Rasselbock Hardwick Hall Backyard Ultra 2025 – Race Report

Date: Saturday 13th September – Sunday 14th September 2025

Strava miles: 117.9 miles 

Elevation: 5,102 ft /  1,555 m

Weather: cool with some showers, windy – Storm Amy

Start: Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire

Route type: 4.2 mile laps

Conditions: Dry and soft underfoot

Website link: Hardwick Hall BYU by Rasselbock

Describe the route in three words: flattish scenic fun

Lap Description

Day Lap description: Leaving the walled garden make a right alongside Hardwick Hall, head left across grass, cross the road to continue over grass until reaching car park edge where you turn twice right over many manhole covers (smells a bit portaloo here) to make a leg onto the ‘Oak Trail’ to head down some steps, through a wood, up a short steep hill through a kissing gate onto more grass towards Hardwick hall (beautiful view). 

Right onto short tarmac lane, 90 degree left through kissing gate to head down grassy trail stretch with steps at the end, over a concrete narrow bridge up a hill alongside cow field into woods. Out of the woods for another grassy stretch, road crossing (might meet runners at front of pack here). Another kissing gate, right turn through trees, bit rooty. Couple of concrete bridges, stones tree roots and then out onto lake, through big gate with dragon detail handle for the long stretch on tarmac (mostly uphill), possibly passing back runners. Kissing gate at top, left turn then right into the Wine Glass field (used as event parking), around the perimeter of the Wine Glass to then retrace steps past Hardwick Hall and into walled garden for finish.

Night Lap Description: First part as per day loop – Leaving the walled garden make a right alongside Hardwick Hall, head left across grass, cross the road to continue over grass until reaching car park edge where you turn twice right over many manhole covers (smells a bit portaloo here) to make a leg onto the ‘Oak Trail’ to head down some steps, through a wood, up a short steep hill through a kissing gate onto more grass towards Hardwick hall (beautiful view).

Left onto tarmac lane, two kissing gates alongside cattle grids, gentle tarmac up hill until passing the Wine Glass on your left. Left turn to being the shorter of the two out and backs passing in front of Hardwick Hall. At the turn around, head mostly downhill on the tarmac lane until nearly reaching the big gate with dragon detail handle. Make the turnaround to retrace steps up the tram lane, as per day route, reach the kissing gate at top, left turn then right into the Wine Glass field (used as event parking), around the perimeter of the Wine Glass to then retrace steps past Hardwick Hall and into walled garden for finish. (The night lap will not be included in 2026 race.)

Rasselbock Hardwick Hall Backyard Ultra – Race Report

I found myself presented with a second chance to get my target of 60 yards / new UK female backyard ultra record at Hardwick Hall. The Four Nations at the Highlander Scottish Championships had finished in disappointment after the race needed to be aborted just after the 32nd yard was started. The Hardwick Hall field was looking strong with fellow England team mates Phil Marshall and Keith Burge, Scottish team member Mike Raffan, Liam Kelly from the Welsh team, Tal Taran (formally Tobias Taylor) who is already on the ‘at large’ list, and self confessed ‘at large’ wannabe Nick Cutts. We also had Tim Harper who is shaping up to be a promising backyard ultra athlete.

My husband had driven me to the venue on Friday and I had managed to reserve the perfect spot right on the start / finish line. We got everything set up and I was chilling at the Airbnb by 5:30pm, a fantastic effort from team Gatherer! My friend Will arrived just before 8pm, he was to be my crew until early Sunday evening where Francis would then take over until the end. Will and I went through the plan for the weekend.

I had a fantastic night’s sleep and we were on site by 8:30am Saturday morning. I went to get my race number whilst Will organised the gazebo, unbelievably my race number was 59, the current UK female record, surely this was a sign of great things to come?

Phil, Keith and I grabbed some photos in our England kit together and we listened to the race briefing. I was aware of rules put in place by the National Trust, if wind speeds reach 45mph or over, the race would need to be cancelled. Race director Eric informed us of this during the race briefing. Wind speeds would be picking up on Monday to 50+ mph. This was disappointing news but I also know how the British weather can change so much so I put the thought out of my mind.

The race started at 10am. Unusually for me I had not done a recce of the route so the first few yards I spend obtaining my timing markers. The first yard I completed a little quick (as expected!) and I soon settled into a 49 minute average on those early yards.

