The Hardmoors 55
Guisborough, United Kingdom • 21 Mar 2026
The Hardmoors 55 : event overview
The Hardmoors 55 is a 55 mile ultramarathon on Saturday 21 March 2026, running from Guisborough to Helmsley across the North York Moors and the Cleveland Hills. The course has over 2700 m of ascent and is approximately 95% on the Cleveland Way National Trail. The race is designed to be run unsupported; basic food is provided at some checkpoints, water at most checkpoints, and hot drinks at a minimum of two checkpoints. Entry requires participants to be 18 or older and includes a compulsory OpenTracking tracker.
Course, checkpoints and rules
Checkpoints are on the Cleveland Way route and include Roseberry Topping, Kildale (11 miles), Clay Bank (20 miles), Osmotherley (30 miles), Sneck Yate Bank (35 miles), White Horse (44 miles) and the finish at Helmsley Sports Club. Cutoffs are given as elapsed times: Kildale 4 hrs, Clay Bank 6 hrs, Osmotherley 9.5 hrs, White Horse 13.5 hrs, finish 16 hrs. Two non-returnable drop bags are allowed at Kildale Village Hall and Osmotherley Village Hall; a small waterproof finish bag is permitted.
A strict mandatory kit list applies and must be carried for the whole race, including waterproof jacket with taped seams, waterproof trousers, hat and gloves, spare warm layer, headtorch, map, whistle, survival bag, foil blanket, emergency food, at least 1 litre of water and a charged mobile phone. Spotchecks will be made; some missing items incur time penalties while others lead to disqualification (for example missing required waterproofs or survival bag). Support crews are not allowed; one support runner may join from Sutton Bank to the finish but may not carry the competitor’s equipment. Retiring runners must inform a marshal and surrender their race number and tracker. Visit the organization's website for the most recent information.