, handshakes & being told we're nuts were exchanged, this was great fun & passed the time well. We reminisced about the part of the route where we had met the year before on the 110. I think we were both struggling a bit now & really looking forward to getting through this first tight cut off. Our crews came down to meet us to ask what we needed because they were parked quite a way from the checkpoint, all I wanted was Compeed I could feel a huge painful blister on my foot & wanted it covered up before it became a real problem.

We entered the village hall 35 minutes before cut off & I promptly sat down started taking off my shoes & socks but within a few seconds I started feeling light headed & dizzy the only answer I could come to was I needed sugar & lots of it after sending Gareth & Dave Cook for a lot of cups of coke I started feeling much better then on to the task in hand, foot maintenance. After bending my legs into positions that shouldn't be possible after 108 miles i concluded there was a sizable blister on the underside of my left foot which Dave kindly placed a Compeed on & another on the outside of my heel which was also covered. We wanted to leave the checkpoint before cut off passed at 13:00 even though we didn't have to so I quickly ate some food, wolfed a coffee down then went & destroyed the toilet reapplied anti chafing cream & we were ready to leave with a minute to spare. Just as we were heading out the door we got chatting to Shirley who informed us that there had been a mistake on the cut offs Ravenscar was 14:00 not 13:00 & Saltburn, which I had thought was the toughest cut off of the whole route, wasnt 23:00 but midnight. So we were still an hour ahead of cut off which was a huge relief as we now had 11 hours to cover 31 miles but we decided to pretend we still only had 10 hours & hoped to use that extra hour as a buffer to get a nap at Saltburn. Only 4 miles to the next checkpoint at Robin Hoods Bay we flew through this section despite all the steps and arrived 1 hour later at 14:00 (112 miles) this was the first place Emma and Harvey were due to be, I noted they waited at the top of the ridiculously steep hill not the bottom, as I rounded the corner into view of the checkpoint I gave a Spongebob Squarepants "imagination" wave and Emma ran over the road to give me a big cuddle.

Quickly through the checkpoint we made our way to the crews where Gareth had me another plate of pasta ready, well I say plate but in reality I was eating it straight out of the pan by now, etiquette was long gone. We dumped our poles here as we knew we'd not need them in the next 10 mile section to Sandsend. Off we went through the section to Whitby Caravan Park where our crews were waiting I had a few cups of Coke where David said "great I get to hear you burping for the next 5 miles again" then we were off again to battle through the crowds at Whitby, don't know how or why but we managed to cut through them like a hot knife through butter and soon passed through the whale bones & down onto the promenade where Martin caught back up with us after we stopped for a toilet break. We were running along but the flat & tarmac were getting too repetitive So we decide run walk strategy picking bins, bushes & rocks as walk & run targets. Once we climbed up through the golf club & onto the main road as it started to descend to Sandsend we made the most & ran the whole section passing a 110 runner who was struggling with his knee. We arrived at Sandsend checkpoint (122 miles) at 17:15 where David's girlfriend was meeting him for the first time we made a plan of stopping here for 45 minutes to get changed into night gear as it was starting to get a bit chilly, i looked around the car park but couldn't see Emma so Gareth rang her as she was meant to be coming here, she hadn't expected us to get there that quickly! To be fair I don't think I had either but we had definitely made up some good mileage along this part. I considered a nap but thought I'd wait till Saltburn as I wasn't feeling that tired so had some food got changed & we were ready to leave at 18:00.

We left Sandsend but by the time we'd only gone about a mile the clouds cleared & out came the sun, not ideal when we'd changed into warm clothes! So we had to stop & take off jackets to keep cool it got very warm which was a nice way to end the day. We soon came to the steps that lead down to the beach at Runswick Bay i love going down these steps & absolutely flew down them but when i stopped at the bottom i had the weirdest sensation like I was still moving it felt like I was rolling over forwards despite being stood completely still, so I sat against a rock & waited for David & Martin.

