Michael Hartley (born 14 July 1952) is a British

ultramarathon An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of . The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the ...

runner. He has held the record for a number of British long-distance trails, including 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 ...

, and has represented Great Britain in the 100km road race. Initially a climber and hiker, Hartley took up running at age 28, training by running to and from his job as a meter reader. He was soon successful in long, off-road events, winning the Fellsman in 1984, 1987, 1989 and 1990. He was first in some of the

Long Distance Walkers Association 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" in rural, urban, mountainous, coastal and moorland areas. ...

events, including the White Peak Hundred (mile) in 1988. He finished second in the West Highland Way Race behind Dave Wallace in 1989, a race now considered legendary. Hartley went on to hold the Fastest Known Times (FKTs) for a number of British long-distance trails. In 1988, he ran 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 ...

in 55:55, a record which stood until 2020 when in was broken 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 'lea ...

with a time of 13:34 (beaten later that year 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 (a record which stands to this day). In 1991, Hartley broke the record for Wainwright's Coast to Coast route, running 1:15:36; this remained the fastest time until 2021 when Damian Hall ran 18 minutes quicker. In 1989, Hartley ran the

from

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

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 ...

in a record time of 2 days 17 hours 20 minutes, which he considers his most famous and most satisfying achievement. He did not sleep during the run, and took 4½ hours off the previous best, set by Mike Cudahy. For his 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 reduced the time by 34 minutes. In 1990, Hartley ran a traverse of the twenty-four hour mountain challenges: Ramsay's Round, the

Bob Graham Round The Bob Graham Round is a fell running (hill 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 ...

, and the Paddy Buckley Round, to test himself to the limit. He finished in a continuous 3 days 14 hours 20 minutes, including travelling time between the rounds. 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 released to generally mixed to average critic reviews but was a box office failure, grossing $449,700 on a budget of $639,200. Plot The fi ...

in 1992 and was victorious at the Barry 40 mile track race in 1992 and 1993, running a time of 4:00:20 in 1993. He represented Great Britain three times in the 100 km road race: at the 1993

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

and 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 ...

. He finished fourth in the European Championships in 6:37:45, which remains in the top ten of the British all-time road ranking list for the distance. In 2023, Hartley wrote an autobiography entitled ''From One Extreme to the Other''.

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External links

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