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Northern Traverse 2025

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To the end, to the end, I'll journey to the end. In summary   The Northern Traverse is a non-stop race from coast to coast, mostly following Alfred Wainwright's famous route from St Bees on the Irish Sea to Robin Hoods Bay near Whitby on the North Sea.  Competitors have to be self sufficient between checkpoints, which are up to 55km apart, carrying food, water, appropriate clothing and everything else needed to keep moving (if possible) or at least safe. The key figures are 300km (186 miles) and 6500m ascent. The biggest new challenge for me, on top of the distance, was that it would take me through three nights (the leaders would manage it in around two days, and the last finishers would take more than four). The longest ultra race I've done  took me into a second night, but I didn't have to sleep. I knew that wouldn't cut it for this one, but not how things would play out - where would I sleep, how would I deal with being so tired? This is going to end up being a ...
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North Cheshire Way

I completed the North Cheshire Way in a total time of 20:04:56. It was a fun adventure. Maybe I'll write some more here when I'm less tired.
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Northern Traverse 2024

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Northern Traverse 2024 (DNF) Summary, in format shamelessly copied from John Kelly. The Event The Northern Traverse race follows Wainwright's well known 300 km coast to coast route from St Bees to Robin Hood's Bay. This year,  69 out of 107 starters reached the finish (64%). I didn't (but still managed to write about it). Absolutely superb event. I love this kind of thing - it feels more like an adventure, playing to the skills I want to explore, rather than a pure running race (which I wouldn't be great at). There's variety to the route, long gaps between checkpoints (up to 55km), and we're left alone to be self sufficient in making our way.  I've done a few Spine events, and this has a pretty similar ethos - if anything there's slightly less support, nobody checks we have a spork (or what size it is!), and there aren't so many visible race staff outside checkpoints. I had an awesome time and learnt a fair bit despite the non-finish. Also met loads ...
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