At the checkpoint (127 miles) 19:30. I had a pan of Heinz spaghetti with little hot dogs in it was so nice & a change from pasta. We were looking at a long section from here to Saltburn of 12 miles in around 4 hours, luckily we had the carrot dangling of fresh hot pizza at Saltburn. We had arranged an extra crew point at Staithes in 4 miles but it was just going to be a very quick one & the final place to see Emma for the day but she was coming back tomorrow to run the last 23 miles with us, by the time we arrived at Staithes the sun had set but it was still light. David Scott had arrived as extra crew help for David & now Martins son was also tagging along with our crew convoy. I had a cup of the most ridiculously strong coffee & a couple cups of Coke everyone swore in front of Harvey it was comedy gold. We looked ahead of us at Boulby Cliffs they were covered in thick cloud it was going to be interesting up there. We said goodbye to Emma & Harvey I thanked her for awesome moral support & we headed into the cloud & dark.

Just before the ascent up the cliffs we passed Dee & Jo waiting for Emily. We made our way up the steep path to the cliff tops, which Martin informed me were the highest cliffs on the east coast, every day is a school day! By the time we reached the top the visibility was down to around 5 feet & we had to carry our headtorches in our hands at ground level & we were barely moving we knew we were losing a lot of time & getting conscious of the midnight cut off at Saltburn. We tried running bits but it was a real struggle so we just pushed on best we could hoping to start the long descent to Skinningrove sooner rather than later. It was a blessed moment when we passed the area where the Saltburn marathon turns off the Cleveland Way & we started heading downhill the fog was clearing nicely & we started making a good bit pace up. David really started pushing on & soon his headtorch was quite a distance in front of me, I knew he was pushing hard to get me to push hard & it worked a treat. I was hammering along at what felt like break neck speed compared to the drag through the clouds. Soon David's headtorch vanished & I knew he must of started the steep descent to the road. I caught up with him on the road where he had stopped & waited whilst chatting to some support crew for another runner. We waited for Martin then pushed on again it was 22:30. We had 90 minutes to cover 4 miles. 65 minutes later we arrived at Saltburn checkpoint (139 miles) 25 minutes before cut off. Here we were meeting my support runners Dickie & Hutchy but first things first piping hot fresh pizza. I got into the tent on Gareth's crew mobile & sat down with the heater on zipped the door up away from the cold & scoffed half of it in no time at all. I could hear loads of different voices outside & had a couple of through the tent conversations then decided I wanted to get 10 mins sleep within 2 minutes I knew it was never going to happen so I got changed into new dry tops for the cold night section unzipped the tent & stepped into the night. Dickie & Hutchy were ready & waiting & we left the checkpoint at 23:59 giving us 5 hours to cover the 15 miles to the next cut off. Martin wasn't ready but he said for us to just get going & he would come out with the 2 tail runners who we knew from our club Ian & Brian so off we went.

