I am in the Spine Race this coming January!
This is a ultra-distance trail race along the Pennine Way in winter conditions. I am doing the “MRT Challenger North” which is 160 miles in a time limit of just over 4 days. I will be representing Exmoor Search and Rescue Team which I am part of.
https://www.thespinerace.com/
In 2021 I did the 106 mile Challenger South in summer. I finished in 2 days, but was falling apart at the end. The worst bit was going through the night, and this time there will be very long nights to endure. So its not guaranteed I will complete.
But I’m going to try. I’ve already upped my training - I have run every day this week including a 25 miler (Crowcombe to Kilve) on Friday. Here’s a picture from that run (4 hours in!)
Good luck on your extreme adventure this weekend Richard. I expect we can keep track of your progress from the comfort of cosy home’s 
Hope you are able to make the most of the checkpoints to get some degree of rest and recovery in order to stay safe and sane! Take care and best wishes
Thanks Pete
Yes you and anyone else can follow a dot move very very slowly across a map of northern England
I have race number 977
I travel up tomorrow and the start is Sunday 6pm
The weather forecast is not great - rain for the whole time!
Good luck! Will be interested to track your progress.
If you look at the tracking you will see that I pulled out at the one-third point. I was exhausted and sleep-deprived and couldn’t continue. The next bit of the route was over Cross Fell at night and I didn’t think I was capable of doing it safely. Disappointing but an easy decision.
Hi. I am having a second attempt at the Spine Race! Same as in winter, this is 160 miles of the Pennine Way. But should be better weather! And most importantly much more daylight.
The start is Sunday 6pm and you can follow my progress here:
I am number 959
Richard
Hi. Its been a couple of weeks since I did this, so here’s a late report.
My second attempt at this monster of an event. Having failed to complete the 160 mile course in January, I wasn’t sure how this would go. I had at least done some preparation, but still felt nervous counting the hours to the start.
Started well, the 6pm start meant going over the first hill in daylight but it was getting dark once I go to the first bog. It then all felt quite familiar having done this bit a few months before, also at night. But I reached the first checkpoint at Middleton in much better shape than in January. I had an hours sleep and then carried on. The next bit was so much better this time, so all positive going over Cross Fell where I bailed out last year. But I still didn’t know if I would complete.
I deliberately delayed my entry to second checkpoint until 8pm. That’s because we were limited to 6 hours and I knew rain was coming. I know that does not fit in with the concept of a race, but I really wanted to give myself the best chance of finishing.
So out in the dark at 2am. Made good progress overtaking a few people - but they probably hadn’t stopped as long. Missed the track a couple of times but no serious mistakes. Then reached the very hilly bit along Hadrians Wall. By the time I had done that I was pretty tired and had to sit down, so more worries about how I was doing. Now being passed by other people but struggled on to final checkpoint at Bellingham for another 6 hour break.
Leaving there at 1am after a good sleep, I felt really good. For the first time I was fairly confident of completing. Catching and overtaking others, but started to flag as it got light. Reached a monitoring station where I was allowed half an hour and spent half of that lying down. Really surprised to find a 10 minute nap did me a world of good, and left in racing mode!
The last day was superb. Initially foggy, the sun came up and it was glorious. And I was flying (well, a fast walk). Passed a few others. Great day on the Cheviot hills, then dropped down to run in to the finish.
My time for the 160 miles was 71 hours, of which about 15 were in checkpoints. The winner took under 40 hours, and I was just about average. Most people stopped far less than me. I did run some of the route, maybe 20%, but mostly it was a fast walk assisted by poles. A superb experience though!
