On a bright and sunny morning in April 2022,after a couple of false starts due to the dreaded C-word, I set off alongside nearly 150 other competitors on the Northern Traverse – a fantastic 190mile(300km) ultra-marathon following Wainwrights Coast to Coast route. This superb route begins in St Bees and traverses the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors before ending in Robin Hoods Bay on the east coast. The route sports over 7,000m of ascent, and competitors have 5 days to complete the challenge.
I’d always fancied attempting the event after seeing if first appear on the internet, and was probably much fitter back in 2020 when I was supposed to do it, but I’d managed to do a reasonable amount of training beforehand so I thought I’d at least not die!
I made sure to collect a small pebble from the beach at St Bees before heading to the start line, which I would throw into the North Sea when I hopefully finished, and before I knew it the start time arrived and we were off!
The first few miles hugs the Cumbrian coast on a lovely cliff-top path, with excellent views out to sea, before I started to head in-land. Looking back, there was something a bit galling about starting such a long race, and then having to do a few miles north before heading east, but it was still very pleasant.
The first ~60miles of the race traverses the Lake District, and I really enjoyed running up the stunning valley of Ennerdale and alongside Ennerdale Water, before the first of the climbs up and over to the top of Honister Pass. Our first checkpoint was at Rosthwaite where I availed of some food and topped up my supplies before continuing over to Grasmere. Although you don’t tick off any summits of any real note, you still rack up a decent bit of ascent going over the passes and from the top of these get some of the fine Lake District views.
It started to get dark as I neared Patterdale, and I had a hot meal at the checkpoint before sorting myself out properly for the first night of running. My body was feeling good, and the weather was great albeit a bit chilly. On the approach to one of the highest points – Kidsty Pike, I encountered the only snow of the route, before a steep knee-jarring descent down to Haweswater. It was a shame to be running along Haweswater in the dark as this is such a beautiful area, but I was soon away from the fells and crossing the final muddy fields to Shap and the next checkpoint. I was around60miles in now, and with access to my drop bag I could get stocked up for the next leg of the journey as well as enjoy a hot meal. It had taken around 15hrsor so to reach this point, so I was making great progress and in the top 15-20.
The next 20miles of the route is not the most inspiring, crossing the lowlands between the Lake District and the start of the Northern Yorkshire Dales, so it was a good section to cross in the dark. Not long after Shap I started to notice a pain in my shin which did make running a bit uncomfortable so I did end up walking a bit more than I had hoped. It started to get light a few miles from Kirkby Stephen and it was a cracking morning – still and calm, with only the sounds of the birds to accompany me. I arrived into a sunny Kirkby Stephen, which is around 80miles into the route at around 8am, now ~22hrs into the race.
I decided this was probably a good time to have a bit of a rest, and even a bit of a sleep given my sore leg, which I thought was a bit of tendonitis coming on. However, it was quite bright and I wasn’t really ready for sleep, and after maybe 20-30mins of laying down in the tent I got up, had some breakfast and got moving again. It was great to see Steph here, who was following my progress and aiming to meet me along the way to shout encouragement or abuse, whichever was most appropriate.
It was a bit of a slog up Nine Standards, but the weather was good so I couldn’t complain too much. My leg was giving me a bit of trouble, but I still managed to jog some of the sections from the summit down towards the start of the wonderful Swaledale despite it being horrendously boggy underfoot!
Next came Keld, and then another climb up on to the mine-scarred, wild but beautiful moors. Swaledale has to be one of my favourite valleys and areas to go for a run….its a wonderful place, and often hidden from the crowds! I was now pretty much reduced to a walk sadly due to the pain in my ankle, which paracetamol didn’t seem to do much for. Descending down into Gunnerside Gill I did let out a bit of a frustrated shout, which I suspect any nearby walkers heard and were probably puzzled by, but I was pretty frustrated by now. I must have irritated it running in the Lake District, on the steep rocky terrain which I hadn’t had much chance to train in – much of my training being back in the 'softer' Dales.
Arriving in Reeth I had a quick stop hoping to get a hot drink from a café en route, but it was closed. However it did provide a chance to top up my water. I made very steady progress on and darkness fell again before I made it to the Richmond checkpoint, roughly 120miles (190km) in. Due to my now swollen and painful ankle, I decided now was the best time to try and get some proper sleep and rest the body ahead of the final section. I had a hot meal and then climbed into my sleeping bag in the tent. It was now quite windy, and as I lay trying to sleep the inflatable tent was being crushed by the wind squeezing me below, which was far from ideal. I couldn’t sleep, and after around 45mins some voices outside beckoned us out…..i thought I was hallucinating when I saw three firemen stood there. Apparently one of the other tents had blown off the field into the river (not with anyone in it I should add!), and with the high winds and risk of our tent being blown away we were ushered into the changing rooms in the checkpoint (sports centre) where we could sleep there. It wasn’t the quietest of places, and every time someone moved an automatic light would come on, but I managed a good 2-3hrs of rest, with my legs elevated to help bring the swelling down. A quick shower, some food, fresh clothes and sorting kit and then I was back out into the daylight and on my way across the second of the uninspiring lowlands towards the final section across the North York Moors. One memorable moment though was seeing a Yellowhammer – a bird which frequents these parts but I hadn’t seen before. If I hadn’t known about it, I would have thought I was hallucinating again given how yellow and tropical looking it is!