This was my forth backyard ultra this year and I feel that it’s always just a case of churning out the first 24 hours before I can start feeling exited about what’s ahead. It was a great race, everything went well and there was barely any problem solving, there had been a lot of problem solving at Highlander. I had a couple of yards where I felt a bit ‘odd’ but it was easily sorted with a couple of Rennie tablets. We had some ice cold rain which prompted me to change tops and put waterproof trousers on. I chatted with loads of really interesting and inspiring people – as you often do in BYU! I put my silicone toe caps on after 30 miles as planned. So far so good, it was a great race, I realised after many yards I had only sworn once, I felt that was a great testament to how well things were going.

I loved my chat with Claire Calladine who completed a double marathon distance. Claire is completing 50 marathons over 2025 to raise money for Dementia UK and Reubens Retreat. Early on I heard rumours that Liam Kelly was running, I’d met him at Highlander and he is an ace bloke. I’d not spotted his name on the start list, by all accounts he was a late entry. As soon as I spotted him on course we stopped for a big hug and a chat. Later on in the race as he ran past me I commented how I was not used to seeing him with so many clothes on, there were shocked gasps all around and I realised how bad this sounded! During Highlander, Liam had run bare chested due to the rain and in hot pant shorts, the rain had possibly shrunk them, they were very short shorts!

I shared a few miles with Stefan, who’s wife Sarah and daughter Megan were also running, over the course of a few yards I managed to meet the whole family! I had good chats with Chris Parry and around the 9th yard fist bumped a chap called Dan who was so determined to keep going to continue the lap although you could see he was physically struggling, we saw him coming in as we headed out on the following yard. Runners like that really inspire me, his determination was solid.

I was so sad to hear that Liam Kelly did not make it out onto the 20th yard because he did not make it into the starting corral in time, I hear he was one second too slow! It was not because he had a slow yard, it was just he was not efficient enough getting from the crew area to the starting corral.

It was exciting switching to the night yard, this was my first BYU that had day and night loops. The moon was incredible as it was rising, a beautiful orange half moon. It was funny as I had spotted it for the first time whilst doing my own moon (I was having a wild wee!) I chuckled to myself about this and a runner near to me pointed out the double moon as well. Overnight I got a few naps in, eating continued to go well, I was not going to the toilet too often, everything was comfortable.

The upcoming weather was becoming more of a problem however. As time passed, it looked like the winds would not. I was realising that my chances of hitting 60 yards were diminishing as it was looking more and more likely the race would need to be aborted. We were informed that the National Trust would make the call at 2:30pm Sunday, therefore I would find out just before 3pm what the situation was to be.

On Sunday I finally caught up with Tal (formally Tobias, we had first met at Trails & Tarmac in January) we had such a good laugh together, swapping BYU stories, he’s such a nice guy and I loved hearing the story of his name change, Tal is a Welsh word for ‘shining brow’ a mark of hard work, perseverance and endurance.

I spent a lot of time going though my options with the news of Storm Amy likely to stop proceedings. I was here for the record, not for the win. If the race was given a cut of time this would mean the chance that there could be no winner. The cut off time would also make it impossible for me to get the UK female record let alone a PB. I have nothing to prove. I have already achieved 50 yards, at my last BYU I achieved a strong 31 before the race was aborted. I knew I needed to think of myself, the athlete, first. Continuing would mean 10 hours of tarmac on the night loop, therefore risking potential injury. Stopping would give me a faster recovery time and I could focus on my next race. I then thought about my crew, Will and Fran. I knew that Will would not be effected greatly by my decision and I knew he would support me whatever decision was made. The same for Fran, but why put Fran through a night of crewing duties when we would not be achieving anything together (PB or UK record?). My thoughts then went to my wider team, my coach Andy, my mindset coach Lucy. Kev who had crewed me to 50 yards at Sherwood Pines. Would they be disappointed in me stopping? I felt that they would support me no matter what. Would my family, friends and supporters be disappointed? I re-wound to the first thought, the athlete. I need to make the correct decision for the athlete.

The winds started to pick up and the rain came in once more. Fran had arrived to take over from Will and he was waiting for me on the Wine Glass to cheer me in. “It’s not good news I’m afraid.” “I’m stopping.” I replied.” Fran nodded. I came in at 54 minutes and asked Will to pass me a Lucozade. Eric popped his head in to officially tell me that the race had to have an enforced cut off time of 5am Monday morning, 43 yards.

We lined up in the starting corral, I fist bumped my fellow comrades. The countdown started, the bell rang. The runners set off. I looked at the live stream camera and made a ‘no go’ sign with my arms, I did my version of a mic drop (Lucozade!) blew a kiss and did my finish line burpee, I had a big hug with Will and thanked him for all his incredible work over the weekend.

