he Bellingham Checkpoint is an interesting one. It is the only one which doesn’t have beds, and it is usually extremely cold as, I believe, the building the race uses is technically shut down for the winter and hence unheated. However in order to mitigate this tents and air mattresses had been set up inContinue reading “The Winter spine Race 2026 – Britain’s Most Brutal? (Last Part!)”
Tag Archives: Spine Race
The Winter spine Race 2026 – Britain’s Most Brutal? (Part Five)
I woke up a Hawes in pain and in need of a medic. At Alston things got much stranger. I had a dream in which I had pain in both of my knees (this may or may not have been true) but in my dream the pain had been caused by a couple of peopleContinue reading “The Winter spine Race 2026 – Britain’s Most Brutal? (Part Five)”
The Winter spine Race 2026 – Britain’s Most Brutal? (Part Four)
As I’ve already mentioned, distance-wise I was already well over half way through the Spine Race in terms of distance, however most of the hardest parts were yet to come. That wasn’t to say what had already come had been easy, as you know if you’ve read the first three parts of this blog itContinue reading “The Winter spine Race 2026 – Britain’s Most Brutal? (Part Four)”
The Winter spine Race 2026 – Britain’s Most Brutal? (Part Three)
So I’m at Checkpoint Two, I’ve had a chat with Rachel and some food. The plan is to have a shower and immediately go to bed. My feet are still not too bad except the tape I put over the rub caused by my spikes moved off and the rub is now a lot bigger.Continue reading “The Winter spine Race 2026 – Britain’s Most Brutal? (Part Three)”
The Winter spine Race 2026 – Britain’s Most Brutal? (Part Two)
My plan was to spend at most two hours at Checkpoint One. However my phone had other plans. Due (I guess) to a combination of cold and poor mobile signal, the battery was down to 8% and was going to take 2 hours 30 minutes to recharge. I had options, first off, the ‘kit requirement’Continue reading “The Winter spine Race 2026 – Britain’s Most Brutal? (Part Two)”
The Winter spine Race 2026 – Britain’s Most Brutal? (Part One)
As those that read this blog will be aware, I now have quite a history of Spine racing. After the 2021 DNF I have been on the start line of at least one Spine Race every year, three times with my wife Sharon. One of those events was the full Winter Spine in 2024, surelyContinue reading “The Winter spine Race 2026 – Britain’s Most Brutal? (Part One)”
The Summer Spine Challenger North – tough enough (Part Two)
If you run, walk or stagger into a Spine checkpoint and say ‘Enough, I’m out’, the volunteers will politely not hear you and ask what you would like to eat and drink. They aren’t being rude, it’s just that the time you can spend in a checkpoint can change everything. When I DNFed in 2021,Continue reading “The Summer Spine Challenger North – tough enough (Part Two)”
The Summer Spine Challenger North – how tough? (Part One)
After I completed the full Summer spine in 2022, I persuaded Sharon to join me for the Sprint in 2023. she didn’t hate that so in 2024 we did Challenger South. She did hate that but still decided she would like to do the Challenger North anyway to complete the Pennine Way. As our ChallengerContinue reading “The Summer Spine Challenger North – how tough? (Part One)”
The Summer Spine Challenger South – Soggy, boggy and foggy!
As those that have followed my Pennine journey from the start will know, I initially entered the Spine Race without any research or real knowledge of the race, started it in the same state and ended with a DNF and a desire to return with the knowledge I gained (plus a bit more) and completeContinue reading “The Summer Spine Challenger South – Soggy, boggy and foggy!”
The Fellsman Three 60
Sometimes I run a race and it’s so hard that at some point during the event I declare it a ‘one and done’ and vow that I will never do it again as long as I finish this time. My first Lakeland 100 was definitely a ‘one and done’ – I’m going back for myContinue reading “The Fellsman Three 60”
The Only Way Is Pennine... 