After eating and drinking I followed my normal routine and tried to get some rest. At CP5 the sleeping area was a darkened hall. I took my mat and sleeping bag into the hall and prepared to get some, if not sleep, at least some rest. Someone in the hall was snoring very loudly. As I laid down my last thoughts were ‘I’ll never get any sleep with that rac…..’

I awoke to my alarm and packed up my things for the last time. Previously I had tried to put things back into my drop bag in some sort of order but this time it really didn’t matter – I wasn’t planning on opening it again before I was back home in Essex. Last breakfast (porridge, I think), last coffee, last kit check and, at 2:30 on Friday morning, I set out into the unknown.

The first mile and a half presented a slight navigational challenge as I was walking through Bellingham. It wasn’t difficult but I had to keep a careful eye on my GPS to avoid taking the wrong road. Eventually I left Bellingham and turned on to the kind of moorland I was expecting. The path was still fairly dry, even if the sheep were taking no chances and appeared to be crowded on the higher ground.

I was only a couple of hours into the final leg and already I knew it was going to be a long day. By the time I reached Hareshaw House, about four miles in, the trail crossed a tarmac drive. I took the opportunity to put my pack down and lay down on the road to try and stretch my back, a manoeuvre I would be repeating throughout the last leg.

I didn’t really have much idea what to expect from the final leg of the Spine Race. I knew a short section of the Pennine Way around the Cheviot from having done the Cheviot Goat Race earlier in the year but the section from CP5 to CP5.5 was completely unknown. My hope was that it would be reasonably straightforward. My hope wasn’t completely in vain. Sections through heather were a little awkward simply due to the path being a narrow groove obscured by vegetation. Eventually I started to enter Redesdale Forest and back to my favourite scenery – not – plantations!

After seemingly endless plantation roads I eventually arrived at CP5.5 at Blakehopeburnhaugh. By now I was leaning heavily and in quite a bit of discomfort. However this was another one of those occasions when the volunteers and marshals would work their magic and keep me going. John Bamber shared all his knowledge of back stretching gained from his own back problems, the medic (sorry, I never got her name) asked what pain relief I had taken and deemed it safe to give me another codeine tablet. One of the other volunteers (again, I didn’t get a name – sorry) lived in the area and was able give me a good impression of what my next task would be like – the ascent of Byrness Hill. I ate most of my freeze dried meal, had a couple of cups of coffee and prepared to set off. The checkpoint had a board showing me exactly what I had left to do: 10 miles to Hut One, 9 miles to Hut Two, 7 miles to Kirk Yetholm, about a marathon left in total.

Sometimes, when things are tough, someone says or does just the right thing to give you the self belief you need. As I left CP5.5 John Bamber walked out with me, clapped me on the shoulder, shook my hand, and said he was proud of me. I already knew I wasn’t going to give up but at that moment the thought of failure became impossible.

A couple of miles further down the road I arrived in Byrness. I had been given a good idea of what to expect Byrness Hill to be like, a sharp climb requiring some use of hands to get round some rocks near the top. I noticed a small church with a bench in Byrness and decided to have a look in the churchyard (I like that sort of thing) and to use the bench to stretch out a bit. The bench had a plaque. I don’t remember the name of the person in who’s honour it had been placed but I felt that if he was the sort of man who’s passing his friends would mark by placing a bench in his memory, he was probably the sort of man that wouldn’t mind me using it to try and prepare myself for the next stage of my journey.

Byrness Hill didn’t prove too much of a challenge as it was quite dry. I suspect it is quite a different story in the winter. I passed through a gate which had a lot of interesting information on it. I was too far gone to really understand any of it – apart from the fact I wasn’t likely to get shot, which was nice, and that there was still 24 miles to go, which wasn’t so nice but not a surprise – so I photographed it to read later.

By now it was getting very hot and sunny. A few runners passed me along the border, although we all seemed to stop at various points and rest. I fell asleep at least once in the sunshine so had little idea who was ahead and who was behind me. To be honest at his point there were few things that mattered less. My immediate focus was simply on putting one foot in front of the other and trying to reach Hut One.

After what seemed like forever Hut One came into view. I was able to lie down on a bench and stretch my back. I wasn’t due any more pharmaceutical pain relief but the medic did offer ‘interpretive dance’ as a service to another runner in the hut at the same time as me and also in pain. I settled for biscuits and coffee.

The weather took a turn for the worse and by the time I was ready to leave the hut it was definitely raining so I put my waterproof on. In some ways I was almost glad the weather had become worse, I now felt I was getting a proper Spine Race experience, even after the rain stopped, the cloud remained and the path ahead started to disappear into the mist.

Unfortunately even the worsening weather wasn’t sufficient to take my mind off the worsening pain in my back. I never run with music but I must admit I was now wishing I had something, anything, else to focus on. I possibly should have focussed a little more on where I was as at some point I had ended up in Scotland instead of England. I was on a path and the path followed the border fence, just on the Scottish side. The big difference was that when I looked over the fence, I saw the ‘English’ path had flagstones! Once I was on the paved path I started counting flagstones to take my mind off how slow my progress was. After Windy Gyle the next major point on my journey would be the left turn of the shoulder of the Cheviot down to Hut Two. I didn’t know how far Hut Two was from there – I had made the error of not marking the huts on my GPS files – but I knew it was at least downhill.

As I was slowly making my way down from the Cheviot, I was caught by Andrea. She could see I was in trouble and asked if she could help. I thanked her but said that, no, there wasn’t really anything anyone could do, I’d just got to get on with it. She said in that case she would let them know at the hut that I was in trouble and they would perhaps come and meet me. Then she set off in what to me appeared to be the wrong direction but shortly after I saw her on what I thought was the correct path so either I was wrong (very possibly, I was starting to see things) or she realised her error.

