If the truth be told I’ve never really had much ambition to run anything more than a half marathon. I’ve always thought that a couple of hours pounding the tarmac is more than enough punishment. My immediate thoughts whenever I have completed the Great North Run are always the same, ‘imagine if this was a […]
Rob Brooks is at it again. Back doing Spine races, and this time it’s in the Arctic! The Montane Arctic Spine Race is a 293 mile foot-race along the Kungsleden Trail in Sweden, where temperatures drop to -35C. You can read the full story from Saltwell’s king of ultras on his own blog: Arctic Spine Race […]
Saltwell’s ultra-specialist Rob Brooks returned to the Spine Race this year, after his epic successful completion in 2022. You can read the full story about the highs and lows of Rob’s 2023 adventure along the Pennine Way on his own blog: Spine Race 2023 – The Three Geordigos Here’s a short extract to whet your […]
This post is part of a series reliving the highs and lows of Rob Brooks’ epic adventure on the 2022 Winter Spine Race. Bellingham to Kirk Yetholm, 26 miles (arrive 7:30pm, depart 3:30am) I slept terribly in Bellingham, the facilities consisted of a large hall with lots of people sleeping on the floor making various […]
This post is part of a series reliving the highs and lows of Rob Brooks’ epic adventure on the 2022 Winter Spine Race. Alston to Bellingham, 43 miles (arrive 8pm, depart 3am) Both my achilles had been sore during the previous section but upon leaving the hostel I found it almost impossible to walk they […]
This post is part of a series reliving the highs and lows of Rob Brooks’ epic adventure on the 2022 Winter Spine Race. Middleton to Alston, 45 miles (arrive 10pm, depart 5:30am) Upon waking I was informed the party was at Middleton, with a large proportion of the remaining runners being here. It was also […]
This post is part of a series reliving the highs and lows of Rob Brooks’ epic adventure on the 2022 Winter Spine Race. Hawes to Middleton, 34 miles (arrival 2am, departure 9:30am) It was daylight when I awoke and I was conscious about getting moving as quickly as possible but also conscious that my cough […]
This post is part of a series reliving the highs and lows of Rob Brooks’ epic adventure on the 2022 Winter Spine Race. Hebden Bridge to Hawes, 65 miles (arrive 10pm, depart 2:30am) As I was heading up the road out of the checkpoint I passed Silvia (Delgado Ortiz). I’d met Silvia at the Dragons […]
This post is part of a series reliving the highs and lows of Rob Brooks’ epic adventure on the 2022 Winter Spine Race. Edale to Hebden Bridge, 47 miles (depart 8am) As we all stood nervously on the start line we were informed that 3 runners in the Challenger had DNF’d by eye damage caused […]
This post is part of a series reliving the highs and lows of Rob Brooks’ epic adventure on the 2022 Winter Spine Race. I’ve known about the Spine Race for a very long time now and have spent countless years watching the steady progress of dots moving northwards over the course of a week in […]