I don't like this section it's just a long slog with nothing really notable to break things up but at least we had a fresh pair of runners to liven things up & keep us going. We walked all the way through Saltburn Gardens & as we passed through the underpass at the end I started running joking to everyone we'd best make the most of this few hundred metres as its the only flat bit for the next few miles. The section from Saltburn to Roseberry Topping is 10 miles & the combination of night & the pain in my feet started to create a very dark place in my head. By the time we arrived at The Fox & Hounds pub all I wanted to do was sit down. I sat in the front seat of Gareths car & took my trainers off to gently rub my feet it felt amazing. I drank some more coffee & took some pain killers, something I hadn't done in over 2 years. By the time we left there 2 hours had passed since Saltburn & we'd only covered 5 miles leaving us 3 hours to cover 10 miles, it wasn't looking good. We made our way through Spa Wood the pace wasn't what we needed but just couldn't find it in me to push hard enough. I remember looking off to the right & seeing headtorches judging their position in relation to ours I'd say they were descending the steps to the Fox and Hounds it had to be the tail runners, it really wasn't looking good! As we ascended the concrete path I was lost in my own head my brain was really happy that I was gonna get timed out at Kildale, a little part of it was gutted but the majority was pleased it was going to be over. We turned off the path into Guisborough Woods & before long we could hear voices behind us Martin & the tail runners had caught us, we were barely moving it just felt permanently uphill. So now there was 7 of us grouped together there was conversations going on all around me & there I was fighting the internal battle between just looking forward to it being over & wanting to finish it more than anything. There that was it, that was that question How much do you want this? I started to recall things David had been saying throughout the day about how much do you want it, that 1000 mile club number, running the last 23 mile with Emma & crossing the finish with her how amazing would that be?, your kids at home watching your dot how proud they would be. The internal battle was shifting but by calculations in my head it was too late no matter how much I wanted it we were running out of time, we were with the tail runners, we weren't moving fast enough so I started to think what's coming up? Where can we run? How can we claw some time back? We've got to climb Roseberry Topping yet shit!! I was fluctuating between the noise in my head & the noise around me it's all becoming too much, where are we what's ahead then I realised at the top of this little incline the path gradually drops till it hits the wide track to Highcliffe Nab we can run I put my headtorch on high beam and looked ahead it is downhill & we can run & off I went pushing as hard as my little ruined legs would go one clear thought in my mind we're not getting timed out at fucking Kildale. I slowed to a walk again as the path started to incline again only for David to come running past me "you're not stopping now you fucker" so I started running again another 50 metres or so till we both started walking where David turned to look at me "the next time you're gonna start running fancying giving a bit warning? I just had a bite of a biscuit & boom you were away I nearly choked on it" it was the funniest thing at the time, I replied "you'll not be complaining when we hit Kildale village hall at 04:59". The group had split again but walking had took back over & by the time we climbed all the way up to Highcliffe Nab we were back together. Down off Highcliffe we made our way through the trees & gate onto the paving slab path this is well runnable & we took off it felt like sprinting, it probably wasn't but we were definitely moving fast but the time was moving faster. As the path started climbing again it soon turned awful underfoot all rocky, rutted & eneven so we were reduced to walking again from here to the short path that leads to the gate at Roseberry Topping seemed to take forever constantly looking at watch, we weren't going to make it. The silhouette of Roseberry loomed against the gradually lightening sky as we reached the gate we were all back together as a group & made our way to the summit. At the bottom of Roseberry we passed Simon Ridley he was on his way down as we were starting our ascent up. Arriving at the checkpoint (149 miles) Tim Taylor poked his head out of the tent I sat on a rock & ate a couple of almost frozen Haribo jelly hearts. The conversation went it's 6 minutes to 4:00 we've got 1 hour 6 minutes to get about 4 to 5 miles we started clutching at straws the race didn't start till 8:03 we might get till 5:03 the tail runners said there might be a bit leniency these were 2 huge mights we couldn't risk. Let's get down off here back up little Roseberry & see what we've got as we passed through the gate my watch reached the 150 mile mark I took a picture timed at 04:11 only 49 minutes to do about 4 miles including climbing up to Captain Cooks monument.

Martin had made the decision on top of Roseberry that he was pulling out at the car park where his crew was waiting about half way from here to Kildale. David's motivating had gotten him through from Scarborough it was a real shame to see him go but we had get going.

It felt like we were flogging a dead horse, running and walking down Newton Moor seemed to never end by the time we reached the car park we could see our crew vehicles parked off to the left we ran diagonally right across the car park. Dickie ran over handed Davids poles to Dan & said they've got to go. We started the ascent to Captain Cooks Monument we finally reached it at 04:38 we had 22 minutes to do 2 miles.

Ahead of us was Simon Ridley & his support runner we had been passing each other constantly throughout the last 24 hours, they reached the left turn & they went by the time we reached the left turn they were out of sight. How much do you want this? We ran as the trail started to descend gradually through the trees the pace started picking up I was at the front and had no idea if I was going fast enough for David behind me so I just gave it everything I had as we broke out onto the wide track it climbed for about 20 feet David appeared alongside me "keep going" I pushed through gritted teeth up the incline then it broke down to the road, sharp right & down the very steep road. By now we were flat out Simon was just ahead of us now they chose the cattle grid option at the gate, Dickie ran ahead & opened the gate for us so we didn't have to slow for the cattle grid we flew through by now everything was screaming the sweat was pouring out of me, even more downhill I can't remember it being this long then it levelled out & we had to push even harder. David ran ahead to the next gate & held it for me then came running past me again as we hit the hill up into Kildale I slowed part of the way up it to a walk Dickie shouted "keep moving" I followed orders & ran again we reached the top it was in sight David had slowed down I said "keep pushing" we rounded the corner & up the street into the village hall 04:59 1 minute before cut off (154 miles). Simon, David & myself had just achieved, what, from the position we were in should of been a virtually impossible task i was dying to know how fast we had gotten down.

