So December last year I was saved from certain death – or at least a DNF – by the forced last minute cancellation of the Cheviot Goat Race. I took up the offer of the rescheduled March event and it proved invaluable to gain a bit of experience in the Cheviots before the Summer spine Race.
So why did I give Cold Brew Events more money to do it in December as well?…
As I think I’ve already mentioned in this blog, I am seriously considering the Winter spine Race in 2024. However I have little experience of cold weather running and even less of cold weather mountain running. The Spine Race finishes across the Cheviots and so a proper, full-on winter Goat race looked like a good way to get some experience of cold and dark. By now I had some experience of the ground conditions on the Cheviots (bog mostly) – and the route was similar (but longer and with a wicked climb added) to the March event – and so I wouldn’t be confronted with a completely new situation, just more dark and more cold.
By now we had a well practised travel plan – travel to the Premier Inn at Grantham on Thursday evening after work, and stay for a couple of nights at the Tavern Inn in Alnwick before/during the race. The rooms in the Tavern are basic but the food is amazing and the customers very friendly – I’ve never met a mole catcher before but had a good chat with Steve the night before the race about mole catching and the race, among other things.
I did all the race check-in type stuff on Friday evening. It was all done in a very friendly and efficient sort of way. I wore my Spine hoodie to try and help with my deep-seated insecurities about whether I should be there but diplomatically held my number over the Spine logo for the tracker photo.
It was dark when I arrived at and left registration – much like it would be a 5:30 the next morning when I would return to Ingram for the 2022 Cheviot Goat Race.
Due to it being darker and (I expected) boggier and generally poorer weather than March, I had estimated it would take me about 25% longer, i.e. around 22 hours. I gave Sharon a timing chart based on my times to each timing point in March with a 25% increase. The course wasn’t exactly the same but the idea was that she could see how accurate my estimate was and get some idea when I might finish.
So after I almost forgot my drop bags, we left the pub at 5am and arrived at the start a little before 5:30. I sat in the car for as long as possible before I handed in my drop bags and went to the race briefing. We were told the March event hadn’t counted as a proper Cheviot Goat Race as we did it in t-shirts (true, but it was a long sleeved t-shirt). I’m not sure Ian or Jackie would be too pleased to be told that but, assuming I finished, for me there would be no argument, I would be a Cheviot Goat finisher in 2022 (hopefully twice, even if one didn’t count).
There were around three times as many starters as there had been in March and when I looked behind me I realised I was way too near the front so I moved back a bit. I didn’t want to get caught up running too fast at the start and I didn’t want to get in the way of those that were quicker than me – especially as we were starting in the dark.
It fairly soon started to get light. Add to this the fact that the underfoot conditions were quite good at the start and it didn’t feel too much different to the March edition. Indeed as I came towards Shillmoor and saw the sheep on the hills and bright blue skies it was a lot like March – had all my worry and warm kit been for nothing?
The climb up Shillhope Law isn’t the longest but it is steep and ascends over 250m. It was here I saw just how effective poles are. I could see about eight people ahead of me on the climb without poles, by the top I was comfortably ahead of all of them. I know some people refer to them as ‘cheat sticks’ and I only use them on races with a lot of climbing, but if the race allows them then you aren’t cheating and they really do help.
I was reunited with my drop bag at the first checkpoint at Barrowburn and so was able to implement the first parts of my strategy for the race. I had started in a relatively lightweight Mountain Equipment Firefly jacket. It is a nice jacket and more than capable for the first part of the race but I felt I would need something a bit heavier for the higher sections, especially as I would be doing much of it after dark, so I switched to another Mountain Equipment jacket, the Lhotse. Sadly I’m not sponsored by Mountain Equipment but I really like their jackets so if anyone from ME is reading this and has any free stuff to give away please bear me in mind. However before changing any kit I took off my watch and put it and my phone on charge to try and keep them going for the duration of the race. I also refilled my bottles with Tailwind and had a cup of coffee. I was going to have some soup but it wasn’t quite hot enough. I would only have had to wait 5 minutes but having made use of the only toilet on the course and changed my jacket I decided to push on.
