Journey to the end

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 ...

The Cheshire Circuit First Known Time I completed The Cheshire Circuit route, going clockwise and including the optional ascent of Old Pale, in 24 hours 59 minutes. To the best of my knowledge, and that of the route organisers, this is the only known completion. Strava link here verified on Fastest Known Time site My only deviations from the route were minor re-routing around farms to avoid cattle, and some navigational mistakes - mainly overnight around fields and going up Old Pale. I was tired and not thinking straight. All these deviations added time and distance, and none offered me any advantage. I did it "supported" - with people giving me drinks and food and swapping clothes here and there. I didn't have anyone running with me as a pacer. The latter stages overlapped with a race, where I caught up with a few people so I got the benefit of a bit of company which was nice. The idea When I got into running a few years ago, completing the Sandstone Trail in...

Winter Spine Sprint 2023 In January  I did a Winter Spine race, in many ways my biggest and most daunting running challenge to date, so I couldn't help but write a bit about the whole experience.  It's hard to explain how extremely mixed the emotions were - it really was one of those times I hated and loved at the same time. I'm so proud and pleased to have finished, it felt like one of the great successes of my life and I absolutely never want to do it again. I didn't take a single picture out on the course, but here are my before and after selfies. You can see something of the experience in my face! The Sprint is a much lesser challenge than the full Spine - we don't get the experience of multiple days' sleep deprivation, exhaustion and the really long term toll on feet and body.   The name  Sprint  shows something of the organisers' sense of humour - it's 72km from Edale to Hebden Bridge, but I'd guess most of us who'd sign up for ...

Winter Spine Sprint preparation I over-thought and planned and stressed about this so much! What's involved 70km from Edale to Hebden Bridge along the Pennine Way. No proper luxury aid stations.  At a few road crossings Mountain Rescue teams have gazebos to give a little respite from the conditions and offer drinks.  (we're encouraged not to rely on these being here as the teams may be called away to attend an emergency). It starts noon, so there's 4 1/2 hours of daylight, and then the rest in darkness. Being January the weather is usually difficult Why am I doing this? (pre-race thoughts) Not just a rhetorical question, you do need to have a decent answer to this, for a race of this nature, or you'd just not bother, or quit at the first obstacle. It involves a fair amount of cost, and the commitment to training and preparation is significant, and then once you're out there it's going to be pretty tough. I can't believe anyone cruises through these things ef...

 Starting a blog as a place to write down things. Late to the game here I know! Race to the stones 2019 was my 4th race and second ultra. Summary/ lessons learnt Pacing worked well. Not super fast for first half, but had energy to keep up pace in second half Got hydration right 100km is hard on the ankles, no getting away from that. Maybe 100km a sensible distance limit. Even though had energy, not sure legs could get conditioned to more without serious high mileage training, Ate a lot, possibly even too much, but energy levels fine all race Mentally mainly positive whole way Splitting into sections worked as strategy Nice to chat to people, but music definitely helped in parts. Very pleased all round with how it went. Awesome fun. Time 15:06 Plan Run at 07:30 per km (which seemed reasonable pace based on what we did last year, and given the terrain - not too fast, and probably sustainable all day)  stop for 10 minutes at each stop  stop for 40 minutes at basecamp at half...