Absolute grit & determination shone through I felt like we had slay a dragon the race felt done when in reality we still had 46 miles to go & a lot of hills. Right now was what mattered though & there was no time for complacency I stumbled over to a chair stripping as I went race pack, jacket, hat, gloves, buff & soaked tops lay strewn across the floor I then collapsed in the chair. I put my head in my hands trying to comprehend what had just happened "what do you need?" It was Gareth stood there just in as much disbelief as me "coke, coffee, food and a complete change of clothes" I was soaked through off sweat & didn't fancy Bloworth Crossing in soaking clothes. I looked over at David he was just sat there looking at me shaking his head his face spoke a thousand words I laughed "well i did say we'd get here at 04:59" as my memory flashed back to Guisborough Woods, he just continued to shake his head!

I Shoved a bit pizza down several cokes & a coffee quick change in the toilets & we were ready for the off after having the tracker replaced as it's batteries were running low. We had 14.5 hours to cover 46 miles the next cut off at square corner was 13:00 it was now around 05:30 & we had the long climb to Bloworth Crossing then the 3 sisters & Carlton Bank to deal with. On our way up the road David pushed on ahead of us to the gate where our crews were waiting. Gareth handed me sarnies & A Mountain Fuel morning shake & another coffee. I had to keep eating but I really didn't want to. David was doing a sock & shoe change & having a bit food so we set off a minute or two before him it wasn't too long till he caught up. Once again the darkness was setting inside my head & for the first time the whole weekend I could tell David was feeling really bad too. There's just something about being up here it sucks the life out of you we were trudging at best the banter had dried up we were down to occasional words then as we reached Bloworth & switched back into a chilly headwind it felt like the final straw I just wanted to be at Clay Bank but it was still around 5 miles away David & Dickie had moved on well ahead of us & I was walking a few steps then stopping then walking & stopping with Hutchy trying to keep me going. I felt like death every footstep hurt like hell & the time wasn't getting any slower but as we finally left the wide track onto the paving slabs I knew the decent the Clay Bank was coming which perked me up a bit, maybe the painkillers too & I started running we soon caught Dickie & David. I remember looking over at the 3 sisters & seeing thick cloud on the top of each of them like Boulby Cliffs the previous night I was incredibly grateful it was daylight then we arrived at Clay Bank checkpoint (165 miles) just before 08:00. I spoke to a Marshall on the road who said they were closing the checkpoint at 8:00 it wasn't a cut off but I wanted to get logged before they closed so I went straight up the steps while David went to see his crew. I thought I was going to have to come back down to see Gareth but when I turned round Dickie & Hutchy were there with a cup of pasta for me so we stood around at the checkpoint for a few minutes while I ate that, Simon & his crew where there & I remember laughing quite a bit but not sure what at! We had our trackers replaced again here as the ones we had replaced last time were also low on battery. Then a quick discussion about the fact we were about to tackle the 3 sisters I said "an hour & a half & they'll be done" which seemed optimistic at 165 miles!

The first climb up Hasty Bank was tough I stopped a few times & by the time I reached the top David was already well ahead & running so I set off running through the fog before too long we were climbing through the Wainstones then down the descent the first sister was done. The second ascent I'd say is the hardest so I got my poles off Hutchy, who had carried them for 90% of the time he was there, by now David had vanished into the distance & we were down to 3 of us the weather up on Cold Moor was awful poor visibility, freezing & raining just what I needed.

I couldn't wait to get down off here it was horrendous and it felt like it was taking forever to get across then as we made our way down the descent the wind & rain was even worse, it took me back to Wainstones Marathon 2015 climbing up here. It was like a different world down the bottoms no wind, no rain, no clouds such a relief. As we made our way round to the final climb up Kirby Bank I glanced back and saw the tail runners coming down from the clouds not again I thought to myself. Up the hill we went & I was pleased at the top as it was just thick fog nothing as bad as Cold Moor which made for a decent bit running, as we reached the sharp left to the descent into Lordstones there was David stood there, it had been well over an hour since I'd last seen him so I thought this was a bit odd and when I got to him I asked if he was ok? He said his achilles had gone & he could barely walk on it this wasn't good with still around 32 miles to go. We made our way down the final descent, the 3 sisters were done in the hour & a half in predicted. David was struggling with his achilles & Dickie asked if he was going to pull out there was swearing & a general feeling of violence ensuing one things for sure the humour hadn't gone! When we rounded the bend in Lordstones Simon was talking to a runner from the 110 as we got closer I realised it was Phil Owen judging by how bad he was moving he was in a lot of pain I chatted for a bit discovered pretty much all of him was broken then headed off to tackle Carlton Bank which in my mind was the 2nd off last major climb of the route we soon reached the top.