The light was failing and, although I could still see well enough to pick my way down, I thought it might be a good idea to put my head torch on anyway just in case anyone came looking for me. Fatigue and hope lead to me seeing all sorts of lights in the distance, practically none of which existed I’m sure. However after a while the lights were accompanied by voices. My poles and pack were taken from me (I questioned whether someone else could carry my pack but was told it was part of my assessment – this was in fact true, one of the things they wanted to know was how much effect the pack was having on my lean and my back problem) and I was lead the final half a mile or so to Hut Two.

The fact is that every single medic, marshal and volunteer on the Spine Race is an incredible human being who’s main focus is on making sure that everyone that can finish safely does so. However because of that they all seem to be superhuman people that pick you up and set you back ready for the next bit. The idea of DNFing at Hut Two, seven miles from the finish, didn’t bear thinking about. Spine HQ obviously agreed as, knowing that I was struggling, they agreed that I should be held at Hut Two until first light to give my back some rest and to allow the various painkillers I’d taken to work through and let me start again in the morning. I have managed to find out the names of the team at Hut Two so I can give huge thanks to Theo (medic), Alex and John for sorting me out so that I could continue on my way.

Early Saturday morning I was dressed in my waterproofs, warm hat, gloves and mid-layer. This was the first time I’d needed them all but does vindicate the kit list as I did need them all, at least at the start of my final assault on the Pennine Way.

There was only one final obstacle between me and Kirk Yetholm – The Schil. The Schil isn’t a massive hill but it is still a sting in the tail of the Pennine Way. At Hut Two I was told it was a grassy slope up and a slightly steeper rockier slope down. I decided this was probably the way I’d prefer it at this stage. Obviously the Schil was what it was and couldn’t care less what I preferred but it was good to try and be positive. I was rewarded for my early start by a magnificent sunrise. Unfortunately with all my kit on I wasn’t able to take a picture but it lifted my spirits anyway. After a while I’d conquered the Schil and felt confident I would make it to Kirk Yetholm – it was just going to take a long time.

As I was coming down I could see that I would be out of the shadow of the hill and in the sunshine. My watch was complaining it was out of battery, I needed a break and to take some clothes off so I decided that as soon as I hit the sun I would rest for 15 minutes and charge my watch up. I called Spine HQ to let them know. The rules say you don’t have to do this unless you are stopping for more than an hour but I was fairly sure my dot would be being watched very closely, given they knew my physical state, and I didn’t want to give any cause for alarm. They very kindly said if I hadn’t moved after half an hour they would phone me as I would probably have fallen asleep.

After my break I carried on down and reached the Scottish Border! I climbed to the top of the stile and announced ‘I’M IN SCOTLAND!’ as loudly as I could. No one heard apart from the sheep.

The path became a road and I lay down to stretch my back. A lovely lady in a Landrover carefully drove round me and asked if I as alright. I assured her I was and thanked her for her concern. From here on it was just a case of walking and stretching, my poles slamming into the tarmac with every step. Fortunately I was ready for the hill into Kirk Yetholm so I just marched up it as the village came into view – I didn’t even stop on Anne’s Bench at the top.

Suddenly I could see the finish! I started to run, well a fast stagger anyway, towards the arches, an untidy mess of flailing limbs, some sort of weird parody of a finish line celebration.

I made it to the arches, tripped, fell, collapsed, I’m not sure which….

…until Sharon came over and pointed out I had several yards to go to the Border Hotel wall and the real finish. I got up and quickly made my way to the wall and gave it a kiss, and another, just to be sure.

There were many volunteers at the finish to cheer me on, who then looked extremely confused by my desperation to get into my backpack. In November last year my Father-in-Law passed away. In his last days he was looked after fantastically well by Marie Curie Nurses and the ACCORD Hospice. I am raising money for both these organisations, if you would like to support me donations can be made at:
https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/colins-summer-spine-race
Archie was a proper Scot who liked a wee dram. I had been carrying a small hip flask of his favourite whisky, Ballantines, from Edale in order to drink a toast to him on the finish line. I also raised a toast to Hut Two and everyone else that had got me to the finish.

So we come to the end of my Pennine Journey. Some of you will have been with me since the beginning a year ago, some will have joined on the way and some will only just have become aware of my endeavour. The question is – is that it? Well, in one way yes, I set out to use what I learned from last year and to complete the Summer spine Race 2022 and that I have done. Will I ever do a Spine Race again? I think many of you will realise having read my blogs, I don’t rate the Pennine Way as a particularly wonderful path to follow. It has amazing highs and some fairly dismal lows. However the thing that might bring me back is the Spine atmosphere, it’s very hard to describe but an often used phrase in the Official Spine Facebook Group is ‘Those that know, know’. I’ve always said I would never do the Winter Spine. Having done the Summer Spine I’m fairly sure I couldn’t do the Winter Spine. However 2023 is sold out anyway but 2024? Maybe…

All that is left to do is to thank everyone involved in my Pennine Journey. All the Spine organisers, volunteers, marshals, medics, safety teams, all my fellow competitors and of course all of you that followed my dot, sent me a message, sponsored me, or just wished me well, thank you all. The final and biggest thank-you has to be reserved for Sharon though, from picking up a stinking mess at the end of last years race to being there at the finish of this years, without her constant and unwavering support there would have been no ‘Pennine Journey’ – Thank you and I love you forever x

Before I left CP4 the feeling of deja vu overtook me again – here I was, having my feet taped while Rachel brought me breakfast. However this time the taping was much less extensive than last year and some of it was simply preventative to protect some hot spots that were developing. One kit check and a hug from Rachel later and I was off to do what I hadn’t managed last year, get to Checkpoint Five.

