BOLTON Harrier’s Endurance Group member Beka Millington has stepped up to be an ‘Ultra Runner'.

After the group had five debutants the weekend before in the Manchester Marathon, Millington decided to take it up a notch or two and took aim at a 36-mile event at Calderdale.

Not only was it 36 miles, it was up and down dale with 2,027 metres of ascent and she was out on the moors for more than 10 hours and burned 5,213 calories.

The Calderdale Hike has been run by 24th St Paul’s Scout Group since 1979 and the first three events were based upon a circuit of the Calderdale Way (50 miles).

After the third hike it was decided to scale down the length of the route as the manning of such a large event was proving to be increasingly difficult. It was changed to one of 25 miles and one of 36 miles, for runners and walkers alike.

The routes are changed usually every three years, thereby bringing in different parts of Calderdale and the Pennine countryside into the day event which is appreciated by all the competitors.

A few years ago the event became part of the Ultra Running Series and it now attracts entries from some of the top fell runners in the country who try to achieve a personal goal throughout the season on some of the toughest running challenges in the country.

After a long rest and replacing some of those calories, Millington said: “Despite having run the course in its entirety over the last few weeks, I still managed a couple of wrong turns on the moors so I finished at just under 39 miles.

“It was very demanding on tough terrain but the weather was on my side apart from one small snow flurry and I really enjoyed myself.

“After my 109k got cancelled a couple of weeks ago, this race kept me motivated.

“I’ve now switched to another 100k in July so I get a few more weeks to build up strength and endurance.”