Well, I've started all 4 Spines and got my 2nd finish this year, finishing 11th or so - did whole route inc Cross Fell.
Wind coming off High Cam Road to Hawes was the strongest that I have ever encountered - forward progress was impossible at times with both poles jammed in to hold us onto the ground. Many of us were held at Alston CP with gusts of up to 110mph forecast - safety has to be the first priority in any race, and I am am convinced that they got their decisions spot on this year.
Tremendous achievement Rich.. you look a very relieved man at the finish!
And good to hear such a positive approach to the decisions of the RO... some hard calls during the course of the week. Will be interesting to learn what Damian and Tim made of the calls.
"You gotta put a little bit of ****ing fairy dust over the bastard"
To be honest, I was completely stoked rather than relieved. Had a great day over the Cheviots with virtually blue skies - couldn't have asked for better. Byrness to Kirk Yetholm in 8:45 - not bad after 240 miles!
The Spine is something very different and just a great event
This makes interesting reading as I've been locked into the "competitor bubble" for a week and am only just emerging.
Just to stick to the safety point. I arrived at Middleton at around 4pm on Tuesday having come over from Hawes in one hop leaving there at 11:30pm the previous night. I'd tried to sleep at Hawes but the hall was busy and although I'd got 3 hours rest I hadn't slept at all since having a couple of hours at Malham early on Monday morning.
On arrival I was told that the weather was deteriorating but that if I could get to Cow Green by 10pm I could continue over High Cup Plain to Dufton and onto the Cross Fell crossing. If not there would be a shortened route between Cow Green and Alston. Whilst getting to Cow Green in time wouldn't be a problem, I would be heading out over High Cup Plain into a second night with no real rest. The sleep monsters had had their claws into me for an hour or two around Thwaite the previous night in fairly benign conditions and I didn't really want to countenance what might happen 24hours later on very exposed ground in much worse weather, so I opted to sleep for a couple of hours and be short routed. A very simple SMJ decision, which was justified by the horrific conditions we encountered up at Cow Green later (well below zero, driving spindrift and very high winds). Most of the long route guys sat out the worst of these conditions in Dufton.
Despite this one of the two guys I was with was very close to being a hypothemia victim by the time we reached Garrigill and were able to shout for some assistance at the first farm. No damage done after some hot coffee, a warm by the stove and an additional layer of leg cover, but it was very close. He wouldn't have made it to the Alston CP in my view. That pretty much justifies the short routing.
I think the RO was spot on to provide the shorter route (and enforce it with a cu-off time) whilst still allowing folks to complete the race. They weren't to know that they'd have to put most of the field on hold at Alston for the best part of 24 hours.
As to whether the short route guys (me included) constitute a full spine finish, I'm happy I finished because I ran the route the RO put in front of me, stayed ahead of the cut-offs and reached KY. Conditions this year were apparently significantly worse than in the previous editions and I think the effort level involved in finishing was probably as great. Hats off though to the long route guys who made it - even more impressive!
My highlights were dawn at Tan Hill having recovered from the sleep monsters' visit, and the final crossing of the Cheviots where my conservative approach between Alston and Byrness was rewarded with a strong showing across the frozen slabs and bogs on the "mountain stage".
Jim
Jim: (as somone who finished last year's race) I definitely think that the short course counts as a full spine finish. Mainly (as you said) because you did the route that was available to you. But also because, even without Cross Fell, it was almost certainly a much tougher race this year. I spent most of the week wondering how I'd have coped with this year's weather and whether I'd have been able to finish...
Well done Jim, it sounds brilliant.
where are the results?
I am getting this page blank
http://spine.opentracking.co.uk/leaderboard/
Results are back again now after much fiddling about to try to sort out all the holds and stuff. I seem to have moved down a few places in the standings but it's now clear we all finished with over a day to spare, more than enough to compensate for being short-routed. I was just glad to have the experiences I had along the journey, the placing doesn't matter one jot!Originally Posted by DrPatrickBarry
Jim
nope still blank
http://spine.opentracking.co.uk/leaderboard/
for anyone that's interested I wrote a blog about my participation in the spine race.
www.runningbigandslow.blogspot.com
Last edited by Derby Tup; 31-01-2015 at 12:56 PM. Reason: Broken link
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