At the top of here is one of my favourite parts of the Cleveland Way running down Live Moor to Scugdale is such a good runnable section I'd been looking forward to it. We set off at a decent pace & ran pretty hard down the paving slab path I could feel new hot spots appearing on my feet & by the time we slowed back to a walk I was in a lot more pain but happy we'd made a good bit time up. David walked this section but by the time we reached the trees at the end he'd caught & overtook us down to meet our crews in Scugdale at 10:30 (171 miles). When we left Clay Bank we'd had 5 hours to cover 12 miles we had done 6 miles in 2.5 hours exactly half way on both it was beginning to look a bit tight for the 13:00 cut off at square corner. Still had time for a sit down & a cup of soup & a few cokes and a Mountain Fuel recovery shake.

David strapped his ankle up here, it reminded me to take some more painkillers. We set off down the road everyone started running & when the road dropped I ended up running sideways like a crab down it much to David's amusement. As we made our way across the field David started getting ahead again and part way through the woods he was gone only to reappear at the bottom of the ridiculous long steps by the time I reached the top he was gone again! We pushed on again acutely aware that the cut off was creeping closer & closer down to the road across the cattle grid & started the long slog up the moor to the TV mast. We eventually caught David at the gate that left the moor I turned round & pointed out Roseberry Topping & told everyone this is the first place you get to see it on the 55. Then we were up past the mast & on the descent into Osmotherley Dickie & myself had moved ahead leaving Hutchy & David. As we started the angled path down to the farmers fields Hutchy appeared said David had told him to go on ahead he was done & couldn't run at all anymore I kept turning looking back for him but he never came into view then we arrived in Osmotherley, Hutchy left us to go get his van that he hadn't parked in Osmotherley honest guvnor! That left the 2 of us to get to Square Corner I pushed on running all flats & downs in a bit of a panic for missing the cut off my watch had lost so much distance I wasn't sure how far it was to Square Corner in my mind it was approximately 2 miles from Osmotherley but I wasn't certain about that. It wasn't till I reached the path that leads to the climb up to Square Corner that I finally relaxed I'd done it & arrived at the checkpoint (177 miles) at 12:30 30 minutes before cut off. I was greeted at the crew vehicles by Emma who was very happy to see me as I was her, although I think I was less excitable on the outside then spoke with David's crew who had him on the tracker he'd passed through Osmotherley & was on his way. Gareth started handing me food & drinks I sat in the front seat if his car & was talking to Emma when I realised I was shaking so badly the Vimto was splashing out of the top of the cup I was holding so Gareth came & started his engine & I swung, well maybe not swung, my legs inside & shut the door to try & warm up.

All that mattered now was David getting there I was too cold to go & wait so Emma went down & I was over the moon when she returned to say he'd made it 10 minutes before cut off. In the meantime I'd been getting handed various different foods by Gareth none of which were going down well but I knew there could be 7 hours still to go I needed to eat so forced down what I could then Gareth said that we had to leave by 13:00 it was on!! I said thanks to Hutchy & Dickie then we were ready for the off.

