Jo's Spine Heroics
- Jun 26
- 15 min read
We've been eagerly awaiting this report by Jo describing her incredible achievement at the Summer Spine earlier this month. Grab a brew, it's a great read....!
The Montane Spine Race is a 268 mile ultra marathon encompassing the full length of one of Britain’s oldest national trails, the Pennine Way. Starting in Edale in the Peak District, this rugged and varied trail offers around 40,000 feet of uphill, and takes runners and hikers to some stunning and remote parts of the country, before finishing in the tiny Borders village of Kirk Yetholm. The race is run every January and June. I felt a bit of pressure going into Spine this June. I have a really chequered history with the race, having started the winter edition more than once, only to end up not completing. I had success with the 160 mile Summer Challenger North last year, and knew I was starting this year even fitter and stronger. I hadn’t figured out my “why”, though, the reason for doing it that everyone insists you need, would this mean failure again?
It was a gorgeous morning on day one, and the start area was full of people I know, so it was lovely to have a few photos and hellos, but I was so ready to set off hiking on my own, I had no real plans or goals apart from to a) finish it within the allowed 156 hours, and b) enjoy it and stay present in each moment.
The first leg to Hebden Hay passed by uneventfully, I felt strong, and spent time with a few different people, particularly Sean and Anna, who I know from Hardmoors. I joined them for snack van treats at Wessenden Head after traversing the three Peak District mountains of Kinder, Bleaklow, and Black Hill, Fanta lemon hitting just right in the hot afternoon sun. I pulled away a bit after this, loving the peaceful moors of Standedge and Saddleworth all alone, in the cooler early evening, arriving at Nicky’s food bar before the M62 for a well timed cheeseburger! I criss crossed with other racers round reservoirs and through the pretty Calder valley, with darkness eventually falling into a beautiful night. I’d had a great first day, a couple of friends had been out to cheer me on (we are not allowed to accept anything from spectators though), I’d hoped to arrive at CP1 just outside Hebden Bridge, 46 miles in, by midnight, and at ten past I duly slithered down the hill to the scout hut CP.
The CP was busy. I was fairly near the back of the race, but not concerned about this as I had so much time in hand, it was only just after midnight with an 8am cut off. I was a bit disconnected though. I was tired but not sleepy. I didn’t attack my jobs with proper logic, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit daunted by the next leg, which is well over 60 miles, and I knew I would need to nap on the trail. I left at around 2:15am, and just felt dreadful for ages. I was so sleepy that I felt I could fall asleep hiking along, I felt a bit sick and dizzy, and it was really cold too. I was struggling to see how I could get up to the Scottish Borders if I felt so trashed so early. What was my why? The dog? Last year my dog had died two days before and that absolutely pushed me along. But no, as much as I miss him, he wasn’t my why this year.
Anyway, extra clothes and two ten minute dirt naps in the grass in quick succession brought me back to life. I didn’t spend much time with anyone for a long time, no-one felt like my people, and anyway, I didn’t want people. It got hot again and an orange ice lolly from a tuck shop near East Marton tasted like the best thing ever. Miles of pretty follow-the-green-stripe through buttercup meadows eventually led to Gargrave, where I sat on my own on the green to rest with treats from the Co-op. Heading away from Gargrave, I bumped into my friend Karl, who reminded me that the day two tiredness thing is very real, and getting fitter and stronger as you journey North is also very real. Thanks Karl.
From Malham, the course just clicks into place. I left the brilliant 30 min stay checkpoint at Malham tarn in fab spirits and felt like I was where I needed to be. I felt so grateful to be out in the stunning Yorkshire Dales, taking part in a dream race, having the support from home, my lovely husband never complaining about my Spine obsession. I decided I’m doing it for him! He can be my why, I owe him a finish. Right, lets get the big Fountains Fell and Pen y Ghent done before it gets dark. And so I did, joining forces with a really great bloke called Ben, finally I’d clicked with someone. On arrival in Horton in Ribblesdale though, there are still 15-16 miles to the second checkpoint in Hardraw, and Ben was considering sleeping somewhere before tackling those (horrible) miles. I reasoned that just getting on with it would help set the remaining legs into days and nights, we would get into Hardraw early hours of Tuesday, go to sleep, then wake up and start a new leg on a new day which could then be repeated every 24 hours, as all legs from then on were more sensible distances of around 40 miles. He agreed, and we carried on through the night, after soup and chips in The Crown, of course.
