11th July 2026
A fabulous and enjoyable day making the organisational work that takes place in the background by Anthony Corbett, Roy Macdougall and April Corbett all worthwhile. Much appreciation and many thanks go to the amazing QRC members, their families and some of our friends who helped to marshal on the day – without the commitment and dedication of these lovely people looking after the runners, we simply could not hold this iconic challenge which has raised many thousands of pounds for charity.
During the couple of weeks leading up to the event we were experiencing heat waves which was a little concerning, however we were really lucky and it cooled a little on the day making it a good balance for both the runners and the marshals to have a great day.
If you don’t know what the Lyke Wake is, it is a linear 40 mile crossing from Osmotherley to Ravenscar that includes all terrains including trail, a little bit of road, moors and hills. There are checkpoints along the way at Carlton Bank, Clay Bank, the Lion Inn, Hamer, Stape, Ellerbeck and Jugger Howe before reaching the finish in the grounds of Raven Hall now known as the Grand Villa Heights at Ravenscar.
This year we had 77 entries to take part, 3 let us know in advance they could no longer take part and 1 didn’t start on the day. 62 participants completed the event, 2 were timed out and the others retired at various checkpoints.
The good running conditions were confirmed when we had the fastest runner break the Challenge record by 10 minutes with a fantastic time of 5 hours 14 minutes! Additionally, one of our Quaker entrants, Claire Chapman completed her 73rd Crossing! We also had Rebecca Dodd who ran the exact time she estimated! We don’t think she could have done that if she had been trying to.
There was a sea fret and a little rain shower which I’m sure was pleasing for the participants, once that disappeared the sun came out which meant a lot of the family and friends that had arrived in Ravenscar to collect their runners sat around in the finish area enjoying delicious ice cream from the National Trust visitor centre. This made a lovely finish area atmosphere with runners exchanging stories of their crossing, cheering and clapping other runners in.
We would like to thank the marshals for their time and the snacks they provided at their checkpoints, Grand Villa Heights for allowing us to have the finish area in their grounds, Raynet for providing the radio communication support, the Lion Inn for allowing us to have the checkpoint area, Sprinters our chosen supplier for the Tshirts and first and fastest finishers plaques.
We will be making the charitable donations to Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team, Scarborough & Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team and Raynet. This year we will also be making a donation to St. Teresa’s hospice in appreciation for the care given to our club member Gary Read who we sadly lost this year, We will update once the payments are finalised. Sprinters very kindly added to the back of the Lavender t-shirts #bemoregary – Gary completed the challenge in 2017.
We have already started planning for the 2027 challenge so if you have been inspired to volunteer next year or would like more details on how you can help, please contact Anthony, Roy or April and we will be happy to answer any questions you have. We would love for more of our members to experience the event whether it be taking part in the challenge itself or being at one of the checkpoints – what a great day it is!
We have had so much fantastic feedback on the Lyke Wake Facebook page, by email, verbally when the runner completed the challenge and direct messages which makes us proud of our volunteers and to be part of a great club.
A few of the comments are;
I too would like to say a massive thank to everyone who was part of todays event. I have never done anything like this before and it was definitely tough at times, but I’m actually quite proud of myself and my husband for doing it. A fantastic event, experience and achievement. We are all awesome 
Participant Ed Snow’s comments after the mini marshal Joyeux team asked for his random item at Hamer – “if you do not produce a foil blanket, you will be ELIMINATED” – absolutely cracked me up. Thanks all of you, you’re all ace.
Thanks to all the marshals and organisers of this brilliant event. It’s such a wonderful route (except for the 2000 mile section of old railway track before the Lion Inn – I swear it gets longer every year 
) Just thrilled to get it done 
well done everyone! And WOW some of you can MOVE!!
Praise from the Hardmoors boss Shirley Steele – Huge thanks to Roy, April and Anthony and all your fab team of marshals….I’ve had the most lovely of days, albeit slightly painful! After 9 years of thinking I couldn’t do my favourite event again, I surprised myself (and probably some of you!), that this old injured body could still haul itself across the moors. I swore at the rocks on the bit after Blue-man-in-the-moss, but otherwise had a smile on my face pretty much all the time.