News
2nd February - I have written up my Spine Northern report and it's here for everyone to read Spine Northern Race 2025
Such a nice feeling to be recovering well and hopefully on top of the niggles as they appear. I've had a couple of longer runs and hikes now and some days I feel great and others I feel so heavy legged. But no injuries or toe problems as yet. We're back on with organising the Bruce's Crown race and we've opened it up to Teams of two to encourage more people to enter.
The National Running show as busy and I felt more zonked after that than I did the Northern Spine! It was great to catch up with so many people like Fi and Matt, Emma and James, Damian, Allie, Jasmin and David Miller. I spent time with the Inov-8 staff on their stand and bought a later Christmas present (a bobble hat!). I had a great time but was glad to get out into the fresh air and back up north.
22nd
January - Well I had a fantastic race overall and I'm on Cloud 9 with it all. I
will write up a longer report next week as I'm just trying to catch up with
everything this week and then I'm down at the
National
Running Show this coming weekend, talking on Saturday morning with
Emma Stuart and then on the Inov-8 stand at 14.30 on Saturday for a Meet and
Greet.
I set off on the race having not slept that well for two nights and just not really knowing what effect that would have. I've had a niggly knee for a while and so I was just determined to finish the race with the main goal of being proud of my self management. I seem to have messed up a little on a couple of races last year and it annoys me afterwards. And from the moment at Tan Hill that I broke away from a big pack of runners I was with, to head inside and get soup and coffee, emerging feeling warm and revived, the trend continued. I made all the right decisions and looked after my feet, my food and my clothing. I teamed up with Joe Farnell but both of with the understanding that we could split whenever we wanted. However we worked so well together and had the same aims that we continued on, checkpoint after checkpoint, mile after mile just helping each other and making the whole race so much more enjoyable than it would have otherwise been.
When the time came to be competitive we both had a position to defend and worked together so that we got through two nights without sleep, round hundreds of bogs without falling in, ate well and were in great spirits across the Cheviots at the end. I honestly could not have hoped for a better race. Photo credit @Willbaldygo
10th January - I'm all packed and ready to set off to Hawes / Hardraw for registration on Sunday 12th and then the start at 8am on Monday 13th January! I'm so glad I'm not setting off on Sunday on the full Spine but good luck to all those intrepid runners and I'll be looking out for the winners catching me later next week. It will be interesting to see how far I can get before they do.
This is the tracking link fore anyone that wants to follow me along the way https://live.opentracking.co.uk/spinechallnorth25/
1st January 2025 - Happy New Year!
I've been busy creating the pages for a new Girls on Hills Remote Running Series. Since moving to Galloway I've not been able to race as much as I used to and I've found a lot of people are in the same boat, not wanting to spend hours travelling to races. So along with Girls on Hills we've come up with a new series which we are trialing at the moment. Anyone who has done any of the other Series with me are welcome to join in. Anyone else please email me before you start running so I can confirm you understand how it works etc. All the details are here Remote Racing Series.htm and I hope to get the Hilly 3 miles done before I do the Northern Spine in 10 days time!