There is little to say about the route from Alston, the Pennine Way climbs a little out of the river valley before bowing to the inevitable and going back down into it. Not long after leaving the checkpoint I was caught by Gerry, Wijnand (a Dutch runner Gerry had teamed up with sometime before and who came into CP4 with us – he just walked a little ahead of us as I assume he wasn’t interested in phone boxes) and another runner whose name eludes me. I stuck with them until Slaggyford but they were setting a faster pace than I was really comfortable with so I let them go. Sadly we arrived at Slaggyford in the early hours of the morning and so the Angel was in bed.

Hartleyburn Common South Side was fairly easily navigated apart from the very last section to the A689 crossing. It’s not that it is hard to navigate, there just is clearly no path exactly where the Pennine Way is supposed to go – I just followed the GPS and bashed my way through the heather anyway, eventually there will be a path. I met a marshal at the road crossing who was leaving snacks and water for Spine runners, he agreed that I had quite definitely not followed any sort of visible path. I took a bottle of water and a chocolate biscuit and continued.

Last year I got hopelessly confused trying to cross the Black Burn and ended up climbing a barbed wire fence, crossing on a derelict bridge and then climbing a dry stone wall to get back on course. It was much easier in the daylight with at least 50% of my faculties working.

At the road crossing at Greenriggs I met a member of the media team who asked about my lean. I made a joke that I wasn’t turning into Jeremy Corbyn but I had developed a strong lean to the left and that the medics had decided I was fit to continue but just a bit weird. I hadn’t immediately realised I was actually being videoed and that my weak jokes would make it into the Day 6 round-up… (https://www.facebook.com/TheSpineRace/videos/427118255950339 about 2:45 in if you are interested).

After my brush with fame I continued on to Hartleyburn Common North Side. I didn’t seem to be able to find the exact path across it as I did when I recced it but as it was fairly dry I concentrated on making progress in the right direction rather than worry too much about my exact route. Soon I was rewarded with my first sight of Blenkinsopp Common

Fortunately Blenkinsopp was more Common than Bog and the path across it fairly easy to follow. After the Common there were cows. Just before the safety of the track to the A69 there was a bull – with a cow to impress. I tried to look uninteresting, hide up a bank and generally behave like a complete wuss until I could make a break for the gate. As I was walking towards the A69 I met Gerry and Wijnand coming towards me, convinced they were going the wrong way. They weren’t but I could understand their confusion. I remembered from my recce that one of the gates appeared to secured with a bicycle lock and had no signs to indicate it was on the Pennine Way. In fact the lock could be lifted over the post and the gate opened and a few yards further on was a post with the acorn symbol denoting a National Trail, but it wasn’t obvious. After the A69 it’s down to the golf course and exit via a very overgrown path to cross the B6318.

At Thirlwall Castle the Pennine Way starts to follow Hadrians Wall. A short climb saw us arrive at Walltown Quarry car park at two minutes to ten, perfect time as the café opens at 10! I had a coffee, ice cream and chocolate.

I intended to do another Facebook Live piece from Hadrian’s Wall but a patchy data signal meant the video kept stopping and restarting so I gave up and carried on running instead. I say running, by now I was rarely getting much above a fast walk. It was also getting very warm and – as far as I knew – there were no more water stops en-route. The next 8 miles would follow Hadrian’s Wall and were very up and down.

Last year I was in a world of pain along the Wall and so possibly didn’t realise just how long it went on for. The weather was great but I was getting a little worried about whether I would have enough water. I did remember last year I was taken to a snack van in the car park at Steel Rigg by a safety team while they assessed my fitness to continue. I thought it worth the short detour to see if there was anything there – there wasn’t. Just when I was thinking of offering anyone in the car park large sums of money in return for water, I saw a Spine Safety Team (Five, I think) in the car park with water. I was grateful for the sit-down, the chat and, of course, the water. I was less happy about the picture Gill took of me – I look like E.T.s Grandad!

Shortly after Steel Riggs I saw the remains of a Mile Castle. According to the OS map there are many features along the Wall but when you are doing the Spine Race unless you actually have to walk round it – like Mile Castle 39 – you are inclined to miss them, well, I certainly was anyway.

Eventually it was time to leave Hadrian’s Wall and head towards Wark Forest. The Pennine Way follows its own path through the forest and last year proved quite boggy. Due to damage still remaining from Storm Arwen, this year we were diverted and stayed on forestry roads. These were dry, hot and seemingly always uphill. I started to take a strong dislike to ‘forestry’ as I walked through the plantations. It wasn’t helped by the fact my back was starting to hurt and I was having to stretch at regular intervals. I like forests, they have undergrowth, birds, animals, an entire bio-diverse eco-system lives in them. Forestry is battery farming for trees. Non-native spruce planted so close together nothing can exist in the forest just to ensure the trees grow straight. When they are ready for harvesting they are ripped down with chainsaws and piled on lorries leaving huge grey scars on the countryside.

After a few hours of walking past unnatural forests and devastated hillsides I was quite angry about the whole thing. Fortunately I would soon reach a point which would reaffirm my faith inthe human race – the wonderfully named Horneystead Farm.

I followed the signs and was greeted by a lovely lady who gave me a ham roll, some cake, a can of Fanta and a cup of tea! I have been told she is an ultra runner and makes her barn available to runners with a stock of food and drink on both the Summer and Winter Spine Races. She doesn’t charge but will accept donations. I’d accumulated a fair bit of change by this point so I was happy to donate some pounds and slightly reduce the weight I was carrying!

