Marathon Number 3. AKA Robin Hoods Bay Marathon.

The weather forecast stayed really poor for the Yorkshire Dales so a quick switch was made to the East of the country and the North Yorkshire Moors that was forecast for wind but unbroken sunshine. For once it was accurate and after a quick recce of part of the route in the afternoon yesterday I was talked into doing the route in reverse to try and get a little more protection from the wind and more importantly get a tailwind for the last 10k of the run.

After struggling to find anywhere to eat in Robin Hoods Bay, we came back to the Flask Inn and had Whitby Haddock and Chips and a pint of Theakstons Dark followed by a huge slab of cheese cake. Spot on and calorie laden for tomorrow.

Woke after the first night camping this year to glorious sunshine in the Grouse Hill Campsite. The location is amazing as its high up and with great views of the moors however this exposure also means that its going to be breezy!

So I ran anticlockwise and picked up the early morning sunshine initially with a following wind so was stripping off early. I made good early progress down into Robin Hoods Bay. The hills were not too bad compared to the peaks and the majority of the first 1/4 were bone dry and good paths making for a decent excursion.

 After that the fun and games started with realising how out of date the OS Maps are compared what's actually happened to the trails. Farm and access tracks had been extended, footpaths no longer existing and bridleways that were at best one set of sheep hoof prints wide. Then add in bleak moorland and seeming headwind all the way round and you have a recipe for hopefully the longest (timewise) run of this campaign.

I had it in mind that I wanted to do every offroad marathon in under 4 hours. Realistically potentially with the elevation in some runs (ie. Kinder Dozen in excess of 10000 ft of climbing) and inevitable poor weather and terrain I knew this was likely to not happen. I just didn't expect it to happen quite yet!

Still next weekend is a nice flattish outing on the Cheshire plain. I must dig out and dust off those road shoes!

Shoe Choice: Nevica Nevis. Bit had for the early hard trails, good after that.
Stats. Distance: 47.3 km  Elevation: 0.86 km  Total Dist: 129.0 km  Total Elevation: 2.61 km