On a blustery Saturday morning (13th June 2026) Grantham Running Club members Matthew Atter and Niall Ó Faoláin made their way to the 16th century Elizabethan era Hardwick Hall which played host to the Hardwick Hobble. This is a six-hour event where runners completed as many 5.44km laps as possible around the beautiful Hardwick Park which presented forest, grass, trail, gravel, ponds and animals. The run was largely a trail, but a challenging one with one runner describing it as being “much more like a XC course”; many ankles were about to be rolled.
Overcast clouds and wind gave way to sunshine as the race commenced a few minutes late due to cows on the road. Runners set off from a field just beyond the event lawn, traversing flat grass, and gravel before moving offroad through Lady Spencer’s Wood before the trail continued downhill.
At 3km the runners faced a 1.5km grind upwards, but upon stumbling over the summit they met with an enthusiastic marshal whose oversized speaker was belting out dance tunes. The Vengaboys on a tiring climb put a smile on many a face.
A small amount of tarmac provided welcome respite from a demanding route covered in hazards of all kinds; fox holes, rabbit holes, molehills, sheep poo, kissing gates, low hanging tree branches and tree roots. The estate was open to the public who provided the obstacle on occasion but largely cheered, waved and moved out of the way for increasingly tired runners as the miles wore on.
This paved road also marked the beginning of a gradual descent and after half a km on the road, runners worked their way back through the aid station where they were scanned to register another lap and top up both sweet and savoury delights from the well-stocked aid tables.
Niall Ó Faoláin was aiming for a day out and a completion of 3 laps and smashed this with 6 laps. He decided to ring the finish bell on a high with a niggling hamstring somehow still intact. This event ticked off a first ‘official’ half marathon distance for Niall as well as his longest ever run with the 6 laps/33.66km being completed in 3hrs 46 minutes, finishing 71st place (51/120 male)
Matthew Atter, fresh from his recent Trent Valley Ultra set out looking to achieve 8 laps; the first 6 of these he felt comfortable with before the brutal nature of the course started to take its toll for the final 2 laps. Matthew rose to the challenge however and finished with an amazing result of 19th overall (12/120 male) covering his 8 laps/43.54km.
Both were delighted with the challenge and organisation of the event, and will look to return next year.
Runners were awarded with a unique medal featuring a miniature portrait held within Hardwick Hall depicting Thomas Cavendish (1430-1477), forebear of the more famous Sir Thomas Cavendish, known for his exploration.
The race was won via nominative determinism with Ryan Speed coming first tallying 11 laps/59.87km in 5 hours 54 minutes while the female winner was Lucy Bartles who completed 10 laps/54.53km in 5 hours 41 minutes. The winners, as well as Matthew and Niall, were first timers to the course which saw 107 first timers out of the 172 finishes who covered a total distance of 5072.7km