33 Hours in the Pennines, or How I didn't Finish A Race

 A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about my upcoming Spine Challenger race and mentioned that my main aim was to finish. Well, judged by that fairly simple standard, I failed. I didn't get to the end, in fact I barely managed to get two thirds of the way along the route before a very sore back brought my jaunt to a premature halt. 

Looking back on the event with a few days of hindsight, it was far harder than I expected, but it was also very enjoyable at points. In this post, I'd like to give a brief overview of what actually happened and then I'll add another post which looks at some of the lessons I learned on the way.

Sometime around 11 pm on Saturday, I was slogging my way up White Hill in the dark. I'd never been there before, I didn't really have much of a clue where I was, but it was great fun. I love being on the hills on my own and there is something really special about being out at night. Three hours or so later, I was dropping down into Hebden Bridge, freezing cold, dripping wet and concerned about hypothermia. I'd not anticipated the rain quickly enough to get some extra layers on and as the sun rose, I was starting to get rather nervous. I was determined that I'd pull out of the race when I got to the control point at Hebden. At that point, a woman doing the Sprint Race caught up with me and said hello. I can't remember her name, but she encouraged me to jog with her down the hill. Speeding up a bit helped me to warm up a little and having someone friendly to talk to cheered me up. By the time I got to Hebden, I'd decided to at least have some food before making the decision to quit. Seeing my friend Sally for a few minutes at the check point was a real encouragement. 

Over those few hours, I traversed the highs and lows of ultra-marathon running and saw yet again the importance of the people that you meet on the journey. 

Not a prison mugshot - even though it looks like one!

The journey actually started on Friday afternoon, with registration and kit check. Then after a night in a hotel in Sheffield, we returned to Edale where the race started on Saturday morning. At 10:25 a group of nervous people stood on the start line and five minutes later we were walking/running through the village off to to the foot of the first climb up Jacob's ladder to the Kinder plateau. 

In a field in Edale (I'm checking the route on my watch)

By the time we got to Kinder Low, I had teamed up with two other guys, Tim and Gavin with whom I spent most of the day. By the time we got to Snake Pass after ten miles or so, we were being overtaken by faster runners doing the sprint race - the fact that they had set off 90 minutes after us was a little discouraging!

Jacob's Ladder climbing up to Kinder

From Snake Pass, we crossed over Bleaklow, which seems to be more famous for the site of a plane wreck than anything else. Three or four miles beyond the wreck site, we came across a family who were looking for it - they had a long walk back to the road. We dropped down to Torside where a couple of volunteers were making sure everyone was ok and providing a little water top-up. One of the guys seemed familiar and we eventually worked out that we sometimes meet each other running on the canal at home. Leaving the water stop, we managed to take a wrong term and added a kilometre or so to our journey. Thankfully, it was on a pretty good flat path, so not too much energy was wasted.

Kinder 

From Torside, the route winds its way up towards Black Hill, a section I found very difficult. The big challenge was that I just didn't know the route and had no idea when the climb would finish. I also slipped off the path at one point which jarred me and it took a while for me to catch my breath and my composure. Gavin and Tim disappeared off ahead of me and it was hard work to catch up. At the top of the hill, we met a couple of local runners who were keen on chatting to some of the Spine racers. It was fun talking to them about the race and the next couple of miles passed very quickly. The views at this point were spectacular, with Castle Hill in Huddersfield being clearly in sight and even the skyscrapers in Leeds were visible and the evening light was wonderful. Like an idiot, I was too busy talking to take any photos.

Sunset

As we got to Wessenden, Tim said that we should go on without him as he was slowing down. Given that he had recently had heart bypass surgery, it was amazing that he got this far. I think he stopped shortly afterwards. It was around this point that the leading runners on the full Spine Race (who had started 4 hours after us) came past us. Some of those guys were more than impressive. As night started to fall, we stopped to get our head torches out and at this point, Gavin decided to take a break, so I carried on alone. 

As I got over the top of White Hill, I was caught up by a sprinter, Maggie and we stuck together for ten miles or so, though eventually, I couldn't keep up with her pace. Just before crossing the M62, we stopped at a roadside burger bar, where we refuelled. Coming out of the carpark where the burger place was located, I managed to fall waist deep into a smelly bog. I'm glad that Maggie was there and able to help haul me out of the mire - I came close to losing a shoe, which would have been a disaster.

