Northern Traverse 2023

Northern Traverse 2023

What do you call a cheese that isn’t yours? Nacho cheese!

It’s around 4am in the morning and I’m trudging through the moors above Shap on a cold crisp spring night. I’ve been moving pretty much non-stop for about 20 hours. It’s the witching hours just before dawn and I’m at a low point both mentally and physically.

I have 3 companions – they are also at a low point and we are resorting to humour to attempt to lift our spirits, hence the cheese jokes (I’ll spare you the rest….).

In a few hours we will arrive at Kirby Stephen and decisions need to be made, most pressingly do we sleep or push on another 36 miles to the next checkpoint at Richmond.

It’s the 2nd April 2023 and I’m competing in the Northern Traverse, a non-stop foot race from one side of the country to the other. 190 miles and 26,000ft of ascent following the Wainwrights coast to coast path through the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors from St Bees to Robin Hoods Bay.

I’d completed the Spine earlier in the year and wasn’t sure how my body would recover but I seemed to have come out of it ok without any lasting damage or fatigue so I was looking forward to the race.

I hadn’t done a great amount of training since then so was relying on my Spine fitness to get me through, although in these types of events the mental aspect is often more important.

I had drove down to the park and ride just outside Robin Hoods Bay on Friday dinnertime where I dumped my car and jumped on a bus which took us to the start at St Bees 4 hours later. Quick registration and then I pitched my tent to bed down for the night.

Camping at St Bees

St Bees to Patterdale

First navigational challenge of the day was finding the start line which was about half a mile down the road from the campsite/school. It was bitingly cold in the wind and as I approached the beach I noticed many of the runners were taking shelter behind the toilet blocks. I had decided to be bold and start cold although I could have done without hanging around being cold – thankfully it was dry.

Down to the start line, a final briefing from Shane and then were off at 8:30 on the dot.

The Start line before all the runners arrived

I hadn’t reccied any of the route so apart from the few sections I was already familiar with it was all new to me which I found quite exciting. I knew where the checkpoints were and roughly what the terrain was like between them – what more is there to know really.

I’ve not been to St Bees before but the village and coastline is truly stunning. We ran up the coast for around 3 miles before turning inland, the Lakeland fells beckoning in the distance.

The field started to spread out and the fells got closer and closer until I reached Ennerdale bridge and the rocky path alongside Ennerdale Water. Lizzie Faithful-Davies passed me at this point - she was moving well over the rough terrain.

As I reached the end of the lake I was also caught by Eoin Keith and another runner Paul Booth. I set myself a challenge to keep up with them which I did and we ran the next 5 miles together, sharing some good banter. Alison Walker also caught us up at this point – I’d shared some miles with her during the Spine earlier in the year and she was moving also well.

I couldn’t decide whether I was doing well in the race or not. 25 miles in I was running with Eoin Keith which was a good sign, but I was well down the field – perhaps around 30th place. One thing I have learnt from these type of races however is to not get hung up on position this early in the race, there were still many miles ahead and a lot of time for things to change.

As we climbed to the top of Loft Beck myself and Paul stopped to fill our bottles and Eoin pushed on ahead – this was the last time I’d see him in the race.

Shortly after Paul stopped to sort out some stuff in his bag, the group was disbanded, and I was running alone again.

Dropping down from Honister into Rothswaite was nice and I entered the busy checkpoint, jostling with many Lakes Traverse runners (a shorter race taking in the first third of the NT route which had started an hour earlier).

I quickly grabbed a few slices of pizza, refilled my water bottles and was on my way again.

A few miles in I noticed that my watch had stopped recording and was just displaying the time. I must have knocked it somehow, frustrating that I’d lost a few miles but not a biggie so I just set it off again.

I enjoyed the climb up to Greenup Edge and gained a few places, before descending down some saturated terrain down past Grasmere.

Another climb followed up to Grisedale Tarn at which point it became bitterly cold, exacerbated by the strengthening wind but I felt like I was making good progress and continued to pass Lakes Traverse runners.

From Grisdale Tarn another long descent along a wet rocky path followed and at this point Nikki Sommers caught me up. I’d briefly met Nikki in previous events but never really had the chance to talk to her properly and we ran the last few miles into Patterdale together as the sun began to set.

Arriving at Patterdale

As we ran down we agreed that if we were both ready at the same time we’d set off together into the first night section.

Harra and Sharon were standing outside the school and cheered us to the checkpoint which was nice, it’s always good to see friendly faces in these events.

