UKC

It's that time again!

https://live.opentracking.co.uk/spinerace24/

Since my summary of contenders at the Barkley Marathons went down well, I've got some bits and pieces together for the main names this year. Absolutely stacked field, especially in the mens race - there have been 11 Spine races so far, and 9 of those races' winners are lining up this year.

Apologies, my knowledge of the likely leading women is not too great, so it's a shorter list compared to the men.

If you have any info on anyone I've included, or especially someone I've not included but should have done, then please let me know, always interesting to find out about some of the dark horses. Also feel free to mention anyone else, whether they're near the front or not  

Good luck to everyone heading out there!

--------------------------

MEN

Former Winners:

Damian Hall

• Men's course record holder and winner of 2023 Spine Race
• Went out onto fifth loop on Barkley debut. Fell asleep immediately, didn’t make it round to finish.
• Has held, or currently holds, FKTs for Pennine Way, Coast-to-Coast, Paddy Buckley Round (summer+winter), Cape Wrath Trail, South West Coast Path.
• Lots done in the UK, and a few notable results abroad, including a fairly surprising 5th at UTMB 2018. 

John Kelly

Here’s what I wrote for John for Barkley. He then went on to finish 5 loops and become a two time finisher

• Most importantly... a former finisher at Barkley!
  • 5 loops in 2017
  • 4 loops in 2016
  • 3 loops in 2015, 2022
  • 2 loops in 2019
  • In 2022, he lost his pages on loop 3, and spent all his banked time finding them. Still seems motivated to finish another time.
• Lots of records and wins from time in the UK over the last few years, including Pennine Way, Spine Race, Wainwrights Round.
• First completion of a Grand Round, including the Big 3 UK Rounds, linked by bike.
• Ex professional Ironman triathlete, with the record for the slowest swim to still finish under 9 hours total.
• Recently just missed out on the US standard for road marathon Olympic qualifying, with a 2:26:50 road marathon. Speedy bloke!

Pavel Paloncy

• Winner in 2014, 2015, 2018, with second place in both intermediate years
• Attempts at Pennine Way record too

Eoin Keith

• Winner in 2016, 2019, 2022, with two second place finishes too
• Winner (and former record holder) of Summer Spine
• Multiple wins at Irish 24 hour championships
• Known to start very steady and wait for leaders to beat each other up, followed by him swooping in for the win

Eugeni Rosello Sole

• Winner in 2013, and led the race before retiring just four miles from victory in 2019.

Other contenders:

Jack Scott

• Agonising second place last year, finishing with Damian but getting a time penalty for a nav error
• That was faster than the previous men’s record too
• Record holder of Southern Upland Way and Lakes Meres and Waters (winter)

Kim Collison

• Former GB team athlete at World Trail Championships
• Has held records at Hardmoors, Lakes in a Day, Arc of Attrition
• Wins at Elite and Long OMM
• Former holder of Winter BG record, Lakes 24 hour fell record, Paddy Buckley record
• DNF at previous two Spines, seems motivated to finally finish one!

Dougie Zinis

• Second place in 2022
• Winner of Spine Challenger in 2020
• Double BG record holder

James Leavesley

• Podium at summer and winter Spines in 2022, plus summer 2021
• Winner of Dartmoor Way 100

James Nobles

• Winner of 2022 Dragons Back
• Winner of 2023 Northern Traverse
• Second at 2023 Cheviot Goat

Simon Roberts

• Winner of 2022 Spine Challenger North
• Winner of 2021 Dragons Back
• Winner of 2022, 2023 Cheviot Goat

Marco Consani

• Winner of races like Lakeland 100, Winter 100.
• Former GB team member, including team gold at World 24 hr championships
• Husband of Debbie Martin-Consani, first woman at 2022 Spine

WOMEN

Claire Bannwarth

• Last years winner, amongst other Spine 
• Winner of SEVEN >100 mile races in 2023 alone
• Including overall winner at Tahoe 200
• Less than four days after Tahoe, she set out and broke the Colorado Trail FKT (self-supported), a 500 mile route. 