As we were leaving the checkpoint the tail runner marshall came over & said he was going to finish his coffee then head out about 20 minutes after us but there was no pressure from him he could hang back or come with us but not to worry we were going to make it. Then we were off up the last climb of any significance it's a slog up here but having a new runner with us to talk to helped distract from the awfulness. We reached the top & turned right with a blessed tail wind it could of been much worse with a head wind & rain like the 110 last year. I tried to get David to make the most of the tail wind but he couldn't run he kept telling us to go on ahead but I didn't want to, not on the home straight, I said I wanted us to finish together my voice nearly broke when I said it, bloody emotional wreck! David had arranged to meet his crew with some stronger pain killers at a point before High Paradise Farm. He got his pain killers & we carried on by the time we got to the woods leading to High Paradise I was starting to get desperate for a poop I had 2 options crouching & hovering behind a wall or going into High Paradise Cafe option 1 was never going to be viable so I ran on ahead of Emma & David & went into the cafe, which I noted was a very nice cafe I'll have to go back & make up for destroying their toilet. I was in there for so long the automatic light went off luckily someone else came in so I didn't have to wipe & get out in the dark! When I finally emerged there was a bloke in the cafe who must have known about the race as he was full of congratulations & telling me how well I was doing I tried making sense in my conversation I'm not sure it went to well so I said my thanks & exited. Upon looking around outside I figured they had carried on so I set off down the descent only to see the tail runner marshall coming back up. He told me that he had caught up with the other 2 and asked where I was when they told him he had to come back to find me. He said to me if I wanted to push on a bit with Emma he would stick with David & make sure he got him back to the finish. As we got to the field I could see Emma waiting then we walked on to the woods & there was Gareth walking towards us with a cup of lukewarm soup he said David had passed him a while ago & he was starting to get worried about where I was, I explained about the toilet break then we shuffled through the trees to his car on Sneck Yate Bank. He told me I'd lost a bit time & needed to pick up the pace if I was going to hit the cut off. So we headed out & as we entered the next field I could see David at the top of the climb. As we caught up with him we both asked how each other were, I told him about what the tail runner marshall had said about making sure he'd get him back then Emma & myself pushed on a bit heading towards The White Horse & the final cut off at 17:00. The pushing on didn't last too long as anything resembling uphill had to be walked but Emma said we were back on the pace Gareth had told her so it was a relief. I got some nice bits of running along this path despite it being very busy with walkers & bikers, even stopped to talk to a couple of bikers who couldn't comprehend what i was doing & kept offering me Compeed! The running/walking was going well & got a good laugh as well when I slowed to a walk one time & Emma came past saying "come on keep going" I, apparently, quite sternly said "how! I'm the runner you're the support runner you run when I run". When we reached the road crossing at Sutton Bank Dan was there we told him about the tail runner & that David was with him & across the road we went onto the out & back section. It felt like forever till we started descending to the woods we passed a few runners going the same way & a couple coming back the other way it was good to see some other runners it had been a while since we had. On the descent into the woods I had to use Emma to support me I was really struggling now needless to say everything hurt but even keeping upright was a struggle i needed another painkiller to lessen the pain. We arrived at the final checkpoint (190 miles) at about 16:00 an hour before cut off, not as if anyone would of been able to time me out here if I had been late!

I walked round the checkpoint campervan & there was Gareth he looked like he was setting up a car boot sale everything was out of his car all over the car park in readiness for the finish but in amongst all the stuff was my trusty camping chair & table set up waiting for me as it had been everytime. I sat in the chair it was heavenly. I started picking on at the various drinks & foods on the table when Dan pulled up & came over. We were having a bit laugh between us all when Emma went in the front of Gareths car & returned with some Tupperware "do you want a bit of blueberry pancake?" Well that sounds lovely I thought and took a bit and shoved it in my mouth "wow that has to be the worst thing I've eaten all weekend even worse the David's cranberry 9 bar on Saturday morning" I proclaimed everyone was laughing so much as I was frantically trying to eradicate the taste out of my mouth with anything at hand! Gareth set a 5 minute timer & I got myself ready for leaving on the last 10 mile stretch we headed out of the car park & towards the White Horse steps at 16:45.

So I had 3 hours 15 minutes to cover 10 miles. I was going to finish but could I do it under cut off? White Horse steps were awful as I expected but they're short thankfully & I was soon heading back along the path. I was freezing it was probably quite a nice day but every time I started feeling a bit warm I took my hood down & was instantly cold again. The path didn't seem as long as it did on the way out and we soon reached the turn off through the woods to the road junction. I don't know if it was divine intervention or what but as we made our way through we stopped a couple of times & because of them stops as I reached the end of the woods a black 4×4 turned off the main road in front of me bloke with sunglasses on & a huge cheesy grin on his face looking at me it took a few seconds for me to realise it was Jon I even turned to Emma and said "is that Jon?" She said yes I went over Jon said "Brilliant mate you've got this" I can't remember my response but got a cuddle through the window & said "see you soon" then headed off i almost burst into tears again, but about 200 metres down the road i had to ask Emma if I'd even spoke to him I just couldn't remember speaking. We got through the horse place & on our way to Cold Kirby I asked Emma if she had phone signal she did have so i asked her to check the tracker to see where David was she stopped to check it out & I carried on.

