The ‘epics’ page is where you will find details of the long distance runs undertaken by the club and other running challenges completed by club members.
Club Long Distance Relay Runs
The runs listed below were all completed as relays by a team of runners traversing the whole route non-stop, day and night, from start to finish. The routes all utilise national trails and rights of way where possible to minimise road running. The original inspiration behind these long relay runs came from John Thornhill, a previous club captain of Rolls-Royce Harriers. One of John’s long held ambitions was to get the club to run the Pennine Way as a relay, which we finally achieved in June 2007. John was suffering from mesothelioma (asbestosis) at the time and though he was not well enough to do any running he did much of the organisation and came along as a supporter. Sadly John died in January 2008. We have raised over £25,000 for charity through completing these relay runs, most of which was donated to Cancer Research UK.
- Pennine Way Relay (2007) – 268 miles
- Circuit of Cornwall (2009) – 362 miles
- Traverse of Scotland (2010) – 443 miles
- Traverse of England (2011) – 604 miles
- Traverse of Wales (2012) – 368 miles
Other Club Long Distance Runs
The runs listed below were run over one or more days with usually one or more club members running the entire distance and the rest running sections with them and providing support. The runs without links to other pages will be added in due course.
- Coast to Coast (Wainwrights) (2006) – 190 miles
- Cleveland Way (2007) – 110 miles
- Cotswold Way (2008) – 100 miles
- Wolds Way to Robin Hoods Bay (2009) – 103 miles
- Yorkshire Centurian Challenge (2010) – 100 miles
- Coast to Coast via Hadrian’s Wall (2011) – 108 miles
- The Ridgeway (2012) – 100 miles
- Pembrokeshire Coast Path (2013) – 180 miles
- South Downs Way (2013) – 101 miles
- Offa’s Dyke Path (2014) – 180 miles
- Dales Way (2014) – 100 miles
- Coast to Coast (Runners versus Cyclists) (2015)
- National Forest Way (2016) – 75 miles
- North Devon Coast Path (2016) – 114 miles
- White Peak Way (2016) - 100 miles
- Pennine Way Revisited (2017) – 267 miles
- Peddars Way and North Norfolk Coast (2017) – 91 miles
- South Devon and Dorset Coastal Path (2018) – 153 miles
- Circuit of North Yorkshire Moors (2018) - 143 miles
- Glyndwr's Way (2019) - 135 miles
- Cotswold Way (2020) - 104 miles
- Circuit of Anglesey (2021) - 139 miles
Individual Epics and Challenges
A number of RR Harriers have completed epic events in both ultra running and fell running over the years. Listed below are some of the best.
The Bob Graham Round
A number of Harriers have completed this epic event of traversing 42 Lakeland peaks in under 24 hours over the years. Click here to see their times and read the reports of their rounds.
Marathon Des Sables
Ben Hall is the only known Harrier to have completed this 6 day ultra run across the Sahara desert in 2015, one of the toughest footraces on earth. Click here to see Ben’s account of this incredible race.
Everest Marathon
Starting near Everest base camp and run on steep rocky trails this is no ordinary marathon having the highest start point in the world. It also takes 15 days trecking to get to the start line. John Thornhill is the only known Harrier to have completed this event.
Thames Ring 250
The longest non-stop run completed by a Harrier we know of was by Jon Kinder in 2009. Not only did Jon complete the 250 mile event he won it in a time of 59 hrs 49 mins, over 7 hours ahead of the second placed runner. So as well as the longest distance perhaps the biggest winning margin in Harriers history.Click here to see Jon's report of this epic event.
Guinness World Record
Jon Kinder set a new world record for the distance run in 12 hours on a treadmill of 132.9 km (over 82 miles) on 27 February 2016. In the process he raised over £3,000 for charity. Click here to see the details.
The Welsh Dragon's Back race is steeped in legend. Robin Carter and Matt Tomlinson successfully overcame the Welsh Dragon finishing in a fantastic 11th equal place in the 2019 race. Click here to see the details.
The club has completed a number of 'winter challenge' type events over the years. Click here to see the details.