Elaine Bisson

• Second in 2022
• Second at 2021 Dragon’s Back
• First at Spine Challenger in 2020
• Other podiums include Northern Traverse and Cheviot Goat

Hannah Rickman

• Second in 2023
• Won the 2023 Summer Sprint
• Second at Spine Challenger North 2022
• Has also won North Downs Way 100 and Ultra-Trail Drakensburg

Nicky Spinks

• (Partly taken from Barkley post)
• Has previously simultaneously held the women's record on the Big 3 Rounds in the UK
• Only person to have completed doubles of all 3 big rounds
• Winner of lots of fell races too, including four wins at the Fellsman.
• Finisher at the 450 miler Tor de Glaciers
• Has held (still does hold?) the women’s record on the Joss Naylor challenge
• Former holder of women’s Lakes 24 hour fell record

Anna Troup

• Pennine Way record holder
• Summer Spine record holder, multiple wins
• Winner of Lakeland 100, Arc of Attrition 100, Wendover Woods 100, West Highland Way race, and more.

Sharon Gayter is a former holder of the women's record for LEJOG

Ah good knowledge, cheers Nic

Some great talent in that field, sadly I won't be getting much work done next week.

I'd add in Nikki Sommers to the women's list - 2nd women Northern Traverse this year and some impressive Dragon's back finishes too tho I can't remember positions. 

Thanks for calling her out, shame I can't edit the original post.

Just looked around a bit more, she's also got a record on the Snowdonia Slate trail, and a 4th finish at the Spine, with an article on UKH.
https://www.ukhillwalking.com/articles/features/running_the_spine_its_all_a...

Good addition to the list

No 762 in the Sprint. Fortunately just one day for me.

good luck to anybody taking part, the line up is amazing! I’m helping out on the safety team through the night,  here’s to a great week! 😃👍

I’d add the following as contenders for a top 3 finish.

Men:

Rory Harris - won the Challenger South last year and 2nd in the Northern Traverse in 2022 with a very good time

Graham Connolly - dropped out after about 100 miles with injury the last two years but is quick and going very well in 2022 before he stopped.

Jason Millward - strong record in Hardmoors races (won the 110) and other strong results.

Orran Smith - went out with the leaders last year, faded to finish 10th but looks like he has the ability to do better with good pacing.

Konrad Rawlik - strong results across distances and has finished DBR twice (3rd & 4th place).

Women:

Victoria Morris - won the Challenger North and 3rd in DBR in 2022, won the summer Challenger South in 2021.

Kendra Wedgwood - won the Challenger South in 2022, the Hardmoors 200 in 2023.

Excellent! This is very good info. With the context of previous results, I do remember a few of those like Orran and Victoria, but had forgotten when I scrolled through this year's roster. Just goes to show how deep the ranks are there year!

Ooh best of luck I shall be watching your dot!

Keep an eye out for 916 Pete Spearing in the MRT Challenger North, representing Central Beacons. He was on the podium for the MRT Challenger South a couple of years ago and wanted to try the northern section. 

I read somewhere that Jasmin Paris' husband is running the Spine - somebody remind me please of his name? Presumably she is holding the baby this time.

I was on holiday in Arran last May, and was out running (v slowly as ever) late afternoon when a couple ran (quite fast) past me... and the lady was Jasmin! I nearly fell out of my running shoes with surprise; we were near the start of the Goat Fell track and I suspect they were just popping up the mountain and back before supper.

Konrad Rawlik

Well done planetmarshall!! 15 hours 45 mins blimey. IHope you are now fast asleep.

Why is Damo holding a teabag instead of a number in his profile pic?

He famously (well, maybe not that famously if you don't know) loves a cup of tea on his bimbles.

E.g.: https://jamesmackeddie.com/2020/08/05/tea-litter-co2-damian-halls-pennine-w...

Edited to add tea reference to back up my claim. By the way, I'm genuinely drinking a cup of tea whilst I write this and, get this, my name is also Damo!

Hah, thanks. Just heading home from Hebden. No prizes for speed but training was impacted by COVID and then an Achilles injury so was happy just to complete.

Massive respect to everyone doing the multi-stage races.

I think there’s some historic banter between him and John Kelly about tea and the pennine way as well. 

Currently among the four at the front.

Does anyone know if the trophy record icons are actual tracks or just an average speed calculation?

The way it is written on the tracking site makes me think it's Damian's actual track from last year. Usually on these things, if it's just an average, it's described as 'record pace' and they mention that it does not stop for sleep etc. I'd imagine this will get addressed on spine race social media over the coming days as the leaders continue to pull away from, or be reeled in by, the record marker.

Edit: just had a brainwave. Damian's record is ahead of Jasmin's, but hers is a quicker record. So it must be actual track, rather than average pace.

Yeah actually I’m sure it must be as Damo’s trophy is currently ahead of Jasmin’s

edit: snap!

I accidentally found myself in the midst of this today on my stroll up and down Black Hill! 

