Another hot day, another 6-hour lapped event: Shipley Country Park on 9th August 2026 was the latest test for GRC members Caroline and Niall. Having tackled the course before, Caroline knew it offered a useful mix of shade and sunny stretches—good news, given the forecast. For Niall, this was his second Rasselbock event after the Hardwick Hobble. Still in the first year of his running apprenticeship, he remains committed to discovering what, exactly, “fun” is supposed to mean in running; Shipley, had much to teach.
The temperature and humidity felt both vampiric and omnipresent, with the Midlands still firmly in the grip of a lengthy heatwave. A hurried pre-race application of sun lotion produced predictably patchy coverage, the true cost of which was felt soon afterwards—then for several days after. The woodland canopy provided some welcome relief from the sun, but it was also where most of the elevation was lost, over awkward, rooty terrain. For Niall, emerging from the trees felt rather like the kiss of Judas: after less than 1km of shade, the two-front battle against heat and hills resumed.
As they began to take their toll, Niall experienced his first flirtation with “the wall”, despite arriving well rested and nutritionally prepared. By the end of his 5th lap, with 450m of elevation in his legs, a fine coating of sunburn and an unquenchable thirst, he waved Caroline off as she set out cheerfully on her next lap.
Caroline had run the event the previous year with a broken arm, so this time she had hoped to reach ultra-distance. However, as the temperature continued to climb, she made the sensible decision not to push harder than necessary in the heat and chose not to head out for another lap within the 6 hours.
With each lap measuring 5.3km, Caroline completed 42.77km in 5 hours, 13 minutes and 6 seconds. Niall, meanwhile, fell short of the lap count he had hoped for, but took some comfort from the post-race mutterings at HQ, where far more seasoned runners could be heard grumbling about the heat. He left Shipley with 5 laps completed, totalling 26.73km in 3 hours, 5 minutes and 57 seconds, along with some useful early lessons in how the body copes with heat, thirst, cramps, fatigue and the general malaise of wondering why anyone chooses to do this voluntarily.