So as I said right at the beginning, this blog will detail my journey to the 2022 Summer Spine Race. It could be argued that a 100km trail race along the Suffolk/Essex border has nothing to do with the Pennine Way but I’m going to disagree.
It is hard to express how consumed by the 2022 Summer Spine Race my life is. Any trail race is an opportunity to try something new or different. In this case it was shoes. I ran the Spine and Lakeland in Inov8 Roclite 275G. many people have completed both events very successfully in them but my lack of running technique (especially downhill) meant that I ended up with very battered feet. I’m quite a fan of Hoka shoes, particularly the Torrent. I finished the Spine in Torrents, but my feet were already damaged when I switched to them. However the uppers do seem to hold a bit of water and I do remember finding the heel stability a bit lacking for some of the more technical downhill bits so I don’t think either the Roclites or the Torrents will be my shoe of choice for Summer Spine 2022.
I liked the look of the Inov8 Terra Ultra 270G – however I was less taken by the price. Fortunately I could buy them at a considerable discount from a website in France. Unfortunately due to ‘restocking issues’ they have been delayed – I don’t know by how much as I still haven’t received them. I did manage to find them with almost as big a discount on a UK site and they arrived on Friday – I had a full afternoon to try them out before SVP100 on the Saturday…
After four or five miles (I forgot to start my watch at the beginning of the run) I came to the conclusion they weren’t horrible and I’d use them for the race. I did this once before with a pair of ON trail shoes and finished the race with small pools of blood in the shoes – it is also my best time to date, maybe pain makes me run faster.
Anyway shoes and kit were decided on and so we set off at 5am on Saturday to pick up our friend Adam who was also running SVP100. It’s at this point I have to once again mention how great Sharon is. She does the SVP50, which follows the second half of the SVP100 course and doesn’t start until 5 hours later. However she gets up at 4:30 to take me to Newmarket for the SVP100 start, drives to the finish at Brantham, has breakfast and gets the train to Sudbury for the SVP50 start – I never stop telling myself how lucky I am to have such incredible support!
The SVP100 still had some social distancing rules in place and so there was a rolling start from 6:30 to 7am, and there was only a bag drop, no briefing at the start. I met my friend Peter at the start, sadly I didn’t see him at the finish as he had to drop out with cramp.
I did ask what the SVP100 has to do with the Spine race earlier, well at the bag drop Chris came over and spoke to me – he had last seen me shortly after CP4 on his way to successfully complete the 2021 Summer spine Race. I had forgotten that I had a conversation with another Essex runner at CP4, I had given myself away by wearing my Little Baddow Ridge Runners t-shirt. I was wearing a similar t-shirt for the SVP100 so I was easy to spot. When Felix was fixing my feet I was fairly blissfully ignorant of how bad they were as I couldn’t see the soles and they looked OK from above. Chris also had some medical attention at the checkpoint and apparently could see how bad they were – he was amazed that I managed to continue at all!
Anyway onto the race, obviously I’ve done many races before and so wouldn’t be making any schoolboy errors like forgetting to take my fleece off before dropping my bag, getting half way to the start and having to run back to put it in my bag, would I…?
Adam was determined to start at the last minute, I started a minute or two before the last minute and, for the seventh consecutive year, I set off down Barbara Stradbroke Avenue to the left turn onto Devils Dyke (or ‘Ditch’ according to the OS map). The Dyke (or Ditch) was dry underfoot and my progress was good. It’s largely chalk and can be quite slippery if there has been recent rain. I was very aware of the underfoot conditions as I was trying to assess how good or bad my new shoes were. They performed well, grip was excellent, they protected my feet from the odd tree root and rock that tried to trip me up, and they felt a little more forgiving than the Roclites. By the end my feet would be quite sore but I think that had more to do with inadequate recovery time from the Lakeland 100 (and the Spine Race) than any issue with the shoes themselves.
I set out quite quickly, knowing that I would slow up a lot as the race went on. I’d already started to slow a little by the time I got to CP1 at Great Thurlow but that was fine, I had no time in mind and was just interested to see how I would do and how my new shoes were.
Actually things were all going rather pleasantly, I spotted my first phone box at Baythorne End, less than 20 miles into the race, and took an unwise and slightly disturbing selfie – I do have bottom teeth…
I would photograph four more phone boxes before the end of the race – however as I am aware that very few people find the mas interesting as I do, I won’t include any more pictures of them in this blog.
