I sit here now, a few short months (ok, eight months) after crossing the finish line in Kirk Yetholm, and I think… Was that really me? Did I actually do that? It almost doesn’t feel real. I look back at the race & struggle to reconcile the person in those memories with the person sitting … Continue reading Summer Spine | Epilogue

The Final Leg I tip-tap my way through Bellingham, passing the Co-op I’d been rushing to reach before closing time. After four baked potatoes with beans & a handful of satsumas at the checkpoint, I feel satiated, so I decide not to stop. Now that I’m moving again, I just want to keep going. The … Continue reading Summer Spine Part VI | Bellingham to Kirk Yetholm

Whilst the next section to Bellingham loads onto my watch, I phone the husband. After telling him not to expect to hear from me, I’ve fallen into the habit of calling briefly at each checkpoint. This time, though, I deliberately wait until I’ve left. He answers with a simple “hello” as I say, “Just to … Continue reading Summer Spine Part V | Alston to Bellingham

Waterfalls As I’m about to leave, Ben from Fountains Fell is being kit checked. We catch each other’s eye & almost simultaneously ask if we fancy buddying up for the next section. A weight quietly lifts. As independent & self-sufficient as I am, I’ve been quietly worrying about tackling Falcon Clints & the scramble up … Continue reading Summer Spine Part IV | Middleton to Alston

Chasing Sunrise: Great Shunner Fell Kit check passed, at 3:04 am, I step out of the marquee & back onto the trail. Daybreak is close. I can feel it. I’m excited. The sleep, though short, has refreshed me & I’m looking forward to the climb up Great Shunner Fell. At 2,300 feet, it’s the third-highest … Continue reading Summer Spine Part III | Hardraw to Middleton

Night One I leave checkpoint one knowing it’s 63 miles to checkpoint two at Hardraw. Sixty-three miles of self-sufficiency. Sixty-three miles of looking after myself across deserted moorlands, hills & fells. It’s the longest stretch between checkpoints in the entire race. There’s a monitoring point roughly 36 miles in, at Malham Tarn, with water, safety … Continue reading Summer Spine Part II | Hebden Hey to Hardraw

Sunday 15th June 2025, Edale, The Start I arrive in Edale early on Sunday morning. Early enough to be one of the first in the queue to have my tracker fitted, the small device that will accompany me all the way up the Pennine Way. I registered, collected my race number & passed kit check … Continue reading Summer Spine Part I | Edale to Hebden Hey

The Beginning I tried to write this so many times. Each attempt began the same way, pen to paper, fingers to keyboard, but the words just wouldn’t come. Not because I didn’t want to write them… I just couldn’t. Nothing landed. Nothing felt big enough to capture the feelings, emotions, or intensity of that near-week … Continue reading Summer Spine 2025 | The Prologue