The checkpoint in Hardraw was very basic, the porta loos an absolute bio hazard, the main tent full of midges. The volunteers were incredible though, the chilli delicious, and I managed over an hour of good sleep in my tent (despite hoping for three). I was ready to leave before Ben, so I set off fully expecting him to catch me up, but he never did. But as much as I’d enjoyed his company, I was very happy alone. Which got me thinking - this was my why, just me, out on my own, looking after myself, starting to feel even stronger, moving up through the field too. I’m 50 this year, and feel privileged to be ageing well, and the Spine is my birthday present. So I must do it for myself!
Hardraw to Middleton is a much shorter day at under 40 miles, it’s varied, it has the Tan Hill (a high up exposed remote moorland pub, famed for having its residents snowed in every winter), and it’s lovely. I was blown away to be greeted by two of my amazing clients, who driven all the way from York just to say hi! I ordered food, then went into the racers area, it was busy – Sean was here, but Anna had dropped behind. The big bogs of Sleighthome moor were soon waded through, and I began hiking through the gorgeous valleys of lower Teesdale, on and off with Sean, who caught me up before the A66 tunnel. It can be tricky taking on this sort of distance with another person, so we made it clear to each other we wanted to do our own thing, but share miles as and when. The honesty barn at Clove Lodge was depressingly full of midges, I had been hoping for a power nap here, but pressed on through more flower meadows and alongside pretty reservoirs. After another tuckshop where Sean pilfered me a pot noodle for a later date, I tackled the final hill alone as I had fallen behind chatting to the tuckshop owners, and put some early Madonna on for the last few flat riverside miles that lead to checkpoint three at Low Farm. Some cracking singing all alone in the dark was fun and those miles flew.
I love this checkpoint. It has a cosy, intimate and welcoming feel, a few bell tents and farm out buildings, fairy lights, very relaxed. Great curry too. There was an American influencer who seems quite well known running too, Andrew Glaze, he was blogging along the trail, and Sean and I chatted a bit with him. I asked for a bunk room rather than one of the more popular tents, and set my alarm for three hours. When it went off, I’d tossed and turned a lot thanks to sore hips, but I had slept. After rice pudding for breakfast, I left just as it started to get light, with Heart Dance in my ears to perk me up.
The leg between Middleton and Alston is STUNNING! It’s quite tough, too. The dance music had woken me up brilliantly, and I loved striding along pondering the day ahead. I was having such a great week and thought I might text in to the breakfast show for a shout out by Toby Anstis, however, I had forgotten about the lack of coverage in upper Teesdale so the radio went out of the window for a bit. Just ahead I could see Sean getting up from a power nap behind a wall, I’d caught him up in no time. We hiked along together chatting, he told me about Andy Glaze’s latest updates, I told him my Heart Dance plans, it’s important to have a little obsession to pass the time on these events! It was quite misty and windy, but we had a brilliant section over to Dufton, just getting the view of the incredible High Cup Nick through the mist. After some hilarity at the café involving a cheeseburger (who knew it could be so confusing) and a bit of foot faffing (blisters were starting to make me a little anxious), it was time for Cross Fell, the highest point on the route at just under 900 metres. And long…..a high level traverse of 4 different huge spawling fells, before dropping down to the bothy Greg’s hut, and the interminable long stony track down to Garrigill. The climb went well, too windy for chats, The Smiths in my ears, and we easily found the line down to Greg’s in the rare for Cross Fell perfect visibility.
Eventually I forced myself ahead to find privacy for a pit stop for a wee, and sort of just stayed ahead. I felt a bit bad, Sean and I had done most of the section together, but there was always the reminder from each of us that we were doing our own thing. He’d probably catch me in Garrigill at Annie’s house for soup anyways. Annie (a fabulous woman who often invites racers in for tea and soup) wasn’t home though so I pressed on. I really loved the few miles across fields and meadows, evening sunshine, music on again, then about a mile from the checkpoint Sean caught me and suggested we tried sticking together from then on, and I thought yes, that would be a lot of fun 😊 And everything from this point on just felt like a different race. If a trail partnership can evolve naturally it can work so well.