Checkpoint Two was at Clare Castle Country Park. Rather than try and take huge quantities of Tailwind I had one for each checkpoint and supplemented it with Coke and Baby Bel cheeses at checkpoints. This allowed me to carry all my compulsory kit in a waist belt with two water bottles and have the Tailwind in pockets in my shorts. I did end up with a few rubs doing this but it meant I didn’t have to use my race vest. I like my race vest but I do like to run with a little kit as possible from time to time. Today that was a particularly good move as it was very hot in the sun and the lack of a vest meant the air could flow more freely around me. I filled one bottle with Tailwind and one with squash and carried on.
I’m sure Checkpoint Three used to be at the Long Melford cricket ground – which is why I nearly ran past it. It’s on the main road before the turn to where I thought it was going to be. fortunately the volunteers were very alert and called me over before I did anything too embarrassing.
A few miles further on the SVP50 joins the 100km route at the Valley Trail, an old railway line route just outside Sudbury. There are a few climbs on the way to Checkpoint Four and the difference between those just starting out on the 50km race and me – who had already run around 60km – was very obvious! Although the route of the Stour Valley Path does follow the valley, it also likes to wander up and down the sides of the valley and has many short sharp climbs and matching downs.
I ran for a while with Mark and his friend Matt. I met Mark on my very first SVP100 and bought him an ice cream. Six years later on I still remind him he owes me an ice-cream. To be fair we were out in the middle of nowhere and there wasn’t an ice-cream to be seen.
At Checkpoint Five a very nice lady informed me that ‘Mrs. Colin’ had gone through 15-20 minutes earlier. I was quite happy with this, last year I finished first and gave Sharon her medal, this year she would be able to return the favour.
By Checkpoint Six there is only one climb left and that is only because it has take a year and counting for anyone to repair the Fen Bridge. If the bridge was usable it would be more or less flat from the checkpoint to the end, instead there is another short sharp climb.
The reward for the climb is a nice run down to Flatford, inspiration to John Constable. I didn’t take any pictures and I can’t find any from previous trips, so I’ll use a somewhat better image than I could ever create to illustrate this part of the route…
Two miles from the end I met Lakeland Jackie. She was in a yellow volunteers t-shirt with her dog Jake, and was putting out the glow sticks to guide home those that would finish after sunset. She told me she had run with Sharon and that if really went for it I might catch her. I was fairly sure I wouldn’t although I did speed up. That had nothing to do with catching anyone but everything to do with my watch telling me it only had 5% battery left and I’d better get a move on if I wanted all of this run recorded!
The very last section of just under a mile is not usually my favourite, it is along the road and always seems longer than it really is. However this year it was made significantly more pleasant when I met Esther marshalling the last road crossing before the finish. We have a ‘in’ joke about USB cables that probably confused the other chap that crossed the road with me.
The very last bit involves passing a pub with very supportive patrons cheering you on outside, running round the corner, trying to remember the turn to the footpath, meeting a lady who described herself as ‘Your last marshal’ and triumphantly running across the field to the finish arch.
The finish of the SVP100 is always great. This year we are back to hugging and so I was able to have my traditional hug with Nicola-Anne after Sharon had given me my medal.
The other welcome tradition is that Steve always has my bag immediately ready for me so I can change, collapse or do whatever I want to do as soon as I finish. This year it was take my shoes off… followed by beer.
So how was it? Hard. I’ve done this race seven times now and only two or three times have I been in peak condition but this was probably the most wrecked I’ve felt at the end. That’s not terribly surprising given only three weeks ago I ran 105 miles around the Lake District and a little over four weeks before that I was pulling out of the Spine Race, having covered 220 miles in five and a half days, but it does remind me I do need to take it easy for a while longer. Of course my performance wasn’t helped by the fact I’ve put on around five to seven pounds compared to my pre-Spine weight – I did need to eat a lot after that but I then forgot to stop… however the positives are I finished in daylight and with no serious foot issues or blisters – and I had fun and saw some people and generally enjoyed myself.
My preparation for Summer spine 2022 continues! Next month is the Great North Run. This is in no way very relevant to the Spine Race except that its much nearer to its route than Essex is. I’ve planned a few days recceing after the race – including a trek across the infamous Blenkinsop Common. I’ve also entered the Cheviot Goat Race in December. The race is 55 miles of which 10 are on the Pennine Way and more importantly 10 miles of the Pennine Way I didn’t get as far as. It’s likely to be cold, wet and probably dark so I’m kind of hoping that when I run it on the Spine Race then at the very least it will be no worse!
The Only Way Is Pennine... 