Just want to say what an epic adventure that was!
It was the weather that made it of course. Without the deep snow, -19C wind chill, gales and hour after hour of rain & snow it would not have been the same experience. I'm not sure that the summer ones will be the full package.
Brilliant dedicated volunteers and medics at the checkpoints to keep you going.
My feet swelled from size 8 to size 10 - good job I'd borrowed some larger shoes to put in my dropbag before we started.
How much to sleep, as the clock keeps ticking, is a dilemma in an event like this - different to something like Dragons Back where you have fixed downtime. I didn't have any sleep for the last 40 hours of the event (partly because I couldn't drop off on the cold hall floor in Bellingham) and was hallucinating for the last hour and a half, which was interesting!
Anyway, having said to myself that I had better bloody get to the finish because there was no way I was going to be stood on the start line a second time, I was so blown away by the event that I'm not sure that's now the case...
"And the winds blow and the sky looks cool / So I make my home in the clouds"
Amazing stuff BillJ..... without actually knowing you personally, I was supporting you from behind a screen as a member of the forum, and you did fantastically.
I take your point about the summer events not offering quite the same (or at least a different) challenge. It's a good point, but 270 miles along the Pennine Way is still huge at any time of the year. Totally agree with your comments re the clock still ticking and how it makes it different. When I decided that I wanted to commit to something as hard as the Spine/Dragon's Back, it was that aspect which attracted me most to the Spine, and why I am looking to do that race (in summer though!)
Well done again...
Pete
Well done Bill! Epic is an over-used term for long runs but the Spine is truly epic
Fantastic achievement, Bill. I was another avid Tracker stalker and felt mildly exhausted just watching a small blue marker edge northwards. In fact, every time I see the number '168' now I have to go for a sit down.
"Get yourself together, Jones" - Ray Davies