The inaugural Berghaus Trail Chase took place at the weekend in the North York Moors National Park. Organised by Shane Ohly and the team from Ourea Events, this race offered a unique format that was suitable for all abilities and experience.
Three courses: Black (white flags), Red and Blue offered three distances of varying difficulty over 2-days on way marked courses.
A full set of race images are available to view HERE
The event HQ was located in Thinmbleby, Osmotherley. This location provided a hub for runners to assemble, register and prepare and then on the stroke of midday buses arrived to transfer runners to three different starts.
Using ski piste colour coding, runners participating in the black route would run 32.8km with 1012m elevation on day-1 and then 21.3km (814m+) on day-2.
The red route covered 25.3km (801m+) and 17.4km (582m+)
And the blue route provided an entry level race that could appeal to all abilities covering 16.6km (326m+) on day-1 and 10.1km (291m+) on day-2.
Logistically, all races on day-1 would finish at the same campsite in Chop Gate and then on the following day, black and red races would start from the overnight stop and the blue runners would be transferred to Locker Wood for the shorter last day. As one would expect, all races finished at the race HQ in Osmotherley.
Vibrant heather, lush green fields, dense bracken and rugged trails along with lush green forests and bridle paths provided a stunning backdrop to all 3-races. Despite heavy rain during the overnight camp, the weather gods played ball providing everyone with a couple of excellent days running. Add to this live music, flowing beer and some excellent food in the Chop Gate village hall and Ohly and the Ourea team have the makings of a great event.
Day-1 for all three races started as one would expect with mass starts for each respective race. The sting in the tail and the unique nature of this event became clear on day-2 when the CHASE began. Starting in finishing order of day-1, runners would leave in order with exact time gaps adhered to. The objective? Catch the runner in front and you gain a place. It brings a whole new meaning to running scared and the cat and mouse scenario adds a real element of excitement to the event.
Post race, not only had the Berghaus Trail Chase race format provided a challenging experience for each and every participant but it had also been fun! The atmosphere was very relaxed and the whole experience had been a real positive.
Of course, racing did take place over the 2-days and some hard fought battles were run out on the trails of the North York Moors. However, it very much felt that racing was secondary to fun and enjoying the moment.
The Berghaus Trail Chase will be back in 2015. Bigger, better and I can only hope that Ohly books some great weather once again. I for one will be back.
RESULTS:
Black
- Duncan Archer 4:36:54
- Charlie Sharpe 4:47:42
- Steve Coates 5:07:34
- Stephanie Kitchen 6:06:32
- Michelle Hetherington 6:07:42
- Sam Scott 6:23:34
Full BLACK results HERE
Red
- Simon Jones 3:47:51
- Madeleine Robinson 3:56:43
- Alistair Nash 3:57:29
Full RED results HERE
Blue
- Christian McGill 2:32:25
- Peter Downes 2:33:22
- Martin Done 2:35:31
Full BLUE results HERE
A full set of race images are available to view HERE
Race website HERE
Final results HERE
A full set of race images are available to view HERE
IAN CORLESS 