Finally it was time to move into uncharted territory – once I passed Shitlington Crags I would have got further than I managed last year. Then it was uphill, past the tower and across the fields and finally along the road to Brown Rigg and Checkpoint Five. As I started up towards the tower it started to rain, however as I was already wet with sweat and it wasn’t cold I pushed on and was met by a marshal (in waterproofs) at the entrance to the camp site.

I had made it to CP5! As always I was incredibly well looked after. I drank a couple of pints of squash and tea as I had got a little dehydrated in the afternoon heat. I was given two bowls of the most amazing sausage casserole and even had someone picking up things off the floor for me as I had been made to sit with my leg up as my right knee tendon had swollen again. After a while I went into the sleeping area for a couple of hours rest before I would set off on the last leg of the 2022 Summer Spine Race…

My alarm woke me after about two hours of sleep in total confusion. I think my conversation with Lindley had affected my dreams as I awoke convinced I was in the middle of my kit check. I packed my stuff up and went back to the main room to hunt down breakfast and get some attention for my feet. Generally they weren’t too bad but I hadn’t managed to get rid of a callus on my left heel before the race and it had blistered. I’d started off taping it myself but as the race went on it became harder to bend myself round to tape my own heel so at CP2 I’d asked a medic to do it and was hoping for a repeat at CP3.

I did get my feet taped but it was a bit tight on timing. The pre-race briefing tells you not to rely on medics for foot taping as they may have more serious emergencies to deal with. As I was waiting, Sabrina and Raj arrived. I didn’t get to see them as Sabrina did require the attention of one of the medics. Fortunately she was OK and, although I wouldn’t cross paths with them again, both she and Raj would finish. As it was I just got my feet taped and kit check done before my 6 hours were up.

CP3 to CP4 – Middleton to Alston – really is a leg of two halves. It starts of with the Tees and the waterfalls thereon. It continues with High Cup Nick and drops down into Dufton with its promise of places to eat and drink. However it then has the tough slog up to Green Fell (or is it Knock Fell? I’ve never been sure) and the run over Great Dun Fell, Little Dun Fell and finally the notorious Cross Fell. After all that there is still 11 miles to go before arriving in Alston.

Anyway I’m getting ahead of myself. Last year I left CP3 at sometime on a sunny afternoon and was sharing the path with numerous tourists, at about quarter past four in the morning it was a lot quieter!

It was a very pleasant early morning saunter along the Tees from Low Force to High Force.

After High Force it was fairly easy going until the scramble over various boulders – which may or may not be Falcon Clints, I’m not sure. I did however forget to photograph them as I was using all my concentration just to find a way through. I can only assume that when the likes of John Kelly and Damien Hall set FKTs on the Pennine Way they must have their route though the boulders memorised – I certainly didn’t remember how I did it last year but I think I was a little better this time.

Eventually I reached Cauldron Snout. The scramble up the side is quite easy – in summer at least – as you are some distance from the actual water. Adam, one of the photographers is the small figure in orange and was documenting my ungainly ascent.

After the scramble it was about 5 miles across Dufton Fell to one of the highlights of the Pennine Way – High Cup Nick. Sadly I knew I wouldn’t be seeing it at its best due to the low cloud but it was still worth a picture.

Shortly after leaving High Cup Nick I found a sheltered area where I stopped for a short rest and to give a quick live update to anyone listening. Soon after I met some hikers who informed me they had seen people eating breakfast in Dufton. That was all the incentive I needed to get down ASAP!

As I came to the centre of Dufton I was met by a lovely marshal who asked what I needed. ‘Breakfast’ was the answer so she ordered me a full English and a latte from the Post Box Pantry – which turned out to be quite possibly the finest full English on the Pennine Way!

Properly fuelled I was ready to tackle the hardest part of the challenge so far, Cross Fell. I had recced this section recently, which makes it even more annoying that I was seduced off course by the very big and obvious stile that isn’t on the Pennine Way… Anyway I was soon on the right route and slowly ascending to Green (or Knock) Fell.

There isn’t really a lot to see up on the fells. The giant golf ball antenna thing on Great Dun Fell is the most significant thing and to be fair it is quite significant. As an electronic engineer I should probably find it quite interesting, as a Spine racer I was just happy to have it behind me.

Soon I reached Little Dun Fell and the patch of scree that caused me to lose all my confidence last year. Having recced it and it being daylight this time, I crossed it without incident and headed to the final climb to Cross Fell.

I didn’t hang about on Cross Fell as visibility wasn’t great. Getting there had been a combination of GPS and just heading cairn to cairn until I reached the wind shelter. The route down seemed vague at the start on my recce and was still vague this time. However I soon joined the path to Greg’s Hut.

I had a brief stop at Greg’s Hut – where I noticed that I’d had my shorts on inside out all day! If you looked very closely at the photo of me on Cauldron Snout you may already be aware of this… This race did appear to be characterised by an inability to dress myself properly.

On the path down from Greg’s Hut I was caught by Gerry Dance. It’s a bit of a trek from Greg’s Hut to Alston so it was nice to have someone to chat to – although Gerry now knows far more about phone boxes than he possibly ever wanted to! Soon we arrived in Garrigill and passed through the village before turning on to the South Tyne for the last few miles to Alston. Last year I kept running backwards and forwards along this part of the route, convinced I’d missed the checkpoint. Unfortunately this year wasn’t without incident either. About two and a half miles before CP4 I got a sharp pain in the tendon behind my right knee. It didn’t affect my mobility but it did hurt – it may well have been caused by my lean.