A couple of minutes later or more likely seconds later every second felt like an hour by now I was told he'd gotten through the checkpoint and was on his way then just as we arrived in Cold Kirby Dan pulled up & told us we said we had just checked asked how I was feeling I assume I said something like awful then we headed down the road. On the 55 earlier this year I'd made mental notes of distances from Helmsleys sports club to notable points on the route this turned out to be a genius idea because instead of not knowing how far to go as we exited Cold Kirby onto the long track down it was 5.7 miles from the finish. Less than 10k to go and just 2 hours to do it in I tried running down the track but it was too stony & rocky every time my foot hit the floor i wanted to scream more painkillers required I took 1 more and made our way to the bottom of the track 4.8 miles to go! It was more or less flat from here to the road so managed to get a few running shuffles in, good old painkillers then we reached the road 3.8 miles to go! Shuffling along the road best I could we rounded a corner & there was Gareth he had parked in Helmsley & ran back out to meet us joking that he was getting jealous of seeing all the running this weekend I said "So you've came out here for a walk with us!" Further along the road & to the turn off up the steep incline into the woods I powered up the hill Emma & Gareth trailing in my wake and as I reached the top there was a rocky outcrop on the left 2.4 miles to go! Through the woods trying to avoid Emma hilariously tripping me up with my poles then down the ridiculous steps just to walk 10 feet to go back up some more ridiculous steps, round the outside of the field to the gate 1 mile to go!

I'd never expected to be able to be still running at this point but there was soft grass at the side of the path that was ever so slightly less horrifyingly painful on the soles of my feet so off we shuffled where Gareth got a fantastic photo with Helmsley Castle (the Hardmoors logo) in the background. 2 fields & 1 horrible stony track later & we were on the tarmac at the Cleveland Way sign.

We walked through the town to the last uphill road that lead finish line it had to be ran and run we did, up the road, across the car park & straight past the door I was meant to go in!

Just as I was about to walk through the door my movement caught Shirleys eye through the glass she shouted "Andy" & the whole room started clapping & cheering and Jon called out "Andy Nesbit, 200 finisher & Hardmoors 1000 finisher" he handed me my Hardmoors 1000 yellow sheet with my name spelled wrong on it! I had finished with an official time of

59 hours 24 minutes 3 seconds

Then Shirley cut the various trackers off my pack I chatted to a couple of people then found a chair & was brought a coffee. Dan was there I got him to send me the tracker link so I could see where David was he joked I should run back out to meet him the next thing he knew I was putting my trainers back on & saying I was off. He looked horrified "I was only joking!!" Yeah I know but I want to & off I went into the car park where Gareth was stood with a look of what the fuck is going on here I just said I'm going to get Davy & away down the road i went just as I reached the bottom Tony Holland came sprinting past me like he hadn't just ran 200 miles (he hadn't) then Mike pulled up in his car wondering what was going on we jumped in his car he drove us to the end of the Cleveland Way where we saw a group of runners coming here he comes we jumped out the car & headed towards them but it wasn't him it was the last 110 runner coming in. We ran past & up the horrible stony track by the time I reached the first gate Tony was at the second gate so I stopped & waited with Emma & members of his crew. David's girlfriend, Sarah, headed up the field to meet him. We saw movement through the trees here he comes we started walking up the field to meet him "who's this dead man walking" he said as I approached. Then everyone all ran together while I jumped in mikes car again till we got to the bottom of the hill i got out the car & we all ran up the home stretch Then David entered the hall to rapturous applause I nearly cried, again!

That was it the perfect weekend was complete.

I'd made awesome new friends, experienced the greatest crewing known to man, ate shit loads of pasta, drank enough coffee to kill the average man & not slept one wink bizarrely I felt reasonably good all things considered!

What the hell though it was a one off opportunity to attempt something amazing, then Jon announced they might be doing it every other year I smiled & shook my head but what if………..