They're billing it as the UK’s toughest road marathon.
Yet that hasn’t daunted some 300 runners from across the UK, Ireland and Europe who will descend on Huddersfield tomorrow for the second Huddersfield Marathon and Half-Marathon.
The event, which ran regularly through the 1970s and 1980s ended suddenly but was revived last year.
Now organisers of the big event are hoping to make it an annual event and have urged the people of Huddersfield to back it.
Wane Law, one of the organisers, said: “There are obviously many high-profile marathons such as London, Manchester and York but our boast is that this is the toughest in the country.
“People ask us how tough it is and we say you start climbing from the start and are still climbing at the end. Huddersfield is hilly so what do you expect?
“That may be a slight exaggeration but even the so-called flat stretches are often uphill”.
Here are some pictures from last year's marathon
The run, which starts and finishes at the Huddersfield YMCA sports complex at Laund Hill, will see 90 runners start the marathon and more than 220 take on the half marathon.
The race is run over a 13-mile course with two laps for the marathon runners and it takes in Outlane, Stainland, Scammonden Dam, Scapegoat Hill, Golcar and Longwood.
Another big plus, according to Wane, is the stunning scenery and he added: “Last year, several of the runners were so taken in by the scenery they were shooting selfies all the way round.
“It is is a big challenge but many of the half-marathon runners do decide once they have done their lap to carry on for the full marathon”.
Tomorrow’s event is helping the Huddersfield-based Forget Me Not Children's Hospice and every runner has been urged to collect at least £10.
There will also be a family fun run, 30 minutes after the marathon runners set off at 10am, and a host of events for children.