A Harra Welcome

Geoff Capps who I’d supported on a Bob Graham Round last year arrived as we were preparing to leave and we shared some banter. I was very impressed with his taping of his feet - they were almost entirely covered including his toes and pretty much still intact. I hadn’t pre-taped my feet, choosing to cover them in Gurney Goo which I re-applied before we left.

Patterdale to Kirby Stephen

Nikki and I were ready at the same time and so we set off together, also being joined by Alex Reily. I’d ran and chatted briefly with Alex on the climb up to Greenup edge but he’d pressed ahead when I stopped to de-layer. Another runner who I had been yo-yoing with earlier on, Fernando also tagged along. Fernando didn’t say a lot, apart from cursing every time he got his feet wet or muddy (which was a lot).

Ahead of us we had the last of the big Lake District climbs up to the highest point in the race at Kidsty Pike. I was very warm on the climb as I’d put on additional layers at Patterdale but resisted the urge to delayer as I suspected the temperature would drop once we climbed higher into the wind which it did.

Over the top we continued to pass Lakes Traverse runners on the stony descent down to Haweswater where the trail flattened. I couldn’t see the reservoir to the right of us but I could feel its presence and especially the cold air blowing across it.

As we reached the end of the reservoir it felt like a real transition point in the race. We were leaving the hardest terrain of the Lake District behind us and moving towards the Yorkshire Dales.

The banter on this leg was good, we traded stories of adventure, inappropriate jokes and general questions on life the universe and everything.

We all agreed on a quick turnaround at Shap, the next checkpoint and the end of the Lakes Traverse. There wasn’t much to do there anyway other than eat as we didn’t have access to our drop bags.

As we left Shap the temperature had noticeably dropped but t was a clear night with a bright moon – ideal night running.

Progress over the moors passed without event although I’d like to do this section in daylight as there was little visual stimulation.

As we neared Kirby Stephen the conversation to the topic of sleep. Alex was definitely sleeping at Kirby Stephen. My original plan had been to try and push to Richmond without sleep but I was feeling pretty tired by now, and Nikki shared similar thoughts. We decided it would be beneficial to try and sleep at Kirby Stephen, and having made this decision I seemed to get a second wind and started pushing the pace a bit more.

Alex dropped back a little at this point so we parted ways and pushed on with Fernando still following and cursing behind us.

As daylight approached and with the prospect of a sleep stop in Kirby Stephen, I was feeling re-energized, and Nikki seemed to share the sentiment. Together, we revisited our sleep strategy, considering our options for maximizing the daylight ahead. After some debate, we ultimately decided to reverse our previous decision and opt for a power nap at some point along the next section of our journey.

24 hours in, selfie time

A downside of this was that my feet would have less chance to recover, they were in a worse state than I’d hoped showing visible signs of maceration and were pretty sore. With all of the rain that had feel in the weeks prior to the race the ground was saturated, and the Gurrney Goo I’d applied hadn’t lasted - in retrospect I should have re-applied it at Shap.

I should have also had my waterproof socks on before now, which I now donned as well as swapping my shoes for a bigger pair with 2 pairs of insoles. I taped and padded my heels with k-tape and moleskin.

Kirby Stephen to Richmond

I felt a bit lethargic & bloated leaving Kirby Stephen but I knew that would pass once the food I’d ate kicked in and started giving me energy. Fernando had decided to sleep in Kirby Stephen, or at least we assumed so as he’d disappeared shortly after arriving so it was just me and Nikki again.

As we climbed up to Nine Standards Rigg I started to feel better and was able to take in the wide reaching views in what was to be another fantastic day. The 4 miles of blanket bog after Nine Standards weren’t as much fun but Nikki set a good pace over this section and soon we were descending towards Keld.

Talk again turned to sleep.

Now in the valley and out of the wind it was quite warm in the sun so we decided to lie down on the grass for a power nap. Packs still on, buff over eyes, lie down where we were, 10-minute timer set.

What a transformation that 10 minutes made, we both felt fantastic again. When I had been running with Eoin earlier he’d remarked on how a simple 10 minute power nap can buy you 6-7 hours running and I can definitely identify with this – it’s always worked for me even if I haven’t managed to fully fall asleep.

It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect running conditions. There were a few climbs coming up, but not as big as those in the Lakes and I felt ready to take them on. On the 2nd climb up Bunton Hush we caught up with another runner Lee Oxley who had stopped for a rest and was visibly tired. Nikki persuaded him to take a power nap and found him a nice spot to do so.

I was really enjoying running with Nikki. Our paces aligned as did our sense of humour and banter. The conversation always felt relaxed, and the times we weren’t talking didn’t feel awkward. She seemed to know everybody in the world too. I would start relaying a story and mention someone – “oh yeah, I know xxx”. It almost became a challenge to find someone who she didn’t know.

