Kirsty’s great effort

As regular readers of our diary will know, we were delighted to be sponsoring Kirsty Naylor last weekend, as she took her place in the Obstacle Course Race World Championships for 2018 at Kelvedon Hatch in Essex.

Kirsty, who had trained hard for the race around her jobs, is a key member at Kevin Ryan’s Thirsk operation and she is a regular rider of the aptly-named Hambleton horse Hurricane Speed.

After what Kirsty herself described as a truly challenging course, we are delighted to confirm that she was able to complete the challenge on Saturday, which in itself is a fantastic achievement for someone who is ultimately an amateur in the sport.

Although there were a couple of really difficult obstacles Kirsty managed to negotiate  the course successfully and finished the race well within the time limit. She can be very proud of her results.

In the ladies’ section, Kirsty finished 199th out of 436 - better than halfway - and it was a similar result for her specific age category coming in 47th out of 93. Indeed, from the 1002 starters she was placed at 607 which is outstanding going when you consider Kirsty is a newcomer to the sport and that these are the elite athletes of this sport, throughout the entire World!

To say that Kirsty felt that she would be out of her depth in this race, she has proven how grit and determination can reap the rewards.

Kirsty was certainly feeling the effects of her exertions in the days after the challenge but was in typically good spirits. We’re hoping the horses at Kevin’s will be kind enough to give her an easy enough time of things this week. Her legs will certainly be feeling it as she ventures up the gallops on each lot!

On behalf of all the Hambleton team and our owners we would like to pass on huge congratulations to Kirsty on her fantastic effort - we would be proud to have her wearing the Hambleton logo again anytime in the future.

Don’t forget to watch out on Channel 4 this Saturday morning (5.55am!) as the highlights from the event are due to be replayed.

The footage is likely to highlight again just what a brilliant achievement this was from Kirsty.