by John Prince
Hornsea’s marathon man Mark Williamson has notched up the first of the six ultra marathons he is taking part in to raise money for charity.
Mark, 55, who featured in the Gazette in October, is a funeral director for CM Allott and Son in Hornsea. He is a member of the Hornsea Harriers and regularly appears in the Gazette’s sports pages. He is raising money for 12 charities affected by the ongoing Legacy Funeral Directors investigation in Hull.
On Saturday he finished an 80-mile run that followed the Wolds Way, taking him from Hessle Rugby Club all the way to Filey. The route took him through remote countryside and smaller villages across East Yorkshire, including Brantingham, Londesborough and Thixendale, and the deserted medieval village of Wharram Percy.
The run, called the Hardwolds 80, was due to be held next year but was brought forward by race organisers Hardmoors. Mark finished in 19th place overall out of 88 runners, in an incredible time of 18 hours, eight minutes and 23 seconds.
He said: “It went well considering the conditions. Fortunately the rain stayed away, but it was very windy to start off with. It was very bad underfoot. As you can imagine, once I got up into the Wolds there was a lot of snow and mud. With all the rain we’ve had, when I got into farmers’ fields the ground had been churned up by cattle so I was trudging through that.
“I had a lull at 25 miles when I couldn’t eat anything and it wasn’t going too well, but I eventually had a bit of food and got going again.
“I had wet and muddy feet and the inevitable blisters at the end, but I’ve had worse. My running partner had to drop out at 65 miles but it was a good effort by him. I did the last 15 miles on my own.
“Running through the night can be a bit spooky. You hear every sound and see shadows of things and think ‘what’s that?’ You’re on your own. You always have something jumping out at you. This time it was a deer. It’s a great experience, though.
“It was tough but I was happy to finish. The next one is in January, so I might be able to sneak a marathon in before then as a training run.”
Mark has so far raised more than £300 in donations for the first two of the charities he is helping – the Sailors’ Children’s Society and the Hull Fishing Heritage charity, which is part of the Hull Bullnose Heritage Group. He was also given £1,000 from Hornsea Lions before he started his challenge. All the money he raises will be split equally between the 12 charities.
For more information go to cmallottandson.co.uk, or if you would like to donate visit givewheel.com.