After leaving the checkpoint I embarked on the three mile steady climb up to Windy Gyle and my first sight of the Pennine Way since I was there on the Spine Race in June. There was even a rainbow (more of a sleetbow if I’m honest but I prefer the term rainbow)
Fortunately this time I was upright and my back felt reasonably OK. I did however make the same error as I remeber making on the Spine Race. There is a finger post pointing along the Pennine Way – except it isn’t, or at least I don’t think it is, it appears to be pointing along a boggy path that runs exactly parallel to the Pennine Way on the Scottish side of the border. The actual Pennine Way is a slabbed path on the other side of the fence, which I climbed over as the slabs looked more inviting. Actually whilst better than bog, they were ever so slightly slippery so I took a little care on them until I came to The Mountain Rescue Team who welcomed me to Scotland and pointed me down the track towards the improbably named Cocklawfoot. This hadn’t been part of the March event and would involve a simply massive climb from one of the lowest parts of the course at 240m, to the top of the Cheviot at 815m, over a distance of 4 3/4 miles. incidentally if anyone is annoyed by my mix of metric and imperial measurements then I’m sorry, its just that for some reason I always use miles for distance but am in the habit of using metres to measure elevation. I know it’s inconsistent but then so am I.
The path down to Cocklawfoot was a nice easy runnable one and where I first started chatting to Michelle. Michelle is doing the Spine Challenger in January and was using the Goat as a training event. She was very positive about everything and good company. At this point we weren’t running together but were running at similar paces. When we reached the bottom at Cocklawfoot there were as promised many signs to prevent us wandering into the shoot that was going on nearby. However the route was sufficiently clear that I never felt in danger of wandering off and being shot.
The first part of the climb took us onto Auchope Rig and a brief respite from steep climbing until we re-joined the Pennine Way at what turned out to be a significant part of my Spine Race – Hut 2! I’m forever grateful to Hut 2 and the volunteers that manned it that night so I was pleased to hear its had some new cladding and should be in good shape for the brave Spine Racers that stop at it in January.
I came down to here in the dark and for at least some of the descent, under supervision on the Spine – so it was a bit daunting to look up at he climb to the ridge to the Cheviot. However I did it the only way I really know how, disengage brain, engage grim determination and plough on. I must have been quite good as I was congratulated by a South African runner from Quebec (I think that’s the right way round) on my climbing prowess! I do seem to be OK at climbs these days, I can only assume it’s as a result of the time I’ve spent going up mountains and volcanoes in Fuerteventura – I’m not sure living in Essex has helped.
Once you are on the ridge it is a very boring trudge of about a mile and a quarter to the top of the Cheviot. I totally understand why the Cheviot Goat Race has to go to the top of the Cheviot but for anyone else, really don’t bother. It isn’t really a summit, just a vague rise in the ground with fairly dull bit of concrete to mark what is (probably) the highest bit. If I had a Top 10 list of things not to bother with, the Cheviot would probably be number one on it.
However it wasn’t all bad as I was soon joined by Michelle. She confessed she was a little nervous about going into the night on her own so I said I would run with her as we appeared to be similar paces at that point and so we set off together to the point we turned off the Pennine Way and down through the rocks by Scotsman’s Knowe. This had been hard enough in March and with a covering of snow and fading light it was even trickier this time. However we both got down and I confidently pointed us along the fence line and away. It was less boggy that I remembered and more downhill and more easy to run…. and I was going the wrong way… I’d missed a turn and ignored my watch. We could have retraced our steps but it was more fun to set out cross-country through the vegetation until we regained the correct path. I did apologise profusely but as I said earlier Michelle just has a wonderfully positive attitude and took being taken off in the wrong direction by someone claiming to know the way as all part of the adventure. Eventually we came to the next set of Mountain Rescue people at a gate in the fence we had been following. In March we had been told to go through the gate and follow the other side of the fence – tonight it was our choice! Initially I decided we should stay on the same side but after a short distance it became clear that the ‘March route’ on the other side was better (just) so we climbed the fence and went that way. After conquering Bloodybush Edge and Cushat Law, we descended to checkpoint two at High Bleakhope.
It was here I made a bit of an error and didn’t charge my watch again as it appeared to have over 50% charge and so I thought it would be enough… I did take the opportunity to stock up on Jaffa Cakes, Coke and coffee, as well as refill one of my bottles and so I thought I was well placed for the final 16 or so miles of the Cheviot goat.
