Rally driver Hall switches sports to trail-running

Adrenaline-junkie Phil Hall is best known in sport as a co-driver of some of the best rally cars in the world. But now the 28-year-old Mansfield Woodhouse man has turned his attentions to something very different.
Rally co-driver Phil Hall, who is heading back to the hills for trail-running.Rally co-driver Phil Hall, who is heading back to the hills for trail-running.
Rally co-driver Phil Hall, who is heading back to the hills for trail-running.

For at the weekend, he took up the challenge of trail-running and contested the Surrey Hills Original Mountain Marathon (OMM) Lite event near Guildford, spanning two days over a tough 70-kilometre course.

Trail-running, or mountain fell-running, consists of running or hiking over trails. Because of his hectic motorsport schedule, Hall has been unable to compete in an endurance event for more than a year. But he’s kept up his fitness levels and was ready for the OMM event, which he described as “a bit like rallying on foot”.

Amazingly, he started enjoying adventure walks from the age of eight, scaling the UK’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis, on his 11th birthday1