The outcome of Highlander had been extremely disappointing, I had put everything I had into preparing and training for that race and the chance to achieve my goal of 60 had been taken away from me, I had not been given a choice. I now had a chance to make my own choice for the outcome of this race, albeit not the outcome I had hoped for. I had suffered heavily emotionally after Highlander. I wanted to finish this race proud of my decision and happy with my performance. 

The messages from coach Andy, running club coach Kev and mindset coach Lucy made me cry, I had definitely made the right choice. I used to wonder why elite athletes pulled out of races when ‘it wasn’t going their way’. But I get it now. Sometimes things happen that are out of your control and you need to think of the bigger picture. My BYU journey is not about winning, it is about striving for a record that I know I can achieve with hard work. I want to show everyone that winning does not always need to be the goal, winning is not achievable for so many. However we all have perseverance, grit and determination. I want to show people that dreams can be achieved if we dream hard enough and big enough. My dream is this record, but what’s your dream? It could be a distance PB. It could be 50 miles within 12 hours or 100 miles within 24 hours. It could be to run through the night and embrace the sun rising in the morning.

Dream it, own it, and live it.

Crew Shout Out – Will of the Adventure Athletes

I am hugely dependant on my crew at Backyard Ultra and I am always amazed at how my incredible friends are willing to sacrifice so much time and energy into my crazy challenges. I know full well I would not be able to get very far on BYU un-crewed, support crew are an absolute must for me. Will selflessly stepped forward and offered his weekend to me. He admitted he was a bit nervous about it as although he has helped many, many people he had not yet had BYU experience. I made him a spreadsheet in the hope to calm his nerves but in all honestly it probably made him more nervous as it demonstrated my expectations of him! It is safe to say that Will excelled as crew. He was extremely calm and organised. Having everything readily available. It was all the little touches too, he cleaned my sunglasses before he put them away, had my box of wet weather kit out and ready for me as soon as I came off a wet yard and made hot food and drinks well in advance so they were at ideal temperature, he certainly went the extra mile and I am so grateful for his dedication and hard work throughout the event. What a legend.

Will is multi talented sportsman, an experienced run coach, sports masseur, personal trainer, gymnast coach, rock climber, ex-fireman, small business owner at The Adventure Athletes and podcaster, these are just the things I know about, every time we chat I find out another feather to his bow! Check him out on Instagram too!

What I wore: Saucony Peregrine 12, Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Sapphire Solar, buff, Sweaty Betty power leggings, Injinji toe socks, England BYU team Twisted Running top, Dirty Girl gaiters.

Lead up: This was my forth backyard ultra this year and as always I was delighted to have made it to the start line in one piece (especially as the night before I had choked on something at the Airbnb and Will nearly had to administer the Heimlich manoeuvre). I’ve been racing 100 – 200 miles every 8 weeks or so since the start of the year so an integral part of my ability to stay injury free is down to Protein Rebel collagen and magnesium taken daily, a weekly trip to the physio and daily yoga, stretches and strength exercises. I’d kept to my run plan nicely and also my PT sessions with Ed. I was definitely in good shape for this record attempt.

Summary

Overall a really great race, I’ve definitely got into the swing of being able to bash out consistent lap times and enjoy the format of BYU. I was really pleased at the lack of issues! There wasn’t really any problem solving to do as my body felt good and I was fuelling well. Bit boring really – sorry!

Lessons learned

• Tailwind with carbohydrate was a good option to have overnight when your gut is not usually having to work as it is usually asleep!
• I found that a great way to control my body temperature was to remove my jacket the moment I came in and put on my dry robe. This meant any sweat got absorbed by the dry robe and my jacket did not become a boil in the bag situation. I would put my jacket on just before the start of the lap. This race I definitely put layers and took layers off more than any other race, as well as adjusted my zip up and down for airflow. It could have been to do with my quicker yard times as I was having longer down time and having more of a chance to cool down. I always feel that there is no point wasting energy being too hot or too cold and it is worth the faff to keep your core at a good temperature.
• Having quick dry camping towels worked well on the rainy yards.

Results

Fast lap: 46m 12s

Slow lap: 57m 0s

Average lap: 51m 22s

Average day lap: 50m 57s

Average night lap: 52m 44s

Yards completed before being informed of race abortion: 29

Overall: 9/169

Hardwick Hall BYU 2025 results: click here

Big shout out to the fabulous Phil Marshall and fellow England BYU teammate for taking the win with a new PB.

Lap Times for Elizabeth Gatherer – Hardwick Hall BYU 2025

Media – Tea and Trails Podcast

I enjoyed a chat with Gary and Eddie from Tea and Trails podcast after the race, it’s available on a few formats.

Apple: BYU Team England – Lizzie Gatherer #154

Spotify: BYU Team England – Lizzie Gatherer #154