Report by: Dennis Johns
Race Date: 19th May 2024
The sun was out as over 50 Striders (many motivated by the prospect of League and Championship points) hit the famously plagued village of Eyam for the ‘Rat Race’ (possibly also referred to as the Plague Round). 13 miles of hills, some rolling and some brutal: with over 500m of climbing, it’s not messing about and as a first-timer on this course I was anticipating plenty of suffering and not even a tiny chance of a PB.
The village itself is lovely and arrival was really well organised – it’s a relatively small race but plenty of volunteers and a real sense that the whole village is out to support the event. There is always something delightful and reassuring about being in a church hall and so changing/bag drop was a pleasure, as was the amble down to the start line.
From the start, the course goes back through the village and then kicks up almost immediately. Having been warned by multiple veterans that the real savagery comes near the end, I was trying to hold something in reserve so enjoyed any shade that came our way and settled into a nice rhythm, at the kind of pace where you can look around and enjoy the views. The long ridge which comes after the gliding club was particularly good for this and at least the height and open parts meant there was some breeze to take some edge off the increasingly punishing heat.
After going along Eyam Moor, the hills truly came in and, I think as it was for most people, my running was barely above walking pace. Pro tip #1: as you come up Sir William Hill Road, look behind you as a helpful reminder that you’re only going as slowly as everyone else. The sweet sounds of the accordion and guitar duo at the top of the hill were charming, but you’re going to need more motivation than that; it’s a real keep-putting-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other section. Pro tip #2: maybe don’t bother holding anything in reserve, you’re toast anyway (not holding back is next year’s strategy, so I’ll report back on how well that goes).
The fun part does come next: a mile or so of pretty much constant downhill, plenty of it steep, all the way to the finish back in the middle of the village and next to an excellent café. The truly excellent part of the finish, though, was some elite level flapjack being handed out to all finishers which clinched a 10/10 for me on organisation. Another sight at the finish were a few finished Striders including Sian Evans, who already looked relaxed and ready to go again – pretty impressive after, it turned out, winning the women’s race. This was only of a number of great performances from the Strider women as both Josie Hill (F40) and Katie Scott (F60) finished first in their age categories.
So, if you’ve been avoiding this one like the plague or been plagued by doubts about handling the hills – don’t. It’s a cracking little race, equally filled with charm and challenge.
First man was William Strangeway (Lincoln Wellington AC) in 1:15:02 (or chip 1:14:59 – sub-1:15 which probably matters to William!) and first lady was Strider Sian Evans in 1:28:28 (chip 1:28:24). There were 377 finishers including 52 Striders.
Link to full results here.
Striders’ Results:
Pos | Name | Chip Time | Gun Time | M/F | Cat | Cat Pos |
