Britain’s Fiona Horsfield paced it to perfection as she overhauled long-time leader Lianne van Dijk before surging ahead for a clear-cut victory in the women’s race at the Northern Traverse.
The event is a non-stop 300km endurance race which takes in three National parks – the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and North Yorkshire Moors.
It started at 8.30am local time on Saturday from St Bees on the west coast and it was not long after 2.30pm on Monday when Horsfield reached the finish line at Robin Hood’s Bay, hours clear of van Dijk and fourth overall behind the men’s podium of Damian Hall, James Chapman and David Hanna.
All change after halfway
It was van Dijk, who came agonisingly close to a podium finish in 2024 when fourth behind Hannah Rickman, who powered ahead early on.
At the first checkpoint at Ennerdale she was more than 10 minutes in front of Horsfield and that was up to half an hour by the second one.
By Shap and Kirkby Stephen it was over an hour and then got close to two hours. But it was from Richmond onwards that it started to close significantly and the pass came soon after.
Horsfield would go on to clock 54:12:21 and was welcomed by her family at Robin Hood’s Bay, with van Dijk getting there some five and a half hours later.
Fast finish
Van Dijk’s time though was a whopping 14 hours quicker than her 2024 completion.
Speaking at the finish, van Dik said: “It was such a stunning race. Although not all my goals were achievable, I really wanted to finish strong. That final cliff path was so cool, there was no one around, so I could just go fast.”
Laura Swanton-Rouvelin, who was fifth at the Winter Spine Race in January behind Lucy Gossage, claimed third.
2025 Northern Traverse Results – Saturday April 5, 168 miles / 300km
WOMEN
- Fiona Horsfield (GBR) – 54:12:21
- Lianne van Dijk (NED) – 59:53:35
- Laura Swanton-Rouvelin (GBR) – 61:27:05
