Reacquainting myself with the Pennine Way My recent little backpacking trip along the Dales Way gave me a taste for more. I might as well get good use out of my new tent! I quickly decided that my next project...
Read moreThe Dales Way As I start to write this post (mid June) I have just started to run again, and am currently in week 3 of a self-prescribed Couch to 5K programme, rebuilding my running fitness. But I spent more...
Read moreLady Anne’s Way (LAW) is a way-marked long distance walking trail from Skipton in North Yorkshire to Penrith in Cumbria. Lady Anne Clifford was born in 1589 in Skipton Castle. After her father, George Clifford, third Earl of Cumberland, died...
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Running to the North Sea with my Northern Traverse pebble Early in the morning on Monday April 8 my Northern Traverse journey came to an end in Marske, about 4 miles west of Richmond. My back had totally given up, Read more
Running through storm Kathleen, and some unfinished business…. This post will not end with the happy sound of my feet going over a finish line, or pictures of a medal. My first major ultra event of 2024, the Silva Northern Read more
A wintry jaunt across the wildest place in England. No goats seen though. The Montane Cheviot Goat is a challenging winter ultra in the Cheviot hills of Northumberland, on the border with Scotland. The event website states this is the Read more
Up and down for 100 km through Italy, Switzerland and France I travelled to the Chamonix Valley to run the CCC race (named after the towns at the start, middle and finish: Courmayeur, Champex, Chamonix), 100km with 6156m ascent . Read more
Another splendid Punk Panther event The Six Dales Trail, an established and signposted 38 mile walking route from Otley to Middleham, was devised in 2010 by the Otley ‘Walkers are Welcome’ group. It takes its name from the six dales Read more
Having run a lot of Punk Panther ultras I felt it was time to enter a Hardmoors event and see a bit more of the eastern side of Yorkshire. Their Hardwolds 40 race is approximately 47 miles (I call that Read more
Some thoughts on speed work, training volume, and results on the road….. Ultra running is fun, right? No emphasis on pace, mile splits, Strava segments. You can run slowly, you can walk the hills. Well, if you get really tired Read more
With all to play for in mile 49….. The Welcome Way is an existing way-marked circular long distance walking route here in West Yorkshire, connecting Otley, Burley in Wharfedale and Baildon, with an optional loop around Shipley Glen and Bingley. Read more
Taking part in the English National Cross Country Championships has been one of the highlights of every running year for me since I joined my running club Ilkley Harriers. The Nationals are open championships in the proper sense of the Read more
Some thoughts about training High time to update my blog, in particular with reference to the 2 race entry ballots I wrote about in a previous post. On January 1, whilst I was running through the mud on the North Read more
North Leeds Greenway Ultra Another month, another Punk Panther event! I began 2023, on New Year’s Day, with the North Leeds Greenway Ultramarathon, a 34 mile/3600 ft circuit of North Leeds from Otley. Starting off with the steep climb up Read more
The Winter Downs 100 by Centurion Running is a 100 mile continuous trail race with 10,000 feet of elevation and a 35 hour cut off. The route starts at Amberley Museum (West Sussex) on the South Downs Way and runs point to Read more
A “backyard ultra” is a Last Person Standing ultra marathon format where runners complete a 4.167-mile loop (‘yard’) every hour, on the hour, until only one runner remains. The winner is the last runner to complete a lap, with all Read more
A change is as good as a rest they say, and I think that applies to ultra running too. In the last two years I have spent a lot of time on the Pennine Way, the Coast to Coast, and Read more
The adjective ‘iconic’ can be overused. But I think the Hardmoors 110 (miles) race probably deserves this title. With 2025 staging its 18th edition, it started in 2008 as a small race with just 17 finishers. Ultra running was still Read more
When a plan comes together… The Northern Traverse is a roughly 300 km (185 miles) route across the North of England from St Bees on the west coast to Robin Hood’s Bay on the east coast, organised by Ourea Events. Read more
Over the last 12 months I have spent a lot of time on the Pennine Way, either recceing the route or ‘racing’. I ran the Spine Challenger South in June and the Spine Challenger North (minus the last 7 miles Read more
What came before I started running in 2007 but did not run my first marathon until 2015. My journey into ultra running started cautiously with a 28 mile local race in September 2021. I built up the distances over the Read more