You were both correct! From their Facebook post:

"The Course Record Icons

Good evening Dot Watchers. A quick technical point. A few people have asked why Damian Hall's male course record icon is ahead of Jasmin Paris' course record on the tracking system.

Those icons move in line with the actual GPS data from when those course records were set, and at this early stage of the race Damian Hall was ahead of Jasmin Paris' course record pace.

Jasmin was faster over the later part of the course though so, over time, you will see Jasmin’s icon overtake Damian.

We hope this clears things up. Enjoy the rest of the racing.

Spine HQ"

I think I'm going to enjoy this "race within a race" watching Jasmin's trophy overhaul Damian's trophy at some point!

After the first 12 hours or so, I thought it was worth adding a few names to the list. There's obviously a loooong way to go but we missed a couple of people who are up near the front currently, so it would be foolish to ignore them now!

Dave Phillips: This was poor from all of us - he won the 2023 summer spine! Also holder of South West Coast Path record, and Pembrokeshire Coast Path record.

Tim Bradley: Winner of the Challenger North a year ago, plus podium in the Challenger the year before. Has won South Downs Way 100.

G Brian Hutchinson: a bit further back currently, but shared the win with Tim Bradley at that race last year.

Scott Brown: Won (with CR) the Race Across Scotland 215 miles

Lucy Gossage: highly decorated Ironman triathlete, multiple titles

Vicky Savage: second in Cape Wrath ultra

Blimey: John Kelly and Pavel Paloncy have both retired.

John Kelly sprained his ankle approaching Lothersdale

And Simon Roberts

Kim takes the lead with a quick turn around at Hawes.

Damian Hall and Konrad Rawlik also on the move again after a short stop at Hawes, a mile and a bit behind.

The next leg is 7/8 miles longer than it was before as CP3 has moved from Middleton to Langdon Beck YHA

Saw him at Crowden as I was “running” in the other direction on the Trigger and he looked out of sorted then. With the cold temps, the slabs were iced up, absolutely lethal!

Edit: for those interested, UKC’s Rob Greenwood was 5th in the Trigger.

He said on his Insta that he was purposefully sticking to an 80 hour schedule and letting the others go ahead. I guess we'll never know now whether this would have worked

Bloody heck the fellas are going quick this year.  I generally knock off work then go out to watch the leaders through the A66 on Monday evening, Kim is already passed Middleton, 6 are already passed the A66 and 8 are ahead of Virtual Jasmin.

It's not very windy, bogs are probably mostly frozen over, but it's still almost unbelievably quick.

Yeah it does seem like the best conditions they could ask for, but still very impressive to see them moving at such a pace. 

What's the gameplan for them now, do we reckon? Last year I think Jack/Damo got a short amount of rest at Middleton, so my guess would be they do similar this year in Langdon.

Alternatively, is there somewhere to sleep in Dufton, or do they have to get all the way to Alston for the next chance of a warm place to nap? If they do press on to Alston, they'll want to arrive with enough time to sleep before dawn, won't want to be wasting daylight in bed!

Looks like Kim Collision might be having problems, not moved for a bit and Damian Hall has overtaken him

Was just about to say the same. His dot is on the road, too, so that seems worrying for his chances of staying in the race. Real shame if he has to drop, he sounded very optimistic coming into this year's race, would have loved to see him reach the end, in any position.

He's just arrived at CP3 by car so must have retired 

And it might be just me but I think 2019 Jasmin is now starting to creep up on 2023 Damian!

2019 Jasmin will overtake 2023 Damian at some point

It's the sleep thing in this sort of event that I find most mind-boggling. Looking at something like an Alpine stage of the Tour De France or something like a record attempt on a big round, it seems incredibly hard but I have at least got a framework for thinking about it - like, afaict you basically need to do a ton of really hard training to jack your metabolism up to the point that it can output that sort of power for that sort of time, and if you haven't quite got it up there then you either fall behind the pace or you push too hard and bonk.

This sort of event, on the other hand, where it's essentially non-stop for days and part of the challenge is to survive on as little sleep as you can without going too loopy to keep moving I just can't even begin to understand...

What's going on with the Cow Green Res diversion with the Challenger North?

Tom Hollins (547) appears to be the only one who's done the normal route although it looks like Joe Parsons (913) changed his mind part way and Louise Goddard (540) has set out on the normal way. Are they being given a choice?

And have you noticed the black cup at the back of the Spine - presumably the slowest ever finisher 😁 - everyone still in is ahead at the moment

Yeah, I just clocked the black cup; if you click on it, it's a lanterne rouge! Nice touch.

