Race report by Gareth:
North Leeds Skyline Ultra Trail for Paul, Janet and myself and what a great day out we had!
Starting and finishing in Otley this is a lovely course of 32 miles & 3,500 feet of climbing on really good quality trails, fields, road and amazing views throughout!
This is a really nice, small & incredibly friendly event in just its second year. A whopping 41 of us toed the line at 9am in the pouring rain & chilly temperatures more in keeping with March than June.
Thankfully the rain relented after a few miles and we could pack the waterproofs away for the duration.
We just chugged along enjoying the scenery & chatting away as the miles ticked by. Accompanied by the constant site of swooping Red Kites and with a soundtrack of Skylarks and Black Caps.
We only got lost 2 or 3 times and probably added an extra mile or so but it’s all good! As ever with these events there’s always stuff you’ll always remember.. like going up a path so narrow & overgrown we had to chose between being stung by nettles or electrocuted by an electrified fence 🤣, the constant stiles which Paul really got sick of lol & coming across a photo shoot for a pair of newlyweds and having to wait to avoid photo bombing them until Paul said “sorry, I can’t stop, it hurts too much” and just ploughed past them 🤣.
We ran it all together & crossed the line hand in hand in about 7 1/2 hours to find out Janet was 3rd female and received a special medal 🥉.
A grand day out with good friends 💚🖤