However all pain and fatigue was forgotten as I approached CP4 to be greeted by Rachel. Rachel was one my angels from last year and she was back volunteering at CP4 again after successfully completing the Spine Sprint earlier in the week. It was great to see her again, especially as this year I was in far better shape and was able to hold a proper conversation. There was a certain amount of deja vu as I sat in the same place and was fed lasagne (obviously, this is Alston after all) but it was great to be at CP4 in a positive frame of mind and with only slightly battered feet! I discussed my knee pain with the medic, her verdict was that nothing was ruptured or displaced but it was very inflamed. She would give me some pain relief before I set off from the checkpoint but there didn’t appear to be anything seriously wrong.

I was aware that I hadn’t washed since I started so I took the opportunity to have a shower before retiring for a couple of hours rest. Tomorrow I would be heading to the scene of my demise last year, how would I fare this year? Not really a cliff hanger as you already know I finish but it isn’t all plain sailing…

Despite my misgivings about a diet heavy on pulses and a small tent, I managed a couple of hours of sleep with no real problem. I returned to the main tent to see what I could get to eat. It turned out I was supposed to clear my tent when I left it – which on reflection seems sensible as someone else might need a sleep – but I didn’t. However on the Spine there is always a marshal to look after you and all my kit was brought out to me laid out pretty much as I’d left it in the tent. More importantly I was provided with breakfast and coffee. I don’t remember exactly but I’m fairly sure a bacon sandwich was at least part of breakfast.

I got on with dressing myself, packing up my kit and getting my bottles filled when I saw that Raj’s bag was in the tent. I checked the tracker and yes, he and Sabrina were still going! Sadly my friend Darren had pulled out at Malham Tarn, his calf muscle letting him down as he feared it would. I had plenty of time so I decided to wait a few minutes to see Raj and Sabrina. They both seemed in good spirits although Sabrina (not surprisingly) looked a little tired.

I mentioned kit check at CP1 but didn’t explain what happens so now seems like a good time to rectify that. At the start I was checked on a sample of my kit based on my race number. In order to stop people abandoning kit on the way (yes, some people do believe it or not), five items were checked at every checkpoint (ten at CP5). The check is made after you hand in your drop bag so you can’t present an item for kit check and then dump it back in the drop bag (yes, that’s been tried too). When went for my kit check the checkpoint manager was getting a little irate with two runners who were pretty much out of time at the checkpoint but had left their kit and were nowhere in sight. I wasn’t trying to be goody-two-shoes by arriving a kit check with 20 minutes to go but it did have its reward. After I was checked I was asked if I wanted anything else. ‘Like what?’ I asked, ‘Bacon sandwich for the road?’, ‘Yes, please!’ The photographer found this quite amusing and having taken a sequence of photos of me being kit checked and getting ready, she rounded it off with pictures of me walking out of the checkpoint with a bacon sandwich stuffed in my gob! I’m not sure if I want to see that photo or not!

There are no easy legs on the Spine Race and CP2 to CP3 is no exception. It is the shortest leg but it has plenty of challenges. The first starts immediately you leave the checkpoint, a climb of over four and a half miles distance to the top of Great Shunner Fell.

After conquering Great Shunner Fell it’s a fairly easy run down to Thwaite. The only event of note was passing a lovely lady who gave me a mint. Apparently she was offering them to every runner she saw so it was within the spirit of the Spine Race to accept.

The tea shop in Thwaite was open and as it was 11am it seemed like the ideal moment to stop for a mid-morning snack. A latte and a huge slice of lemon drizzle cake fitted the bill perfectly.

The climb out of Thwaite is short and sharp and leads to a tricky path that has random rocks long it, crosses a rockfall and is just generally a bit annoying all the way to Keld. However after Keld it improves a bit as it crosses Stonesdale Moor and I got my first sight of the legendary Tan Hill Inn!

You may have noticed that the Tan Hill Inn appears to be leaning a bit in the last picture. This might be a good time to mention my lean to the left (no I’m not going into politics). It had been commented a couple of times that I was leaning to the left. somehow I was unaware of this. One of the medics had seen me several times and said she wasn’t worried as it wasn’t getting any worse, I was just a bit weird. As I had no idea I was leaning I hadn’t noticed yet I was holding my phone at an angle…

Anyway the Tan Hill Inn was able to provide me with some perfectly upright nachos and a pint of Coke. I refilled my bottles – it was a hot day so I was carrying quite a bit of water – and headed into the notorious Sleightholme Moor…

…Except it wasn’t – notorious I mean. It was lovely. The Pennine Way was completely failing to live up to my expectation as a 268 mile long bog. The moor was slightly downhill, dry and spongy. It was absolutely fabulous to run on, especially as I was refreshed after my pitstop. I slowed down a bit after the initial exuberance had worn off but I still kept a fairly good pace to God’s Bridge. Last year I crossed this in the dark and was unaware of it. I have seen it in daylight since but I still stopped for a photo.

Crossing Cotherstone Moor was uneventful. I had recced it since last year so I knew what to expect. It goes on a bit but isn’t particularly tricky, especially as, as I previously mentioned, the Pennine Way wasn’t a big bog this year.

