UKC

How did I miss this? Strap into your dot watching seats for The Spine Race arctic edition!

Tracking here: https://spine.extrac.uk/

Event details here: https://www.thespinerace.com/race/arctic/

Latest updates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSpineRace

"Racing non-stop along the Kungsleden Trail in Arctic Sweden, you will travel through forest, over lakes, up rivers and through breath taking mountain vistas. Doing all of this while carrying or pulling everything you need to survive in the extreme Arctic environment will be an achievement of a lifetime.

Our Arctic races include two events; 129 miles and 293 miles for solo and team entries."

Starts today

Edit: added Facebook link as there are some photos and videos about it on there.

It's nowhere near as exciting, I think, because it's not on our own fells, on trails many of us have walked/run. And everything's white...

2 of them appear to have left their GPS tracking devices back at base.

Less relatable maybe yes. Also, there's far less of them and we were spoilt with the last winter Spine having so many big names and records to talk about!

But I'll be watching out for more video updates as I'd love to see them in action and the environment they're in.

Yeah, not sure what happened there. There's a shorter version of the race... maybe they're in that, and it hasn't kicked off yet?

Agreed, I'm struggling to get at all excited about this event. It's a different sport really - similar to other winter races like Arrowhead 135, which I have never really followed - and while it's run by the same company as the Spine, they aren't really much alike. And my lack of knowledge of the place they are travelling through makes it hard to figure out what's going on.

I might watch a video or two about it, I'm sure the scenery is stunning, but I can't say I'll be dot watching. It's also quite bizarre to see an event with only 15 people across the two races! 

I find that being a spectator and watching strangers is usually pretty boring regardless of the location. It becomes a little more interesting I know any of the participants in real life.

Yes, I had a lot of fun this year because I knew two!

I'm still enjoying reading and watching race reports on social media from Spine - John Kelly's, Damian Hall's, and a number of less famous names, all interesting. And I dream, oh I dream, but I know I am like bambi even on urban icy pavements so it will have to remain a dream.

Not overly fussed about this one. I like the actual Spine race for the course, not the branding. 

Sure. It's not been as captivating. But it has been brutal! There's only one person left now on the full course. And only one finisher of the "Challenger."