4 | Liam Brennan | 01:23:04 | 01:23:07 | 4th | M Sen | 1st |
8 | Sian Evans | 01:28:24 | 01:28:28 | 1st | F Sen | – |
10 | Sam Needham | 01:29:01 | 01:29:04 | 9th | M40 | 3rd |
18 | Edward Shattock | 01:33:23 | 01:33:30 | 16th | M Sen | 6th |
21 | Dennis Johns | 01:34:23 | 01:34:30 | 18th | M40 | 8th |
27 | Richard Carter | 01:37:04 | 01:37:14 | 24th | M40 | 10th |
31 | Paul Hargreaves | 01:38:21 | 01:38:27 | 28th | M40 | 11th |
32 | Phil Gregory | 01:38:33 | 01:38:38 | 29th | M40 | 12th |
33 | Darren Barnett | 01:38:36 | 01:38:44 | 30th | M40 | 13th |
34 | Harry Browne | 01:39:04 | 01:39:12 | 31st | M Sen | 14th |
37 | Hannah Shillitoe | 01:39:44 | 01:39:54 | 5th | F Sen | 2nd |
42 | Luke Clay | 01:40:33 | 01:40:38 | 36th | M Sen | 16th |
51 | Edward Brooks | 01:41:55 | 01:42:13 | 43rd | M Sen | 20th |
55 | Emily Green | 01:42:35 | 01:42:43 | 10th | F Sen | 6th |
67 | Ellen Broad | 01:44:30 | 01:44:39 | 12th | F Sen | 7th |
72 | Chris Boland | 01:45:09 | 01:45:34 | 59th | M40 | 24th |
78 | Robert Hale | 01:46:33 | 01:46:47 | 63rd | M Sen | 31st |
85 | Jacqui Herring | 01:47:31 | 01:47:40 | 17th | F50 | 3rd |
88 | Ian Black | 01:47:48 | 01:48:22 | 71st | M50 | 8th |
93 | Josie Hill | 01:48:50 | 01:49:17 | 20th | F40 | 1st |
103 | Kathryn Liddiard | 01:51:06 | 01:51:15 | 21st | F Sen | 14th |
109 | Lee Blackburn | 01:51:16 | 01:51:43 | 87th | M50 | 14th |
119 | Sam Ainscough | 01:52:58 | 01:53:15 | 97th | M Sen | 45th |
120 | Rachel Hardy | 01:53:13 | 01:53:20 | 23rd | F Sen | 15th |
132 | Katrina Gillett | 01:55:10 | 01:55:27 | 25th | F Sen | 16th |
138 | Ben Heller | 01:56:11 | 01:56:34 | 111th | M60 | 2nd |
162 | Andy Hinchliffe | 01:58:56 | 01:59:06 | 130th | M60 | 3rd |
164 | Chris Froud | 01:59:04 | 01:59:30 | 132nd | M40 | 46th |
165 | Cara Hanson | 01:59:22 | 01:59:49 | 33rd | F40 | 4th |
166 | Martin Lowe | 01:59:33 | 01:59:59 | 133rd | M40 | 47th |
171 | Chris Walker | 02:00:28 | 02:00:46 | 136th | M40 | 48th |
173 | Kate Scott | 02:00:51 | 02:01:11 | 36th | F60 | 1st |
180 | Kevin Wong | 02:02:07 | 02:02:42 | 142nd | M40 | 51st |
203 | John Rawlinson | 02:05:11 | 02:05:33 | 158th | M50 | 35th |
206 | Mark Warriner | 02:05:15 | 02:05:51 | 161st | M40 | 58th |
207 | Tara Hilton | 02:05:36 | 02:06:04 | 46th | F50 | 10th |
208 | John Liddle | 02:05:30 | 02:06:08 | 162nd | M50 | 36th |
209 | Karen Clark | 02:05:37 | 02:06:11 | 47th | F60 | 3rd |
212 | Martin Downham | 02:06:15 | 02:06:25 | 165th | M60 | 6th |
215 | Lindsey Banks | 02:06:11 | 02:06:47 | 48th | F40 | 9th |
231 | Ryan Talley | 02:08:22 | 02:08:48 | 175th | M50 | 41st |
233 | Catherine McKeown | 02:08:21 | 02:08:56 | 57th | F50 | 12th |
250 | Kevin Haighton | 02:11:42 | 02:11:56 | 188th | M60 | 10th |
252 | Dean Harding | 02:11:41 | 02:12:00 | 189th | M40 | 62nd |
256 | Jo Gleig | 02:12:10 | 02:12:42 | 65th | F60 | 5th |
258 | Ben Baxendale | 02:13:14 | 02:13:23 | 193rd | M40 | 64th |
271 | Lucy Mottram | 02:14:18 | 02:14:49 | 67th | F40 | 17th |
322 | Ruth Thomas | 02:24:06 | 02:24:38 | 91st | F40 | 26th |
323 | Ricky Kwok | 02:24:37 | 02:24:58 | 232nd | M50 | 61st |
344 | Laura Fletcher | 02:32:26 | 02:33:01 | 104th | F40 | 30th |
348 | Ian Blackburn | 02:32:57 | 02:33:45 | 241st | M60 | 20th |
374 | Hannah Wright | 03:01:11 | 03:01:41 | 123rd | F Sen | 45th |