I think it was Grassholme Farm that provided today’s tuck shop. I bought a can of Barr’s Cherryade to help me through the last challenges of the day. It felt a bit like a roller coaster in reverse. The path climbed a cross a field, dropped a little climbed more, dropped, climbed, dropped, climbed… overall it climbed and it probably wasn’t as up and down as I remember but it it was a bit of a challenge towards the end of the leg. Eventually it became an easy downhill run towards Middleton-in-Teesdale. This year I was prepared for the two and a half mile run along the Tees to the checkpoint. It was starting to get dark but I reckoned I could make it without getting my headtorch out. The answer was that yes I could but I probably shouldn’t have done. Anyway I made it some time after 10pm.

As always I was offered food. I hesitate to comment on the relative quality of the food on offer at each checkpoint due to the legendary, near-mythical status of the Alston Lasagne, however the chicken curry, rice and naan bread I was given was a good, in my opinion, as anything I’ve eaten in a restaurant. While I was eating Lindley Chambers came in and sat with me and we chatted about kit for a while. Some comments on the kit list: it is not (as I have joked in the past) designed to see how much stuff you can carry and still run, it isn’t designed to catch you out with obscure and arcane requirements and it is most definitely not unnecessary. It is designed to ensure that whatever happens and however bad the weather may be, you will be able to survive at least until help arrives. If any of you ever do this race, don’t argue, don’t try and get round it, just take it, its for your own good.

After eating it was time for some rest. CP3 had a combination of tents like CP2 and a bunkhouse. The tents were very popular but I like a bed so I got space in the bunkhouse without a problem.

So, three legs down, still reasonably on schedule, I’ve developed a bit of a lean but my feet are reasonably OK, jut a couple of small heel blisters, all in all things were going as well as I could hope – so far…

So we left me at CP1 having arrived just ahead of schedule in good shape and I’d been fed. All I wanted next was to sleep – or at least rest. CP1 is at a scout centre and so has proper bunk beds – albeit a bit small and with plastic mattresses. I went for a lie down but didn’t do terribly well at sleeping. Firstly I felt that I couldn’t really have a noisy alarm as others were coming and going and trying to sleep – however I’d never tried to see whether the ‘vibrate’ alarm would actually wake me up. Also it was bunk beds. I managed to get a bottom bunk. Unfortunately the person that took the top bunk was having trouble getting comfortable and every time they turned over the whole bunk shook. I got a couple of hours lying down but eventually decided to cut my losses and get up before I originally planned.

I went back to the kitchen to see what was for breakfast. There was no bacon but I was offered beans on toast – with cheese on top. This put me in an incredibly good mood and so I ate my breakfast, filled my bottles, had my mandatory kit check and left CP1 just before 2am.

The day started without incident and I was rewarded for my early start by reaching Top Withins in time for sun rise.

One of the many things I had changed since last time was my use of my handheld GPS. Last year I simply downloaded the track files as supplied and loaded them onto my device. This year I had them on my watch, which made it easier to keep on track whilst using poles, and I had added waypoints to indicate various potential food and water stops which had been mentioned on the Official Spine Group Facebook page. As a result I knew I would soon reach another unofficial legendary feed station, the one run by the Craven Energy Triathlon Club. I was particularly looking forward to this as I had great memories of a bacon sandwich and rice pudding last year. It also came after a section of the Pennine Way that I found a bit boring and so was something to look forward to.

Like an oasis in the desert, the Craven Energy Triathlon Club feed station came into view.

It was 6:30 in the morning, which seemed to be the perfect time to have breakfast. It will come as no surprise to know that a bacon sandwich was my breakfast of choice. Rice pudding and jam may be a less obvious choice of dessert but it slips down very easily. Add to that a cup of coffee and I was well set to face the rest of the day. These guys do this every year, summer and winter, for every single Spine runner and charge no money, they simply ask for donations to the local mountain rescue. There are many things that make the spine Race extremely special and unique and this is one of them.

Refuelled and very happy, I continued. I passed through Cowling and Lothersdale and found myself at Pinhaw Beacon. Up until now I had resisted the temptation to take selfies at trig points but for reasons unknown I decided this was the point to take the first.

This particular leg was quite a good one for additional food stops. Shortly after leaving Thornton-in-Craven I was greeted by the sight of the Cam Lane Tuckshop. I don’t remember eating anything but I did sit down and drink half a litre of some sort of cool fruit flavoured liquid, probably Oasis, which went down very well as the morning was starting to warm up.

Just after the tuck shop came the diverted diversion that wasn’t a diversion but was. Over the course of the race there were several diversions off the Pennine Way, usually to protect the more fragile parts of the Way from the impact of over a hundred people in a short space of time. This particular diversion took us around a field rather than across it. However we had been told at the last checkpoint that the diversion was no longer necessary and we were to follow the Pennine Way signs. however as the route as supplied had this diversion marked, diversion signs had to be deployed to indicate that we were to take the original non-diverted path. Clear?

The next major point of interest on this leg was the double bridge over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal outside East Marton. After this I would reach one of the most legendary and talked about points on the Spine Race.

The Co-op at Gargrave has almost legendary status on the Spine Race. They are even warned to stock up on pies and sandwiches in anticipation of many hungry runners descending. Last year I went straight through Gargrave without stopping and so almost deserved to DNF. I didn’t make the same mistake this year. I sat in a small shelter and took my shoes off to give my feet an airing while I ate.

The next section was quite pleasant and easy through fields until I got my first glimpse of Malham Cove. Monitoring station CP1.5 was just past Malham Cove. I had a freeze dried meal with me that I planned on eating there because I hadn’t had much to eat since leaving Hebden Hey had I?

