Ultra_Tales_Issue_4_v2

EVENT REPORTHARDMOORS 60the micro navigation: “.....take the second narrowstreet on the right (Albion Street)”. I came to AlbionRoad and continued in search of Albion Street. Akindly member of the public, who seemed to knowwhat I was up to, pointed me back to Albion Road:“You need to go up there”. I thanked him beforeclimbing up the lane then stone steps to the leftbetween the ancient dwellings built into thehillside with their raised walkways, access steps andmulti level entrances.The path was now twisting and turning morethrough woods and up and down ravines, soinstead of following my nose I kept more of an eyeon the route description with no indication ofdistances within. This is when I really began toflounder, mind muddled with doubt. Am I there yet?Is this the feature I'm supposed to be looking for?I floundered a little in the dank woods leavingRobin Hood's Bay.Upon descending to Boggle Hole I turned right upthe track without first crossing the footbridge. Thefact that it wasn't a road made me turn back. I gotcaught by the next runners.The trail descends once again to sea level at StoupeBeck....”. Is this it? It's not sea level though; we're atleast 20' elevation.On approaching Ravenscar a drainage ravine turnsthe trail away from the cliff top....”. Boy, this is takinga long time. I can see a bit of a valley coming up.Perhaps that's it? No. I can see buildings on theskyline. Perhaps that's Ravenscar. They're notgetting any closer. Ah, another inlet coming up. Isthat it? No! I shuffled on in hope, waiting for thenext dashing.I had resorted to rationing my water. At 14 milesthis was the longest stage so far through thehottest part of the day and I had underestimatedhow much water I would need. Half a litre of waterand half a litre of Coke was not enough. Perhapsthat was the reason for my muddled thoughts. Afellow runner saved the day by donating some ofthe contents of his bladder (that would be thewater bag in his backpack, in case you wereconcerned) as we climbed through the woodsbefore Ravenscar. I didn't get his name but,whoever you are, thank you. You halted a minormeltdown.The afternoon was drawing on and it was gettingcool by the time I arrived at checkpoint 5(Ravenscar, 40.8 miles). It was nice and warm in thevillage hall. “The cold will hit when I re-emerge”, Ithought to myself. I really needed to recover andrefuel here, just like on a Hundred, so I spent 20minutes restocking my supplies from my drop bag(more sandwiches, more water and Coke to bringthe essential fuelling of low pH brown liquid up to1.6 litres). A cup of tea and a cup of soup to washdown my sandwich saw me fit to venture back outinto the cold evening air."The sun was nearlysetting. I rolled the sleevesof my base layer down forthe first time since 9amand put Buff around neckto keep the chill at bay"The sun was nearly setting. I rolled the sleeves ofmy base layer down for the first time since 9am andput Buff around neck to keep the chill at bay. I wassoon too warm so Buff moved back to wrist, whereit remained until the end.The event from here was magical as I ran my wayalong the cliff-top path in peaceful solitude,watched the sun set, watched the owls swoopingacross the fields at dusk, saw a stoat just escape myfeet into the undergrowth to the left (I must havebeen gliding along effortlessly at the time), felt thewind drop (an unimaginable bonus because it tookaway the chill), saw the moon rise over the NorthSea (see top picture) and heard the seals moaning(almost like whale song) out to sea way below meto the left.In the distance I saw lights, some coloured androtating; must be a funfair, probably Scarborough.Winding in and out of the inlets they took their time41 ULTRA TALES | JANUARY 2013Sponsored by thehttp://