Diversion to avoid ice - https://twitter.com/TheSpineRace/status/1746951904398078119

Yes I know! I've been enjoying that virtual race as well even though I know what's going to happen

Agreed, it's mind boggling.

Looks like Damo, Jack and James are back out, Damo with an extra 20/25 mins rest. He was in for probably around 100 minutes - enough for maybe a short nap? The others maybe a very very short nap?

Nail-biting stuff. I've spent far too much time checking dots today...

Here's an video from Langdon

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/xonHioBgZAfgtE2n/

He had time for a curry and an interview, at least! Seems a bit sleep deprived, but in good spirits as ever

Jack Scott looks like he is stretching it out over Damo. Strong. 

Konrad still pushing on. 

Is it Jack's this year? Compulsive dot-watching....

He's been helped by James, Eugeni, Dave, and Tim all dropping overnight. I'd be delighted if he won, he gave such a good showing last year. Thrilling stuff.

Claire is gaining on Jasmin's record too. If she can get through the next 12-18 hours, there should be some low pressure and clear skies to see her all the way to the finish

Jack is about 5 hours ahead of record pace and seems to be steadily increasing his lead over Damian. Will be interesting to see how much snow they get up there, especially over the Cheviots.

Yes, although Jasmin did have an incredible last few miles (when I say "few" I mean quite a few!). Her 2019 record trophy is still behind Damian's 2023 record trophy at the moment and we know she'll overhaul that before the end.

Jack is just going past Housesteads Roman fort (200 mile point), amazing speed and endurance. 

Each year I think the pace of the leading runners must be at the limit of what is possible in those conditions, but the overall standard just keeps improving.

I think where 2019 Jasmin will make time up on 2023 Damian is at the last checkpoint Bellingham where IIRC she only stopped briefly

I think that's the one where she was in and out in minutes so that she'd left before Eugeni arrived.

Ah ok, I'll look out for that. Although she already looks to be catching him coming up to Greenhead. Exciting stuff!

I am also enthralled by the actual race by the way...very impressive effort from everyone! The trophy race is just adding a little extra fun to the dot watching

Jack has just left Bellingham, he isn’t allowed to stop for more than (30?) minutes at Byrness so this is the final push.

Jasmin did about 15 hours from Bellingham to the end, which gets Jack in  about 10am for a 74 hour finish, taking the record by 9 hours or so.

Don't know what it's like further north, but the race organisers have stopped runners at Dufton and are only allowing them to proceed in groups of three because of conditions on Cross Fell. Cheviots could be interesting depending on location of snowfall.

There is a church at Byrness where people have slept before. Bold strategy, he had the time in hand to get an hour or two's sleep at Bellingham 

The real question is can he catch all the runners in the Challenge North race - only 2 to go and he's only 2 miles behind Tom Hollins

Just looked at that. Pretty impressive as he's an extra 24h and 115miles in his legs!

Just noticed they're making people group to go over cross fell. Two people from the Spine and one from the Challenger North seem to be heading back to the road from Great Dun Fell. Must be getting rough.

..... Damian's tracker not moving....

Edit....looks like it is! 

Think he stopped at Horneystead Farm for a little bit

The other question is who's going to have the fastest time in Jasmin's house?

Can Konrad keep ahead of that bright green cup 😁

I'm sitting here in my cosy armchair, having run a mere 6 miles this afternoon in the relatively toasty conditions in Berkshire, and feeling so thankful I don't have to go out am run over Cross Fell! I am in awe of everyone in these races

Runners now being held at Dufton and Greg's Hut because of conditions!

Now caught Tom by the looks of it! 

Hi, next time can you please start the thread with just a small post containing the tracker link and then put all your welcome runner evaluations in a reply to yourself.

Especially on a phone, rather a lot to scroll past every time I come back to the thread to read what others have posted.

Yep for sure (although these posts will not be particularly frequent!). Agreed though, I didn't give it any thought when I posted it but i've been frustrated by the scrolling myself, will try to remember if there's a next time.

Although since this race contained basically everyone in British ultra running, I'll probably just link back to this post and say read that  

Joe's done it on the Challenger North over 16 hours less than the previous record!

Amazing stuff!

Edited to remove my mix up!

Err, Jack's only just passed Hut 2 according to my tracker (edit: top of The Schil now, all downhill now except for the little bump before KY) but looks like he's going to take 8-9 hours off the record.