After climbing the steps up Malham Cove to the limestone pavement (of Harry Potter fame) I saw Sabrina. I was a little concerned by this as I was expecting her to be several hours ahead of me. I caught he up on the pavement , where she told me she was struggling to find her way. To be fair finding a ‘good’ route across the limestone is hard at the best of times but she told me she had been quite ill and was struggling to keep any fluids down. Last year, when I was in trouble (much more trouble) Les Binns had helped me and so it was an absolute no-brainer to stay with her until the monitoring point at Malham Tarn a couple of miles further on. In fact regardless of my experience from last year it was the only thing to do. It wasn’t far, there would be other runners but part of the Spine Race ethos is to help each other. Anyway it wasn’t so great for her as she had to listen to me babbling on for the next hour or so. I did still manage to pose for photos when the photographer appeared.

We got to CP1.5, which was being run by the legendary John Bamber. I explained the situation and the medic immediately started rehydrating Sabrina and after a while she looked much better. I told her that I was happy to continue with her to CP2 if she wanted. This would have been better than leaving her on her own but a much better option appeared in the shape of Raj Mahapatra. Raj had three Spine finishes to his name as opposed to my one DNF and said he would happily team up with Sabrina. I could have gone with them but I felt that I would add nothing to the party. It was tempting to run with a three time finisher but I felt I needed to do this on my own (not that you are ever on your own in the Spine but hopefully you know what I mean). As it happened I was now pretty much back on my original schedule, having been slightly head when I left CP1. I wished them both well and set out for Fountains Fell, Pen-y-Ghent and, for me, the worst part of the whole race (probably, Blenkinsopp Bog runs it close), the Cam High Road.

Fountains Fell was quite pleasant in the sunshine, certainly a world away from my experience last year in the dark. I was a little nervous about the scrambling on Pen-y-Ghent, last year I was with others, this year I would be doing it alone. As it turned out it was OK, a couple of moments of indecision but I was soon on the path to the top. I’d done a couple of videos on Facebook Live earlier in the race, mainly because it was easier than typing a Facebook update. I decided it would be quite cool to ‘broadcast’ from the top of Pen-y-Ghent however I don’t remember saying much interesting.

After Pen-y-Ghent it was down to Horton in Ribblesdale. I had been told at CP1.5 that he tap on the toilets there was the last chance I would have to fill my bottles. I know how long and dull the section from Horton in Ribblesdale is so I took the advice and filled my bottles so at least that way I would only be bored, not bored and thirsty.

There isn’t much to say about the rest of this leg fortunately. The Cam High Road is terrible apart from one short section where, bizarrely it coincides with a road and is asphalted. I turned off the track to Gaudy Lane, which think I navigated with a combination of luck and GPS. I found a hedgehog and some marshals in Hawes and, having asked the latter not to run over the former, I started on the last mile and a half to CP2 at Hardraw. This was completely uneventful apart from a small amount of amazement at the amount of sheep poo there appeared to be on the last section of the path in Hardraw, although after the Cam High Road almost anything would be interesting. Anyway I arrived at CP2 at ten past two in the morning, which was pretty much exactly on my schedule. I think I was fed a chickpea casserole. This was very nice but I was slightly concerned about the amount of beans and pulses I’d eaten since the start of the race, given the accommodation at CP2 was one man tents.

So the first two legs of the Spine are complete, I’m on schedule and feeling OK, would it last? If anyone is interested all will be revealed in the following instalments…

I started this blog to record the mistakes I made last year to help me plan a successful campaign for the Summer Spine Race 2022. I’d like to think it has been a little more than that over the past year as it has documented my preparation, other races and thoughts as I approached the start line on the 19th of June 2022.

I guess this blog post should start with a spoiler alert – I finished. I think many of you reading this already know that and for anyone interested it is a matter of public record on the Open Tracking website so I’m not really giving much away, other than to say that whereas last year I couldn’t wait to write this blog and to start the process of understanding my failure, this time I’ve spent the last week eating, drinking, staying in a pub, visiting a vineyard, eating, drinking, visiting some telephone boxes, eating, drinking and finally going to a festival of fake bands where I also ate and drank.

Anyway now I’m finally getting round to the blog so lets start. I booked overnight accommodation a couple of miles from the start at Rushop Hall, a very nice B&B which provided me with breakfast two hours earlier than normal in order to ensure I started the Spine Race well fed. We travelled up on the Saturday before the race to arrive at Edale for my 2-4pm timeslot for registration and kit check. Kit check went reasonably smoothly – there was a question regarding the length of the baseplate on my compass but it was pronounced good by the kit guru Lindley Chambers. I wasn’t trying to ‘get away’ with anything, it was a decent compass made by Silva but it was also the cheapest in their range and hence had a shorter baseplate with no magnifying lens, unlike the ‘standard’ compass favoured by most runners. It was also checked for its ability to point North. I thought this was unnecessary until I was told a number of people had kept their compass against mobile phones and demagnetised them or even reversed the direction completely! I was photographed and made a feeble joke about whether or not my feet should be photographed as they were the bit that would be sticking out of a bog. Despite my obvious lack of ability at humour I was still given a race number (357) and that was it – I was now registered for the Summer spine Race 2022!

We went to the B&B where I sorted out my kit ready for the next day and Sharon secured us a table in a very nice Italian restaurant in Castleton. It is a testament to how seriously I was taking this year’s race that I, for the first and hopefully last time in my life, ordered a bottle of alcohol free wine.

The following morning, after more sleep than I expected to get but not as much as I would have liked, I got up and dressed as a runner – almost, it took two attempts to get the shorts on the right way round. We went for breakfast, came back to the room, where I took my top off and put that back on the right way round too. Bottles were filled, last minute checks were done and we drove to the start at Edale, where I dropped off my drop bag and had my tracker fitted. This was essential not just for my safety during the race but for the army of ‘dot watchers’ that enjoy following the progress of runners during the event. I knew many, many of my friends and running acquaintances would be following my dot but occasionally random people will become invested in a particular dot because of a picture or story on the Spine Facebook page, or that dot has run with a friends dot for a while, or any other reason that causes them to be interested in a particular runners progress.