By now I was in front of Michelle but kept looking back to make sure I could see her headtorch – so it was a bit of a shock when someone completely different passed me and there were no lights behind me. However I slowed down for a bit and Michelle soon caught back up with me and we carried on loosely together. However I was getting to the stage where I was starting to live in my own little world of survival, tripping and slipping and tripping far more often than I wanted until I got my right foot stuck in a bog and a lot of water up my arms and legs. I got my foot out but was now quite cold so I had to get moving to warm up. I felt very guilty about abandoning Michelle after I had said I would stick with her but unfortunately I only just about had enough survival skills to keep me going. I tried to wait a couple of times but I just got cold so I had to keep going. I have contacted Michelle since we finished and she doesn’t hold it against me at all (told you she was a very positive person) and found some others to buddy up with for the last few miles. She also finished with a sprained ankle and dislocated shoulder as she too fell several times – with that sort of determination I’m sure she will complete the Spine Challenger in January.
Apart from bogs, I was tripped up several times by what I decided to call ‘air bogs’, holes under the heather which would cause ones foot to go down some distance below where one expected the ground to be. Between Comb Fell and Hedgehope Hill there was a decent layer of snow on the ground and some of my navigation consisted of simply following the footprints of a couple of runners I thought were about 15 minutes ahead of me. I was OK but looking forward to getting down from Hedgehope Hill and over Dunmoor Hill as it was downhill from there and I would leave the snow behind. At the top of Hedgehope Hill I was greeted by another Mountain Rescue Team. I should say at this point that these guys are amazing, they give their time and put themselves in danger just to provide a safety service for people that want to go and play in the mountains. Every single one of them was just so positive and friendly it really helped. I had them all marked on my course on my watch and it was real boost to know another dose of positivity and encouragement was coming up. As I approached the crew at Hedgehope Hill they remarked my torch was bright enough but was I? On reflection that may have been a polite way of asking me to stop shining it in their eyes. My answer to there question was no, of course I wasn’t very bright or I’d never have signed up to the race! This seemed to amuse them and after making sure I was eating (I lied) they wished me well and sent me on my way. After picking my way through Cunyan Crags it was downhill all the way with only a small interlude to find the gate in the barbed wire fence to follow the track to the road. At this point I was with Jane and Sarah and we jogged down the road to the final marshal point and the humorous part of the Cheviot Goat course. A short jog of just over a mile down the road would see you at the finish – so of course we have to turn off around Brough Law and Ewe Hill for a few more metres of climb and a few more miles of fun. I think we may have made Brough Law harder than necessary but it was dark and we were trying to stay on the GPS path. Anyway the path turned abruptly left and up, it was the final climb so for the last time I switched my brain off and started to climb leaving Jane and Sarah together behind me. With a mile and a quarter to go my watch announced it had had enough and was switching off – I should have recharged it at Checkpoint Two. Fortunately my handheld Garmin was still going. This was very fortunate as the on/off switch had broken and had I had to change the batteries I wouldn’t have been able to switch it on and would have been left with only the map – if I had got lost a mile from the end I would never heard the last of it.
Anyway I got back on the road and soon saw the arrows helpfully pointing me to Ingram Cafe and the finish! I finished in 21 hours 45 minutes and 36 seconds, just inside the 22 hours I predicted. I was extremely pleased with that as had I known what he conditions were going to be like I would have predicted something more like the full 24 hours.
The reason I put myself through this was to see if I would still fancy the Winter Spine after it. So do I, or does this blog end here? The answer is a qualified yes, I do still want to do it. I think it will be colder and tougher in January 2024 than it was in December 2022 as its likely more snow will have fallen and it will be colder (unless Global Warming really kicks in by then). I also still have a lot to learn and practise with regards to looking after myself properly. However I finished it, I never needed anything more than kind words and banter from the Mountain Rescue Teams and I did quite a bit of it alone, which I suspect is how I will be by the end of the Spine as most people will have finished by the time I get to the Cheviots. So, for now anyway, the only way is still Pennine!
The Only Way Is Pennine... 