It was great to Steph again along this section, and again at the petrol station/Londis which can be found on the A19 before Ingleby Arncliffe. Never has a Londis seemed so much like a palace – I trawled the shelves and hot food counter like someone who had just teleported in from the 1600s, grabbed a coffee and sat down by the window looking out to the A19. The next section was probably to prove the most dangerous of the whole route……I was now around 140miles (220km) into the race, tired, not moving well given my horrendously swollen ankle, and sat down I was seizing up by the second. But I was going to have to run across the A19, with its dual carriageway and hundreds of cars, vans and lorries speeding along at 70mph+. It was a tense few moments, but I soon(ish) made it across and started the ascent onto the North York Moors. Sadly it started to go dark again, which was a shame as the next section has stunning views as the path hugs the edge of the moorland plateau, but I started to feel a lot better given the rest and food I’d just eaten, and my ankle started to feel a little better and I could tolerate a bit of light running again. It was a great feeling, and I felt as if I actually might be able to finish this thing now!! 😊
I made good progress to the Lion Inn, where it was cold and windy again, and got the medics there to have a look at a very interesting looking blister/bubble thing that had appeared on my leg at the top of my sock. Slightly alarming to see, but this was expertly covered in a bandage, and not fancying trying to sleep again I set off on the final 30miles to Robin Hoods Bay. I do remember also thinking “I might as well carry on, its only 30miles”. Hmmm, 30miles is quite a long way anyway, never mind 160miles into a race!!
Progress soon slowed down again, as both legs were starting to give up, and it became a long walk to the finish. It became light again around Grosmont, after which a fiendish road hill had to be climbed which I paused on part way up when I found a bench. Sat there gazing out I was interrupted by a txt msg from a friend who had just realized what I was up to and was providing much encouragement and welcome praise, so that spurred me to get up and continue hobbling on.
More miles passed and before long I got my first glimpse of the sea. I had nearly done it! Annoyingly, just like at St Bees, you reach the sea and then have to follow it for a few miles along a scenic coastal path until you reach Robin Hoods Bay, which I hobbled into mid-morning on the Tuesday after 73hrs on the route, and in 25thplace. Kim Collison had won the race in an astounding 44hrs – a whole day quicker than me…..superhuman effort. But for now, I was very, very glad to have made it to the end. After receiving my medal, Steph joined me for a glacial slow stroll out onto the beach and to the waters edge. I remembered my pebble, and removed it from my bag before tossing it into the sea. It was an amazing feeling to have completed the challenge, even though it hadn’t gone that well for me with my injury, but that’s the nature of these events sometimes…..you often have problems to deal with, and sometimes need to adapt, or even withdraw. The ‘Yorkshire’ in me kept me going though, as I thought “I’m not DNF’ing and paying another bloody £500 to do this!!”
The sick thing about the finish to this race is that you then have to scale the ridiculously steep (for a body which has just been moving for 73hrs and for nearly 200miles!) road up out of Robin Hoods Bay to the checkpoint where we could get some food, drink and collect our dropbags. They even time this section which they coin – The ‘Real’ Race! After a medic took a look at my massively swollen ankle, Steph bundle me into the van and we headed home after what had been an excellent, but challenging race, and the furthest I had ever been on foot in one go.
So, would I do it again…….hmmmm, not sure! I was very pleased to have completed such an iconic route and race, and while I enjoyed the first 60-70miles, the rest was pretty tough going!! I probably should have withdrawn at Kirkby Stephen or Richmond rather than carry on, considering the pain and discomfort, but I was very keen to try and get to the finish. They’re not the cheapest of events to take part in, and I knew there was going to be a price increase next time. Its amazing to see what the body can do though, despite the lack of sleep and discomfort. I think I can attribute my ability to keep going to my life of caving, which has taken me on challenging expeditions all around the world, where continuous caving trips of24hrs+ are common in some very remote parts of the world. Looking back, I started off too fast and a big part of the issue was this, coupled with my lack of training on rock hard Lakes terrain. My legs weren’t used to the speed and terrain and running down steep, rocky slopes. Since the race, I have also had to get some orthotics and stiffer shoes due to my severe overpronation, which has certainly helped since on other events.
So what did go well? Navigation proved easy. I ate well, which is often not the case for athletes on these sort of events, and I have struggled with eating in the past. I think avoiding the fatty, hard to digest foods like pork pies, sausages and cheese while running was a good move. I also rested at optimum points, and never got too ‘out of it’ that I didn’t know where I was or what I was doing. So I was pretty switched on despite the 3 days of virtually no sleep. High Point?? Probably running up Ennerdale, and traversing Swaledale (despite the suffering). Low point??? Definitely the ankle, and trying to sleep in the collapse-y tent.
Since completing the Northern Traverse, I’ve made another attempt at the MRT Spine Challenger at the start of 2023, and managed to knock around 7hrs off my previous time. The Northern Traverse had certainly made me more confident about completing long distances, and I was pleased to finish this particular event in first place and, at the end, still feeling quite strong (even though it’s a shorter ~110miles!).
So whats next…….some shorter distance ultras perhaps. But one thing for sure is I’ve gained so much from the Northern Traverse, and not for one minute do I regret doing it (I don’t think!)! 😊😊