One of our topics of conversation was around coaching. Nikki is coached by Damian Hall and she is getting obvious benefits from it. I’ve considered becoming coached but have never taken the leap as I’m not sure what benefits I would gain from it.

For the last 5 or so years now I’ve not really done much focused training. Rather for me training is a way of life. Most weekends I’m outside doing something whether it be running around the fells, mountain biking, road biking, walking, kayaking and most recently ski-ing which has given me a decent endurance base.

One area I know I’m lacking in is strength and conditioning, I always find it hard to motivate myself except when I’m injured. I also know that my running gait leaves a lot to be desired. I suspect having a stronger core would remedy some of this.

One particular benefit Nikki gave which is also echoed by my friend Jon (Heaney) is accountability. You are much more likely to do something if you know someone is keeping tabs on you (and you are paying them to do so).

One to give some further thought too….

Coming down through the old ruined lead mines we spotted a runner in front we initially thought might have been Lizzy, but it turned out to be Marco – a German runner who also didn’t speak very much.

I’ve always found these old mining landscapes intriguing. Whilst in some ways they are a scar on the landscape they also hold an element of intrigue and have their own sense of beauty. I find it amazing how people made a living in such a sometimes inhospitable and unforgiving landscape.

Through the mines, across the fields and we were arriving into Reeth on a beautiful sunny afternoon. We decided not to bother with a hot drink at the bike café and pushed on. The next 10 mile section to Richmond was the only one I had reccied, starting off along a road, then climbing and traversing a series of roads, paths and farmland.

Nikki was going through a rough patch at this point so we lightened the mood with a combination of Disney songs, poetry and other general banter.

It seemed to work and before we knew it we were coming down into Richmond in the last light of day at 7:10pm – perfect timing.

We knew that we needed to sleep at Richmond and after about an hour of faffing and eating we agreed to meet back inside at 9:45pm with an aim to leave to 10:10pm giving us 3 hours at the checkpoint in total. Sleeping was outside in tents, as with all the other checkpoints.

Richmond to Lordstones

I couldn’t sleep. I was warm enough but I just couldn’t find a position that was comfortable I was just too sore and my hips here aching. Consequently, I dozed for maybe 10 minutes but didn’t sleep properly.

When I went back inside Nikki was just preparing to leave. She also had trouble sleeping and had got up earlier to discover Lizzie still in the checkpoint. She was planning on chasing her down and challenging for the lead – she apologised to me but there was no need. It was a race and she had a chance of winning, I would have done exactly the same thing in her shoes (or even my own shoes). I wished her all the best and tried to get my stuff sorted as soon as possible so I could head out and try to catch her up.

Getting ready as soon as possible didn’t go too well as I had to spend a bit of time on my feet – they had dried out a little but were still showing signs of maceration and were sore and blistered.

Another runner, Ollie Harrison, was also getting to leave and asked if I was ready but I had a full kit explosion going on so he ventured into the night by himself.

Despite not having slept I felt quite sprightly leaving Richmond and set off at a light jog at around 10:20pm. The sprightly feeling didn’t last long as I realised I’d left my poles behind and had to retrace my steps to retrieve them, wasting around 10 minutes.

I was intrigued by Lizzie’s strategy - I’d been surprised to see her still in the checkpoint when I got up. It’s a very fine balance to manage sleep in a multi-day event. Not getting enough sleep means potentially slower progress, poor decision making and navigational errors. Too much sleep and you lose ground on your competitors.

A full sleep cycle is around 90 minutes and in a normal night most people have multiple of them. Trying to hit that in a race however is difficult if not impossible.

Whatever Lizzie’s strategy it had obviously worked for her. I checked the tracker and saw that she had put the hammer down after leaving and opened up a gap to Nikki. She was also quickly catching another group of runners in front of her.

At this point I calculated I was around 35 minutes behind her (Nikki).

This section was across the Vale of York so the terrain was flat, a combination of muddy paths and fields, tracks and road. Lots of road.

I don’t normally like running on roads in ultras but I actually quite enjoyed this section. It was a beautifully clear and crisp night with a full moon (I switched off my headtorch as I didn’t need it) and I was making decent progress, the excitement of the chase helping to pass the time.

Unfortunately this didn’t last - shortly after passing through Danby Wiske I felt the familiar pain of a blister bursting under the ball of my right foot. The pain was intense and ideally I should have stopped to rest and treat it but I decided to push on and hope the pain would ease. This then coincided with leaving the even surface of the road onto a rough path with lots of ruts and mud which made matters worse and slowed my pace.