Crossing the M62 (Civilisation?)

We crossed Blackstone Edge where I lost Maggie and headed off across the long easy bit towards Stoodley Pike. I'd have enjoyed this if it wasn't for the rain which started to fall. I finally arrived in Hebden half an hour after my slowest estimate.

Let it be said, that the Spine team are absolutely lovely. They could not have done more for me. I was shown somewhere to sit, provided with coffee and hot food. A medic tended to my blisters - which was a real help as I was struggling to actually reach my feet to do it myself. The control point was in an old church building and for the first time in my life I was legitimately encouraged to sleep on a pew - sadly, I didn't manage.

For once in my life, failing to sleep on a pew

Around seven am, I set off from Hebden, with a walk of a mile or so along the canal and then a steep climb out of the Calder Valley. There is no easy win in or out of Hebden Bridge. 

An encouraging sign on the steep climb out of Hebden

After about six miles, I finally came to country that was familiar and climbed strongly up towards High Withens. I was in my own backyard now and dropped down to Ponden and then climbed up towards Ikornshaw Moor. Being on a path that I've probably run on over a hundred times showed me how tired I was. Rather than skipping like an overweight mountain goat, I was walking fairly slowly, but I was making progress. Just above Cowling, Craven Energy Triathlon Club had a lovely set up where they provided tea and bacon sandwiches to the races. It was just what the doctor ordered. Even higher on medical advice, was meeting Sue and our friend Helen at Cowling (oh, and Zaro was there, tail wagging). It was lovely to see them and very encouraging. I moved pretty well over Cowling Hill and dropped down into Lothersdale, where Sue and Helen met me again. They were accompanied by Iain and Barbara (physio and acupuncturist extraordinaires) who support my racing and Phil and Hannah from church. At this point, I was pretty sore, but it was great to see friends. I dislike the climb out of Lothersdale to Pinhaw Beacon, but this time round, I made pretty good time and it was great to find another friend, Fi, waiting for me on the descent from the hill.

Coming Into Cowling

The drop down from Pinhaw seems to go on for ever, but I was even able to jog some of this, which was gratifying. Crossing fields at the bottom of the hill, I noticed that my back was starting to really bother me.  It had been twinging on and off since sometime on Saturday, but pain killers were keeping the problem at bay. However, it was not time to take any more pills, but my back was still really sore. When the path turned upwards, the pain got very, very bad and I found that I could barely walk uphill. I kept stopping every few steps to ease my back and it was harder and harder to start going each time.

Eventually, having had a chat to Iain about my back, I decided that it was time to stop. I called the Spine team to inform them that I was pulling out and called Sue to ask her to pick me up. There is an advantage in pulling out of a race close to home.

I've spent the last time watching friends finish their race and feeling very proud to know them. I also feel pretty low as this has been the focus of my running for the last 18 months. It is tempting to question whether I should have pulled out. Perhaps if I'd taken a short break and had some food, I might have been able to continue. However, my back is still pretty sore and walking is far from easy. I don't think I'd have been able to manage the scramble over Pen Y Ghent. It hurts, but I made the right decision.

The end of my journey

I gave it a good try and I had a great couple of days, but in the end it wasn't to be. I owe a lot to a number of friends. Thanks to the Spine Team and volunteers for organising a brilliant event. I'm grateful to the people I chatted to along the route and to the friends who came out to see me. Thanks, too to the people who sent nice messages on social media. I'm very grateful to Dave Troman for his input on my training. Thank you to Iain for working hard to get my old body as prepared as it could be for the race and for being available to look after my back at short notice. Especial thanks to Sue who drove me down to the start, picked me up from Thornton and then drove out to Hawes to drop off my tracker and to pick up my drop bag. I count myself extremely fortunate to love wild places and to have the strength to enjoy them - but more so that I have a wonderful wife who supports me in my addiction.

I'm not sure that I'll be back to have another crack at the Spine Challenger, but last night I spent some time looking for an ultra to run in the late summer or early autumn. I feel sore, but I want to get back on the horse as soon as I can.