Alston checkpoint is a little piece of heaven. The only fully indoor CP, hot showers, amazing lasagne, in the YHA that is just such a lovely little building. We were so well looked after. I don’t know what Sean’s previous CP routine had been, but I repeated mine which was working very well and becoming very automatic now – phone and watch on to charge, eat and have a cuppa, clean teeth and self up/get changed for next leg, three hours in bed, more food whilst packing bag and sorting feet. A couple of people had expressed surprise at how long I was spending in bed/at the CP, but it makes you faster overall, taking that time, it’s a 6 and a half day race! Except ours was starting to look like it might be a five and a half day race, we were really moving up through the field. I really struggled to know how best to look after my feet on this leg, and made the decision to wear thick waterproof socks with liners in wider shoes, as there are a few boggy areas on this leg. Big mistake.
It was dark still on leaving Alston. We settled into setting off together, but already had a good idea of how the other ticked from the day before. This section, between Alston and Greenhead, was one of my very favourite legs of the whole race. It really was so much fun. People kept asking me all week if I was enjoying it, and I really, really was. We kept up an amazing pace on this section, and laughed so much. We argued about Sean opening all of the gates, it was easier to just let him. Good to have a trail slave. We passed a guy who was disappointed by the small amount of running he’d managed, and seemed genuinely gutted to be overtake by hikers (us!) Spine’s not really a running race…..And the trail obsessions were coming to a head. We were closing in on Andy Glaze, Sean was expecting some great banter with him……it was time for Heart Dance Breakfast and Toby Anstis was doing shoutouts……well, we got a brilliant shout out on the radio, but alas, no banter with Andy, who was experiencing a very low point, mumbling about jet lag.
After raiding a big tub of treats at Greenhead for more mini cheddars (snack of the race!) we started to cross Hadrian’s Wall. I think we’d both been expecting this to be tough, and it really was. It’s so hard to get a rhythm going with the constant ups and downs. My feet started to become intolerable, and we were both getting sleepy. Sean was good at lying down for a few seconds to reset, but I wanted a bit longer. And out of the rain. And I really needed to sort my feet. Amazingly, at the point where I thought I might cry, we came across a coffee truck in a car park that had a covered table or two. A coach party had disembarked here too and I think they were hoping for our table. A very sweet and well spoken older lady tried hard to engage me in conversation while she waited for us, I don’t think she’d been expecting to see a dishevelled runner wrapping her toes in tape whilst swearing in pain, but every day is a school day.
The relief when we left the wall was huge, it also came sooner than expected as we were by now nearly always consistently winning our game of Beat the Tracker. Next destination – Horneystead Farm. This section was quite boggy, something we both liked trying to avoid at all costs, but unavoidable here. My feet were so sore. Both pinky toes had been a bit blistered for a couple of days, but now the two tiny heel blisters I’d started with yesterday felt like they covered the entirety of both of my heels. It was horrible. We had a pit stop at Helen’s farm, great sandwiches and some coffee and noodles, before grinding out the ten k to Bellingham CP. Despite still being in a lot of pain, and Sean being tired enough to keep dropping to the ground for his legendary 2 minute power naps, we still managed a few laughs.
In my earlier overly excited state, I’d declared we should try to get in and out of the checkpoint superfast. But we definitely needed to keep to the same routine, and try for 3 hours sleep in our tents. My feet must need a lot of attention too. I was surprised by how relatively blister free they were, I was expecting more. Despite promising to quit the waterproof socks now, I ended up wearing a thin pair simply to protect the taping I’d done. I was going back to my old shoes though, the volunteer tidying up the kit check tent wasn’t sure what to make of my telling him to take my shoes and burn them, but they weren’t coming home with me again.
Leaving Bellingham for the final day (albeit a day that was starting at 11:30pm) felt really exciting. It took about ten minutes for my feet to give in and numb up, then we were away. We climbed so strongly out of Bellingham, discussing the race, tactics for this last leg, how well it had gone so far.
Up on the moor, we caught a worried male runner whose watch hadn’t charged, a watch he was relying on to navigate. He stayed with us for a while, but really wanted to move faster. We helped him figure out a nav strategy that would get him through the night, and he pulled away. I was pleased, it was too late in the race for new friends and sensible conversation, and we needed to focus on our own race. Sean had a lot of 2 minute power naps on Whitely Pike and Paddon Hill. He would literally just drop to the ground, if I was behind I’d step over or around him, and carry on til he caught me back up.
