Well, I’m sat at home typing this when I should be somewhere alongside the River Tees, doing what I’m doing in this picture (this was at Malham Tarn after 79 miles).
I ran well for 98 miles but a succession of blows to my big toe on my right foot, starting with a full on toe-ended whack on Bleaklow (about 12 miles in), developing further with another toe-bashing on Ickonshaw Moor (about 55 miles in) to a terminal boulder-booting incident on Penyghent (about 96 miles in) have rendered my foot unsuitable as an aid to running. I hobbled to Horton-In-Ribblesdale and retired. I was as disappointed as I have ever been.
I called my wife and tried not to blub like a child and just about managed it. She sensed my sadness and immediately came and picked me up very late on the Sunday. Her sister kindly held the fort with the family. I know it could have been far worse, but she had made sacrifices and I had trained hard for this. It is hard to take.
One day later and that disappointment is still VERY raw, but there are some clear and helpful thoughts coalescing from the fog, first amongst which is that my legs feel great. Slightly heavy but considering the 98 miles and 16,000 feet of ascent done inside 36 hours, pretty fresh and I have doubt I could have gone out and attacked another few days. I was amazed to learn i was 3rd fastest into Hebden Bridge. So I know I’m fit enough – which is half the battle.
I also thought that I would do it again, but perhaps not as part of a race. Much as I enjoyed that element that the Spine Fusion provided, the field was so sparse that I ran alone for 98% of the time. I would have enjoyed some company. Also, the unequal spread of the checkpoints makes it difficult logistically, more so now that the races are unsupported. These are not criticisms of the event, but differences between what they do and how I initially thought I was going to tackle this. I thought their logistics, primarily their transporting of my gear from point to point, would be such a boon that it would outweigh doing it ‘my way’. Now having experienced it, i’m not sure. The HUGE second day of 67 miles, the distance of CPs 1 and 3 from the Pennine Way, the noisy CPs making sleep tricky….these are all things to contend with and they don’t stop the Spine from being a great event. However I felt like I wanted this to be different, and perhaps upon reflection, a bit more flexible and low key – more campervan and impromptu kips than fixed controls and dormitories.
I would also do food differently. I noticed that some of my competitors had hot food pouches that just needed hot water which they carried in flasks. That sounds like the opposite to my ‘fellrunning has to be done lightweight’ approach but i got very bored of my food very quickly. Theirs looked energy packed and appetising. Mine looked like a pound-shop packed lunch. I did use a cafe in Gargrave and a pub in Lothersdale for a sandwich and found on both occasions that this was very restorative. I moved really well straight afterwards. I think eating on multi-day ultras is different to single day rounds where you’re as well to rest and eat a few times a day rather than try and eat on the move all the time. It works because the pace is slower and you’re playing a longer game rather than sticking to a to-the-minute schedule.
So I think I will try and find a five day window and do it again with support from friends if they can be mustered. I hope my running friends in the northeast and back in Cheshire can be persuaded and that I can do their support justice. There is also the small matter of finding someone to coordinate things (very important) and most important of all, squaring this with my fantastic family. Perhaps August/September time would work, we’ll see.
One thing is for sure – it’s not over yet,
PS – So, the toe. I went to the hospital today and the nice chap said that it was not broken but there was tendon damage. He likened it to something he called ‘Turf Toe’ which is more commonly associated as an overuse injury for sports involving a lot of jumping – basketball being a usual culprit. The photos below are from the end of day one when things were just mildly battered.
Pennine Way in under 5 days 