I was hoping the pain would subside but after 20 minutes it was still very acute and I made a decision to stop at a road I could see coming up on the map to pad and dress it.

I had almost caught Nikki now who looked to be running in a group with 2 other runners. Just before stopping I went to pull out my phone to check. But by phone wasn’t there……

F***ck it must have fallen out, or I didn’t put it back properly – when was the last time I checked it? I couldn’t remember exactly but the only option was to retrace my steps to see if I could find it.

I went back and forwards of about 15 minutes with no success, where the f**ck was it. Should I leave it and push on, hoping a runner behind might find it? Risky and I had only bought the phone a month ago.

Wait for a runner behind to catch up and enlist their help? But what could they really do other than ring it and hope I was somewhere in the vicinity. It was on vibrate only so I’d have to be really close and the nearest runner was at least a couple of hours behind.

Or I could keep looking.

I checked the pockets of my bag again for about the 20th time in the blind hope it would have miraculously appeared, but no it wasn’t in the pocket I’d been keeping it in. But wait, what was this – a large lump in my bag further up in a different pocket…. YESSS it was my phone – how did it get in there?

I felt both massively relieved, and at the same time massively angry at myself – how could I have made such a stupid error.

On a positive note my blister pain had eased to a dull pain and was bearable to run/walk on so I decided to push on and re-commence the chase.

In a little while I spotted headtorches ahead – first I caught Marco and then I spotted Nikki’s unmistakable purple and black socks.

It was good to be re-united. Ollie was just ahead and we caught him up and ran together for a while.

It was bitterly cold now, easily below zero so I put on another layer as we approached the most dangerous part of the race – the A19 crossing. From 2025 the Wainwrights coast to coast will become a national trail so it will be interesting to see what they do about this and other parts of the route which skirt roads and are generally a bit sketchy.

Shortly after as we approached Ingleby Cross Nikki suggested having a 10 minute power nap on a bench just before the climb up onto the moors which I thought was a great idea so we agreed to it. Ollie seemed a bit perplexed at first before pushing ahead.

I was bitterly cold once we got going again, definitely below zero but soon warmed up on climb through the woods and caught up with Ollie again.

We were now travelling into a beautiful sunrise with the Cleveland Hills beckoning in the distance. For me this was a real highlight of the race, I was tired but it wasn’t far till the last checkpoint at Lordstones and we were still moving well.

People often ask why I take part in these type of events that from the outside can seem quite intimidating. There are many reasons but this is definitely one of them. Running into the first light of a new day with a beautiful sunrise in great company is truly one of the best experiences anyone could ever have, and sadly one that many people never will.

Running into a new day

Running into a new day

Lordstones to Robin Hoods Bay

I was feeling pretty ropey getting into Lordstones but sleep was never on the cards here. It was daylight and we were too close to the end – the plan was to push through and take a power nap if we needed it, possibly at the Lion Inn.

We had around 42 miles to the end – I thought it would perhaps take us around 14 hours to for the final section which would see us finishing at around 10:30pm.

As we prepared to leave I contemplated the mountain of uneaten food I still had in my drop bag. Nikki has a similar pile so we did a little swap.

I received a message from my friend Mark (Clarkson) encouraging me to “get going and drop the snoozers” and so we did, making good progress over the next section up to Round Hill.

On the North York Moors

It was around 5 miles from Round Hill to the Lion Inn, and by the time we reached Bloworth Crossing I was flagging badly. The old railway line stretched out into the distance for what seemed like forever and just as we turned a corner we were greeted by what seemed like the same view. We were also being buffeted by a fairly strong headwind which slowed our progress and dampened our spirits.

This was undoubtably the hardest part of the race for me so far, but Nikki kept me going. It’s a sign of a good team player who is aware of when someone is having a bad patch and helps to get them through it and she did a great job.

Suffering but getting there

Eventually the Lion Inn appeared on the horizon after at least 50 corners and false dawns.

Hot chocolate, a latte and 10 minute power nap in a quiet corner of the pub beside an open fire were order of the day, although I could have done without standing at the bar for 10 minutes while they fixed the coffee machine.

As I dozed I became hyper aware of everything around me from the rhythm of my breathing, the crackling of the fire, muted conversations and other sounds. It was a very surreal feeling but also soothing and I welcomed it.

After leaving the pub I found the next few miles quite hard in the wind and bleak terrain, but as we crested the top of the moor the landscape opened up and… the sea!! We could see the North Sea. It was far off and in the distance and we still had over 20 miles to go but the end was finally in sight. This perked me up no end and I felt excited to be entering the final stage of the race.

