My Bucket List

I can't run in every race (and I wouldn't want to), but what are the events that I really want to take part in?

Arriving at the final checkpoint on the Tyne Trail (North) Ultra with a temporary running buddy.

I mentioned in a recent post that I am trying to focus on a few events that I really want to do, rather than entering lots of races. The thing is, I'm getting older and it's a struggle to stay fit. Who knows for how long I'll be able to enter really long events with any hope of finishing within the allotted cut-off times? With those, rather sombre, thoughts in mind, I've drawn up a list of events that I'd love to complete while I still have the health and strength needed.

The Spine Flare

This is the big one on my list. The Spine Flare is run in June and goes from Edale in Derbyshire to Hadraw in North Yorkshire, a distance of 108 miles with a cut off of 60 hours. Observant readers will note that this is the first 40% or so of the Pennine Way. I'm fairly familiar with the second half of this race and run on parts of it most weekends. The traditional Spine Race is run in winter and covers all two hundred and sixty-something miles of the Pennine Way, but I'm not up for that. The Flare is more than two times longer than anything I've covered before, but I love the idea of it.

The Dales Way Challenge

This is a mere 82 miles in 36 hours, running from Bowness on Windermere to Ilkley in West Yorkshire. The appeal of a race going from the Lake District to close to our home is immense for me and I really would love to do this one, though I fear that I may not be able to make the time limit.

The Fellsman

The Fellsman is a well-established race which covers sixty miles from Ingleton to Threshfield in North Yorkshire. It is run in April and the route is not marked, so it involves a lot of self-navigation and much of it is over open countryside rather than well-marked tracks. It has a great reputation and I've run with people who tell me that I'd love it, but it might just be a tad too hard.

The Tyne Trail Ultra

I ran this last year when the race followed the North Tyne, this year it follows the South Tyne from above Alston to the watersmeet at Warden, near Hexham. This is some of my favourite countryside and runs through places that I've known since my childhood. I'm already booked in for this year and can hardly wait.

These are the four main items on my bucket list and they all have something in common; they are all in the Pennines and (apart from the Tyne Trail) they all pass fairly close to where we live.

There are a couple of Lake District races that I'd be quite keen to do, as well, but these are not quite such a high priority. They are Lakes in a Day and the Five Passes, but I'll have to regain some confidence on technical terrain to face either of those.

Meanwhile, I'll continue to to the odd shorter event (especially those run by Ascend Events), but for the most part, I'll do most of my shorter runs on my own in the Pennines.

Given the sorts of race that I've mentioned here, I'd be interested to hear what other runners would suggest that I could add to this list. Meanwhile, a surfeit of mince-pies has left me overweight and unfit, so there is work to be done!

Happy New Year, everyone.