Michael Hartley (born 14 July 1952) is a British former ultramarathon runner. He won the

Fellsman The Fellsman is an annual organised walk and fell race of about sixty miles in the Yorkshire Dales from Ingleton to Threshfield. History The event was devised by Don Thompson and the Brighouse District (Brigantes) Rover Crew and the first hi ...

in 1984, 1987, 1989 and 1990 and was also the first finisher in some of the

LDWA The Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA) is a British not for profit, volunteer-led association whose aim is "to further the common interests of those who enjoy long distance walking". The LDWA is an association of people with the common inte ...

’s hundred mile events, including the White Peak Hundred in 1988 which he completed in 17:58. In 1989, he finished second in the West Highland Way Race in a time of 15:32. Hartley set fastest known times for running several

long-distance footpaths A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exc ...

in the UK. In 1988, he completed the

Southern Upland Way The Southern Upland Way is a coast-to-coast long-distance footpath in southern Scotland. The route links Portpatrick in the west and Cockburnspath in the east via the hills of the Southern Uplands. The Way is designated as one of Scotland's Gr ...

, around 212 miles, in 55:55 which stood until 2020 when it was beaten by Jack Scott. In 1989, Hartley set records for the

Dales Way The Dales Way is an long-distance footpath in Northern England, from (south-east to north-west) Ilkley, West Yorkshire, to Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria. This walk was initially devised by the West Riding Ramblers' Association with the 'leadi ...

with a time of 13:34 (later beaten by Dennis Beresford) and the

Staffordshire Way The Staffordshire Way is a long-distance walk in Staffordshire, England. The path links with the Cheshire Gritstone Trail, the Heart of England Way and the North Worcestershire Path. The Way was opened in three stages by Staffordshire Cou ...

with a time of 16:10. In July 1989, Hartley completed the

Pennine Way The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kir ...

in a record time of 2 days, 17 hours and 20 minutes. He ran the Way, approximately 268 miles, in the north to south direction, from

Kirk Yetholm Kirk Yetholm ('kirk yet-ham') is a village in the Scottish Borders region of Scotland, southeast of Kelso and less than west of the border. The first mention is of its church in the 13th century. Its sister town is Town Yetholm which lies ...

Edale Edale is a village and civil parish in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England, whose population was 353 at the 2011 Census. Edale, with an area of , is in the Borough of High Peak. Edale is best known to walkers as the start, or southern end, ...

. He did not schedule any time for sleep during the run, and none was taken. His time took approximately four-and-a-half hours off the previous best which had been set by Mike Cudahy. For his Pennine Way run, Hartley received awards for performance of the year from both the Fell Runners Association and the Bob Graham Club. The record stood until 2020 when

John Kelly John or Jack Kelly may refer to: People Academics and scientists * John Kelly (engineer), Irish professor, former Registrar of University College Dublin *John Kelly (scholar) (1750–1809), at Douglas, Isle of Man *John Forrest Kelly (1859–1922) ...

reduced the time by thirty-four minutes. In 1990, Hartley ran the three main British twenty-four hour mountain challenges ( Ramsay's Round, the

Bob Graham Round The Bob Graham Round is a fell running challenge in the English Lake District. It is named after Bob Graham (1889–1966), a Keswick guest-house owner, who in June 1932 broke the Lakeland Fell record by traversing 42 fells within a 24-hour period ...

, and the Paddy Buckley Round) one after the other, completing them in a total time of 3 days, 14 hours and 20 minutes including travelling time between the routes. Hartley broke another of Mike Cudahy's records in 1991, when he ran Wainwright's Coast to Coast route in 39:36. This remained the fastest time until 2021 when Damian Hall completed the route in 39:18. Later in his running career, Hartley was more prominent in road and track races. He finished third at the

London to Brighton ''London to Brighton'' is a 2006 British neo-noir crime film written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams. Plot The film opens with a woman and child, Kelly and Joanne, bursting into a London toilet. Joanne is crying and Kelly has a black eye. ...

in 1992 and was victorious at the Barry 40 mile track race in 1992 and 1993, his time in the latter year being 4:00:20. He represented Great Britain at the 100k European Championships, finishing in fourth place in the 1993 edition. His time in that race of 6:37:45 is, as of 2021, fifth on the British all-time road rankings for the distance. He also represented his country at the global level at the 100k distance in the 1993 and 1995

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

.Deutsche Ultramarathon-Vereinigung: Michael Hartley.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartley, Mike Living people 1952 births English male long-distance runners British ultramarathon runners British fell runners