Dave's Page
2007 - The East Yorkshire Cross Country League takes the form of a series of six races averaging about six miles each. The venues range from Welton in the south of the region up to Scarborough in the north, and all involve punishing uphills, thick mud, overgrown tracks, and generally anything else to make the average runner's life a misery. This is not just cross country running, this is big boys' cross country running, in other words not racing round a grassy track like they do in the National Championships.
The League hasn't started yet, of course, it allegedly not being winter, but last Saturday Dave Hanney, the Striders' cross country captain, drove to Welton and ran the course there. Nothing unusual with that, you might say, and you'd be right. Except that he then went on to South Cave to do that course as well. And then on to North Dalton for that one, and then to Bishop Wilton, then Sewerby, finally finishing at the toughest venue of them all, Langdale End near Scarborough.
In total Dave completed over thirty seven miles in around six hours of running time, although taking traveling time into account the whole exercise took exactly ten hours. He had company all the way from different club colleagues at various stages, but Dave saw this as a personal challenge and he rose to the occasion magnificently. Running conditions were just as bad as they are in the winter, if not worse, which made it even more remarkable a feat of endurance. Well done Dave, although personally We thought it a bit lazy to use a car to get from place to place.
2008 - Coast to Coast AUGUST
Dave Hanney of the Viking Striders has never been one to refuse a challenge, for example his Midsummer Madness last year when he ran all six cross country league courses in one day. Ever since he was inspired years ago by the Coast to Coast memorabilia in the Bay Hotel, he has been determined to run the famous route from St Bees to Robin Hoods Bay, all 192 miles of it. Martin and Sandy Midgley had already cycled the route earlier in the year, in the mistaken belief that the club was changing its name to Goole Biking Striders. But this was running, and as he stood a couple of weeks ago at St Bees Head on the westernmost tip of Cumbria, contemplating the enormity of his task, Dave must have wondered what he was letting himself in for.
In typical fashion he was doing it the hard way, without support, taking the train to St Bees (four trains as it happens, including the iconic journey from Settle to Carlisle, at a total cost of just eleven of your English pounds) and backpacking all his camping gear and spare clothing. He gave himself seven days to reach the east coast, which meant running more than a marathon each day. He camped overnight where he could, sometimes in pub gardens, which sounds idyllic until you consider that Dave had disciplined himself not to have a drink until he reached his destination. For some Striders that would be more of a challenge than running seven marathons!
Naturally the glorious British summer threw everything at him. If it wasn’t baking hot, which it was in the Lakes when he had to drink from mountain streams and hope no dead sheep were festering upstream, there was the inevitable rain and low cloud, when navigation was by compass only. Of course the journey had its compensations in terms of glorious scenery, from the Lakes through the Yorkshire Dales and on to the North York Moors, but what a relief to finally reach Robin Hoods Bay exhausted but crucially within the target time.
If you want to know how good a pint of beer can taste, just try running 192 miles in seven days! This was a fantastic display of both physical and mental strength, but there will be no resting on laurels -- the Hanney Monster is already planning his next challenge. We wait with bated breath.