Joe's taken 16 hours off the Challenger North record and Nikki looks like she's going to take a big chunk off the women's record.

It's not so surprising that Challenger North records are tumbling because it's not been going so long. This year's impressive runs are going to make it much more difficult to improve in future years.

He's greatly extended his lead over Damian overnight.

Challenger North now won by Joe O'Leary in  44 hours something. My mind boggles at an average pace of about 15 mins a mile over that distance.

Doh! Got my race trackers mixed up! It,s gruelling this dot watching!

These times are amazing but the faster they go, the less nights sleep they're missing.

Doing the Challenger North in 44 hours basically means Joe's only missed one night's sleep plus a rather late (or should that be early) going to bed this morning.

Whereas those further back will need more sleep because they'll be out for at least two full nights.

Anyone know how much sleep Jack's had, can't be much. I think being able to minimise sleep over 3-4 days must be one of the key abilities to get a fast full Spine time.

I might be wrong, but I don't think Jack has stopped at any of the checkpoints for sleep, if that is right 3 days and 3 nights without any sleep is really astonishing.

Pah! a mere crawl, bet I could keep up with him for at least an hour - but only as long as I could choose which of the 44 hours 😁

Jack's on just over 17 mins a mile pace!

Jacks not even hit his mid life crisis. He'll be unstoppable in his forties.

He was in Langdon long enough for a very short nap, otherwise I don't remember any sleep! Absolutely ridiculous, completely smashing the limit of what people thought could be done - the weather may have been favourable, but surely no one expected something quite like this. 

In a real clash of the Titans, virtual Jasmin is 2 miles behind Konrad and closing fast!

You've got your icons mixd up - virtual Jasmin is ahead of Konrad, its virtual Damo2023 that is 2 miles behind him

No my mistake, with a mile to go, looks like going to be 10 hours off the record, not 8-9

Next generation, Jasmin & Konrad's kids?

Possibility they'll have suitable genetics 😁

Jack wins in 72:55:05, massive new record. And 54 minutes sleep!! Absolute machine 

Absolutely amazing effort Jack Scott! Good conditions with frozen ground but still 10 hours off the record is absolutely insane!

absolute and total respect! Both to jack and all those brave enough to even attempt it!

Caught a bit of someone asking him questions at the finish (probably just wanted to be asleep) and said he'd only had about 54 minutes sleep.

Poor guy looked like he was too tired even to smile - I was so wishing they'd let him rest, and interview him later!

He looks like he has aged 20 years in the last three days!

Great race between Damo, Virtual Jasmin, and Virtual Damo going on. It's going to be a close one!

Yes, I'm enjoying that one! Konrad may also catch virtual Damo but I'd say virtual Jasmin is out of reach so bragging rights remain with Jasmin

Edit to say I don't know how long virtual Damo or virtual Jasmin lingered at Hut 2, so who knows?

IIRC, neither spent long there at all - Jasmin because she was being pursued by Eugenio, and Damian because he was with Jack and wouldn't have wanted to stop, let Jack build a tiny physical lead, and then just take a subdued second-over-the-line win after penalties were applied.

Exciting isn't it!

And bonkers to think that Jack was already finished by about sunrise this morning. What a huge lead he built. 

Give it a few years (well maybe quite a few) and the winter spine will be the "easy" one and the summer spine will become the "hard" one with the excess heat and maintaining progress without dehydrating and suffering from heat exhaustion.

Just watched the video of Konrad finishing, with Jasmin and the kids jumping up and down and shouting "come on daddy". Awwww...

Interview with Jack. Very interesting! He asked a stranger on Hadrian's Wall to wake him up after 4 minutes whilst he had a quick nap!

https://www.inov-8.com/inov-8-athlete-jack-scott-smashes-268-mile-spine-rac...

Echoes of John Kelly sleeping facedown in mud at 2023 Barkley so the cold would wake him up.

These people are truly remarkable, not sure if the physical or mental achievement is more impressive - can it be both?!

Looking forward to some more great finishes - Dougie nearly in, Claire to arrive overnight, Orran might just beat dawn? And countless others after that. We've got 4 more days of this to come!

Why does it always refer to it as 268 miles when on the tracker 251 is just before KY?

Where have the other 17 gone?

Saw this earlier:

"So a few comments for clarity. The original route is around 268 miles measured on map. 

Diversions and going off to CP locations and so on usually add a little distance and very rarely reduce it. 

However a gpx file over this distance will usually show as short as it's really a series of straight lines between thousands of points. 

