Harrogate’s Helen Price ran for more than 12 hours in temperatures close to 40 degrees to win a prestigious race in the Pyrenees on Saturday.
Ms Price, 52, set off at 6am and crossed the line at about 6.30pm to win the female over-50s category and finish fourth female overall in the Luchon Aneto 40 mile trail run.
She was one of a team of eight runners representing Harrogate International Partnerships, the charity responsible for Harrogate’s town twinning links around the world.
Luchon, which is among the places twinned with Harrogate, hosts an annual trail run through the French Pyrenees with various distance options.
Competing in the 65 km event, Ms Price set off in darkness in woods but was soon under the non-stop glare of the mountain sun, in temperatures ranging from 35 to 38 degrees centigrade.
There were four water stops but it was so hot she also had to get water from mountain streams to stay hydrated as she climbed over 4,000 metres.
Ms Price, a sports massage therapist who is a member of running club Harrogate Harriers, is one of the best fell and mountain runners in the district but even she found it tough. She said:
“The heat was exhausting. I was a bit shaky at the end.”
Two other members of the Harrogate International Partnerships team also finished on the podium.
Caroline Lambert
Caroline Lambert, a former pupil of St Aidan’s Church of England High School in Harrogate, won the 20km female race in a new course record.
Bianca Dyer was the first over-40s female in the 40km race.
North Leeds Fell Runners‘ athlete Martyn Price, who is married to Helen, was fourth in the 45km men’s race. He said:
“The conditions were absolutely brutal. People were dropping like flies.”
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