Getting across the moors

A few hours later we finally dropped off the moor into the pretty little village of Glaisdale where we refreshed ourselves with Coke and Ice Cream as it was pleasantly warm now that we were out of the wind.

A little further on and we spotted another runner ahead of us – it was Ollie. He’d left Lordstones before us and had just stopped for a power nap. We ran together for a little while before reaching the last major climb of the race just after Grosmont. Around 250m climbing steeply up a road onto the moor once again.

We were treated to some impressive views of the coastline down to Whitby before dropping off the moor to the hamlet of Littlebeck where we passed another runner, Sean Fenwick who had stopped to fiddle with his GPS.

The next section through some native woodland was very pretty and I enjoyed it. Mark sent me a message saying that we were in joint 10th place overall and this really gave us both a boost. I checked the tracker and the next runner, Mark Hetherington, was well in front of us. We would never catch him but felt confident we could fend off the attack from behind to hold on to our placing.

A small climb and some cow dodging and we were back on moorland. Incredibly boggy moorland. Nikki set a good pace through this section to get through it and onto the road before darkness descended which we achieved.

I was tired and aching and my feet were in pieces but I knew I could easily push through that for the next few hours. I didn’t have to worry about trying to keep my feet dry any more, we just ploughed through the bogs.

It had reached the point in the race where barring a disaster nothing stood between us and the finish. The sunset was amazing and this section of the race was a real highlight.

Popping out onto the road we stopped to put another layer on as it had became cold again now the sun had went in. Out of curiosity I checked the tracker as I felt like we must have put in a decent gap between us and the chasing runners. I was surprised to see Sean not too far behind us – seemed like he had also put a spurt on.

Our competitive nature now kicked in. Nikki had no chance of losing 2nd place, but we both wanted to finish in the top 10 overall so suddenly it felt like a proper race and there was a real urgency to get to the finish.

We blasted down the road to Hawsker and I tried to get an indication of how far behind Sean was before we went into the tracker blackspot down the coast. He looked to be just over a kilometre behind.

In the past competitors would have no idea where other runners were around them unless they were close enough to see but now thanks to smartphones and gps tracking everyone gets a much clearer view which adds an interesting dynamic to the race.

Logically I knew that it was extremely unlikely he would catch us with only about 4 miles to go as long as we kept moving at a decent pace, but at the same time I knew nothing about him or how fast he could move so we didn’t let up. All the way down the coastline we sprinted until we finally reached Robin Hoods Bay and ran over the finish line together.

Running to the finish

It felt amazing to reach the end and it was a special moment to cross the finish line with Nikki after running together for the past ~50 hours.

The end

The tide was about a kilometre out so we had to make do with dipping our feet in a rock pool but we had done it – joint 10th place in 60 hours and 46 minutes and Nikki was 2nd female behind Lizzy who had a strong finish (and strong race overall).

Dipping our toes in the North Sea

Epilogue

Every time I do one of these types of events, I learn something new about myself and this one was no exception.

I learnt not to be complacent about foot care when you think you have it cracked, I learnt that I can still perform relatively well on little sleep and the benefit of power naps. I learnt how to push myself more without blowing up and I also learnt some new jokes.

Most of all I learnt that I absolutely love these type of races and definitely want to do more of them in the future.

One of the great things about the race (and others) is the support team and volunteers who were all fantastic throughout. In particular I spent a lot of time chatting to Steve Chamberlin who I met on the Spine earlier in the year and was at the start and then at every checkpoint on bag duty.

I was also pleased to see that most of the people I ran with finished the race. I was particularly pleased to see my friend Nick (Wishart) had a successful race. I’d spoken to him just before we boarded the bus on Friday and he wasn’t sure whether he’d manage to finish due to an injury but he dug in and got it done.

Now time for some rest and later in the year I’m volunteering at the Summer Spine in June so will be good to give something back.

A nice wrrite up of the race

Gear

I used the followung kit during the race. I did have additional kit in my drop bag and a larger pack in case the weather turned nasty but didn’t end up neding to use any of it.

• Innov8 Terraultra 270 (changed into larger pair at Kirby Stephen)
• More Mile socks (changed at each checkpoint)
• Sealskinz waterproof socks (ankle length). Wore from Kirby Stephen - should have worn from the start
• Higher State running shorts
• Kalenji tights
• Helly Hanson base layer
• OMM Contour Running Fleece
• Montane Protium Hoodie
• Montane Atomic Waterproof Jacket
• Berghaus Primaloft Gloves
• Montane Waterproof Mitts
• Higher State Waterproof pants
• Inov-8 3 in 1 race pack (12l capacity)
• buff * 3