THE HIGHAM HURTLE –  TWO WONDERFUL DOWN HILLS – SOME FULL ON CLIMBS and A LOT IN BETWEEN (on a pleasant sunny evening)

Great news, the 2025 Higham Hurtle series (consisting of 3 races, all starting at 7.00pm on Thursday evenings) is back. Dates for 2025 are: Thursday’s 24th April, 12th June and 21st August.

The event is organised by Barnsley Harriers (see: Barnsley Harriers ) and entry is only £9 (£7 for UKA members). Registration on the night is from 6.15pm.

The race entry limit is 300. A record 109 completed the distance on the night (a record number I believe).

Course description:  A scenic 5 mile race, with a few hills.  My Strava showed: Distance 7.95km and elevation, 142m (vs 147m last year!?).

The first 2.5km are almost totally downhill (which is very nice too). The most significant climbing starts at about 4.5km (not so nice).

The race is run mainly on a mix of trails (and a bit of road) The start (& finish) is just outside the Higham Cricket Club, Pog Well Lane, Higham, Barnsley, S75 1PH

You can enter individual races, or the series. Entries can be made in advance. On the night sign-up is also available.

Prizes (including the usual age categories) are awarded after the race (and for the race series). The minimum age for entry is 16.

On the day. The Higham Hurtle is just one of a number of races organised by Barnsley Harriers, which are near M1, Jnc, 37 (west of Barnsley). On the night the weather was very pleasant (perfect for running) and the trails were virtually dry (after the ongoing dry weather).

This is a delightful route offering a wide variety of terrains, including; farm tracks, footpaths, pavements, slippery stones and a lot to see on the way round. The start is downhill on a quiet country lane, passing under the M1 Motorway, which leads on to a wide woodland path. The uphill bits are all fairly close together from about the halfway point and may need to be walked. There is a gloriously long straight path down from the final climb, which is perfect for finding some rhythm. The “surprise” on the way back, is the short, sharp muddy ramp from the lane (as we’re heading up hill and passing back under the M1). It may only be about 10m but the hill is steep and narrow (and slippery when wet!). This emerges in to a corner of the playing field, followed by an over the grass dash (around the parked cars) to the finish funnel, just below the club house

On such a pleasant evening it was handy having the Cricket Club bar (with amazing views) on site. It’s a useful shelter and perfect for a swift post race drink (whilst waiting for the results).

Congratulations go to Sian Evans – First Strider home and 2nd overall Female (pictured). A great performance and prize.

Thanks as always go to Barnsley Harriers for organising this series (and many other local races) and to the friendly and supportive marshals at all key junctions en route.

This is one of the nicest trail routes around, so if you haven’t ran here before, there are 2 more events to try this year.

Strider results