A round up of the final month of 2024 where I had three events on three stormy days with yellow weather warnings: the Punk Panther Christmas Cracker in a named storm (Darragh) on the 7th, a ‘Run like a Haggis’ navigation course on a ‘standard windy day’ on the 15th, Read more
Marathon Eryri – 26 Oct 2024 I travelled to Llanberis for my sixth time running Marathon Eryri (the English version of the name, ‘Snowdonia Marathon’ was dropped in 2023). It was the 40th staging of this iconic race and the Welsh weather obligingly showed its best face, giving us dry Read more
SwissPeaks Trail organise races with a range of distances, from a half-marathon all the way up to an unbelievable 660k. Their main race week is always the week after UTMB, and whilst the races start in different places depending on the distance, they all finish in Le Bouveret on the Read more
Yes, it was warm and there was a lot of ‘up’. Having spent UTMB week in the Chamonix Valley in 2023, when I ran the CCC, I was keen to return to this week long ‘festival’, which is seen by many as the apex of the annual trail running calendar. Read more
Having done quite a number of ultra races since I got into ‘the long stuff’ three years ago, the idea of trying a backyard ultra took hold a while ago. For those unfamiliar with the concept: the backyard ultra is a form of ultra marathon race where competitors must consecutively Read more
Non-stop along the Pennine Way from Edale to Hardraw About the race: The Montane Summer Spine Challenger South is a non-stop, 108 mile race with around 15,500 ft of ascent, along the Pennine Way from Edale to Hardraw (just north of Hawes). The non-stop nature means that the clock does Read more
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, I had the ultra runners’ lean and I slowly and 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 Traverse, a non-stop race of 180 miles (in reality around Read more
Until I recced and ran the Montane Cheviot Goat last year I had never spent any time in the Cheviot hills, but in a short space of time I have come to really enjoy running in this beautiful and very remote area. With limited road access into the hills and Read more
Spine Safety Team Winter 2024 The Montane Winter Spine races take runners non-stop along the iconic Pennine Way in the middle of the British winter. There are 4 distances on offer: the Sprint (46 miles, Edale to Hebden Hey, time allowed 18 hours), the Challenger South (108 miles, Edale to Read more