I also met up with my 2016 MDS tent mate and fellow Spine Runner, Darren Wilson. I wasn’t expecting to see much of Darren during the race as he is much fitter and younger than me. However he had been suffering form recurring calf problems and was wearing brand new running shoes in an effort to alleviate the issue (for those that know about/are interested in these things, he had been running in zero drop shoes without realising and had switched to some with a 6mm drop)

Anyway the moment I had been waiting for almost since my 2021 DNF was finally here, the start.

Last year I started at the front of the pack and tried to run with the fast guys and, as we know, it didn’t end well. This year I had a plan which involved averaging about three miles per hour and arriving at CP1 at around 10pm.

At one second past 8 am (according to my tracker) we were off! I started somewhere towards the middle of the pack and ran chatting with Darren until he gradually edged ahead of me. Looking ahead and up I could see I was unlikely to be distracted by the view from the Kinder plateau – things looked a bit cloudy to say the least.

Soon I found myself at the foot of Jacob’s Ladder, the second biggest climb on the Pennine Way according to Damien Hall and if anyone should know it should be him. I got my poles out and started the long climb.

As I expected it was very misty on the plateau. I had the route on my watch, and the runners were still sufficiently closely spaced, so route finding wasn’t a problem but I was still very aware that I had to keep an eye on my navigation to avoid being caught out.

For much of the crossing of the plateau I was trying to keep the runner ahead of me in view. After a while I caught up with said runner, who turned out to be Sabrina Pace-Humpreys, a first time Spine runner who asked if I had any tips. As all I had was DNF to my name, I didn’t feel I was the best source of advice but I told her to to look after herself as that was my biggest mistake in 2021. I also warned her that some of the moors would go on for ever and that Stoodley Pike never got any nearer, no matter how long it seemed you were running towards it.

After a small amount of indecision on a short climb at Torside (there were several paths that all lead the same way, the runner in front of me didn’t take the one on my GPS so I was about to go back until a marshal called to me to tell me I was going the right way) I was up onto Torside and used my experience from my recce to take the correct path through the heather. Several people didn’t and to be honest it doesn’t really matter but it was nice to know that, for once, I was on the ‘official’ path. Then it was the steep decent off Torside, across Torside Reservoir and up towards Laddow Rocks. This was a significant point to me as it was the end of the final recce of the first leg I had done with Sharon earlier in the year.

As I ascended, the clouds started to clear a little and I wasa rewarded with a decent view.

Wessenden Head Moor seems endless but isn’t and in fact today ended much better than usual. The final climb from the moor is up to the A635 where I could see Snoopy’s Food Van! This van isn’t mentioned much in conversation about the refuelling on the Spine Race as it is often gone by the time the majority of the racers get there. However this year it had hung on as the ladies running it could see thirsty runners coming across the moor. They only had diet drinks left when I got there but a coffee and a can of something claiming to be fruit flavoured was very welcome.

Not only had I had some unexpected refreshment, the weather was improving! It hadn’t been really bad up until now, just a bit grey, but some blue skies were definitely a welcome sight to me at least.

Of course, welcome though Snoopy’s was, the legendary food van, there for every single Spine Racer, is Nicky’s. This year was particularly exciting as Nicky’s was now in a large container so had indoor seating and a toilet. However even these features seemed unlikely to justify the huge number of cars in the car park… and music.. and purple smoke. It appeared that an Asian Wedding – or at least some part of an Asian Wedding -was being held in the car park. It was certainly a lively affair, especially when the fire crackers were set off!

After Nicky’s it’s a trip across the M62 on what I think is the biggest footbridge in the UK and along Blackstone Edge until Blackstone Edge Reservoir and its compatriots leading ever onwards to Stoodley Pike.

Finally Stoodley Pike came into view but I wasn’t fooled. Although the Pennine Way goes right past Stoodley Pike, it isn’t a straight line form the first view of it to the monument and so it takes a while before you actually reach it.

After A while I actually felt I was approaching the structure and at least this year I could see it, last year I arrived at this point in pitch darkness.

There are still over 5 miles to go from Stoodley Pike to CP1 but for me it still makes me feel I’m almost there. Last year the checkpoint was actually in Hebden Bridge but this year we were back to the scout hut at Hebden Hey. This made this leg slightly longer but it did mean a particularly horrible section was got over with on the first leg rather than the start of the second. A short section of the way is between two dry stone walls in a narrow, weed and rock filled almost trench. I was quite happy to get that bit done and hopefully have a better start to leg two than last year.

A clearly signposted diversion took me off the Pennine Way and along a road until a turn off onto a path towards the checkpoint. I met a few runners coming out of the checkpoint that had decided not to stay for too long, including Darren. He’d had some food and a shower and was pressing on through the night. My plan was to get some rest and leave in the morning. After negotiating the slightly tricky ‘steps’ to the scout hut I was greeted by the ever enthusiastic volunteers and reunited with my drop bag and a large plate of lentil stew. My plan had me arriving at 10pm. I was about 40 minutes ahead of that so all in all the first leg seemed to have gone very well.

When I started this post I thought I would cover the first two legs but I seem to have gone on quite enough for one post, and anyway the next leg is the longest and a small amount of interesting things happened (well, one anyway) so we will leave me happy at CP1 and save the second leg for another ‘thrilling instalment’ as they say!