Once onto the forest tracks, it was time for some dance hits, this section is easy but interminably long and stony with nothing to see, and a dance and a sing speeds it up. We arrived at the monitoring checkpoint in Byrness at first light, after another successful round of beat the tracker. We were allowed only 30 minutes only here to do whatever we needed. We had been organised and efficient all week, but we took it to a new level in Byrness. Bags off. Shoes off. Noodles handed over for boiling water and coffee requested. Grabbed an inflatable mattress both laid with backs on it and feet on a chair, as a volunteer slid a pillow under each of our heads. Asleep for 10? 15? minutes, my arm across my eyes (I did nearly scupper this by getting the giggles at someone crunching too loudly on crisps). Then up, food, finish coffee, shoes on, gone. A CP masterclass.
Just the Cheviots to cross, on a beautiful morning. We climbed up the steep hill onto the ridge in no time (I love this climb) and set off along the thin track through the heather. Sean took some beautiful photos and videos, the sun strengthening, the birds singing. The Cheviot stretch of the Pennine Way runs a full marathon distance with no road crossings, no water supplies, just stunning wild high country with plenty of climbing. There were none of the famous (and very smelly) Cheviot goats around today sadly. We were enjoying having the ridge to ourselves, so stopped to let someone hot on our heels pass and get ahead a bit. We were still moving very well, but both tired, and took it in turns to lead so the other could idly follow. At one point Sean dropped and I couldn’t get around him so just stood watching over him sleep. I had planned on a ten minute eye shut in mountain refuge Hut 1, but it was full of safety team who were a lot of fun, and I didn’t want to lie in a tent, so chose the coffee and fun option.
6th lady Hannah had been one place ahead of me the past day or two, but now appeared a place behind me as we made our way to leave. She said she’d had a rough night with sleep deprivation and hallucinations. As we left, I did wonder if I would now retain her 6th place or if she would catch me back up. We were still moving really, really well and I had to think of a time to tell Will to set off so he could see me finish and drive me home. But I didn’t really want to finish or go home, I couldn’t imagine bursting the bubble I was in and going back to normality.
The wind had really picked up over the course of the day, making the ridge seem more dramatic than it was. Mountain refuge Hut 2 was awash with Spine media, safety team, the race RD Phil, and Spine elite runner Anna Troup out for a run. We were invited in for an interview, which I was really made up about. I didn’t know if they would use our footage, but I hoped so hard that they would, as I really felt the connection between us came across strongly as we talked, and our sense of fun was evident enough to make good content. Who doesn’t want to be in one of the daily Spine videos? (we pop up around 7 mins 30 in). Hannah had gone past hut 2 whilst we were interviewed. That was fine by me, she deserved that 6th place more than me, and my week couldn’t have been bettered by finishing a place higher.
The Schill is the final cruel climb, the last mountain sitting at around 600m high, it was a huge effort, as we knew it would be. We had said that we could relax after we had got safely off it and enjoy the last easy 5 miles to the finish. Some heavy rain tried to scupper that plan! As the showers eased, not one, not two, but three male runners casually jogged past us. I was irrationally annoyed – we had beaten them all week…..now they fancied a race? We walked along the road to Kirk Yetholm, reflecting, laughing at the best bits, and wondering if we should run or walk over the finishing line. And as we went over the top of the last hill, we could see the three guys who’d just had to get past us walking in a line really, really slowly, not far away. They were going to hog the finish line just as we were approaching it. Either they needed to speed up, or we needed to slow, so we forced the issue by running up behind them, forcing them into a run again, as Sean and I howled with laughter. One last laugh for the road. We resumed our relaxed pace, and on to pub wall, the official end point.
Finally finishing a full Spine race was amazing, but whilst it was a relief to take my shoes off, I didn’t feel as elated as I’d expected to on finishing. On different feet I’d have liked to grab my medal and keep heading North. My winning moments were all those experiences out on the Pennine Way. I wanted to carry on north, living this very basic, simple life, working together to solve problems and avoid other people and not make more friends and eat more cheeseburgers. There’s a saying that it’s all about the journey, and not the destination, and I totally get that after this week. Having said that, the great finish time, 7th place and huge medal were the icing on the cake!
Final stats:
-268.23 miles, 40,682 ft of elevation, 127 hrs 49 mins 25 secs.
-7th out of 26 female finishers.
-35th overall out of 90 finishers.
-Sadly 65 runners DNFed leaving a completion rate of 58%.
The strava map looks amazing!!!
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