This means little bits get chopped of the distance on the file as it goes around corners and changes directions. This makes little difference over short races but over a very long route it adds up to decent distance and makes the course look short. 

I can assure you it is not short and they will do pretty much every one of those 268 miles. 

People's Strava may come out short as well if they are using ultra trac or similar battery saving modes as they also chip corners off etc. 

I hope that makes sense. 

Lindley Chambers - AKA the guy who writes the files and plans the route."

Jack's strava said 269 miles so that sounds about right.

The explanation given on the Open Tracking is that the horizontal distance measured on a map is 251 miles, but the 3D distance, taking account of all the thousands and thousands of meters of elevation is 268 miles.

Think back to pythagarus at school and the 3-4-5 triangle - 4 along the bottom side, 3 up the short side and the long (hypotaneus) is 5. So in that example the top down measurement would be 4, but actual distance is 5

The route isn't a coastline, but this is relevant here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastline_paradox

The gist of it is that you measure the route by breaking it down into a lot of straight line segments, and as a general rule the shorter the segments you use to measure it the longer the route will seem to be. 

With a geometric shape, like measuring the circumference of a circle, the measurement converges on a 'true' value as the segments get shorter and shorter.  (Which, for mathematicians, is ultimately the same thing as using calculus and integrating to get the distance as the length of the segments tends to zero.) 

The 'Coastline Paradox' is that for some shapes it doesn't converge, and as the length of the straight lines tend to zero the length begins to look infinite.  That's all a bit theoretical though, obviously a long distance path has a finite length, and if you really want to know how far somebody running or walking has travelled you would need to break it down into straight line segments of a single pace at a time.

The bottom line here I think is that however long the straight line segments were that were used to measure the route on a map, they will definitely have been longer than anybody's stride.  So everyone completing the race has done at least the 268miles, probably a bit more. 

(But if you get right down to it everyone completing this race, and every race, has covered a slightly different distance to everybody else.  People with shorter legs genuinely do have to run a little bit further!)

Thanks for that...

So it's effectively a similar question to "how long is the coastline", depends on the length of your ruler.

Only with this it's not totally fractal, since there are bits that are really walked in a straight line - unless you're drunk 😁

Edit: beaten to it by deepsoup

Or you haven't had any sleep for three days!

Climb doesn't add that much difference. 12000m climb is a lot but over 433km adds very little - especially not 17 miles!

Let's do some calculations on this - feel free to check my working, it's a long time since GCSE and A level maths

Pythagoras: a^2 + b^2 = c^2

From Jack's Strava, distance (a) = 433.31 km (or 433310m). Climb (b) was 12362m.

Plug this in and c comes out at 433486m, or 433.486m.

i.e. the climb has only added ~170m of distance. Given that the start and finish are at similar heights (at least in the grand scheme of things), you can probably add 170m again for the downhill slope.  340m, not even quarter of a mile

So you're looking at 433.656km, or 269.52 miles

Obviously this is based on nice smooth surfaces and straight lines (which the spine isn't last I heard), but that's all you can model against unless you get into costal distances like above.

You can also look at how much climb counts as effort in horizontal distance:

Based on Naismith's rule converting for distance not time: 10 minutes for 100m ascent vs 15 minutes for 1000m horizontal would suggest 100m climb is worth 660m on the flat. 12362m would therefore suggest an extra horizontal distance effort of 81.6km

GAP (Gradient Adjusted Pace) calculations vary (by training trackers, and by person depending upon fitness and climbing prowess), but a common rule of thumb can be that 100m climb adds an extra 1000m flat effort. This would add a further 123.6km of horizontal distance 'effort' to the same distance over the flat.

Obviously these are all terrain dependent - climbing on bogy heavy terrain is harder than on a smooth trail or road.

(why have I done this I've got loads of things to do before I go on holiday!)

Does anyone with more knowledge of the race than me know why the elites have what looks like 20L running packs but the mid pack seem to have full 60L rucksacks?

Is it just a more affordable way of carrying the kit list? Or do they carry more layers and food as they are moving slower? Just looks like a lot of excess kit (from my armchair). 

A few factors, I believe, including:

- the faster runners are running a lot more so benefit from a slimmed down pack, less bouncing

- ultra light kit is very expensive, so maybe only a justifiable expense for the most serious competitors

- similarly, the fastest runners are generally sponsored for their kit, so can have the newest lightest gear, for free

- faster runners spend less time on the course between checkpoints, so need less eg. food with them at any time

- slower runners are more likely to want an actual sleep away from checkpoints, maybe even make a hot drink, so they need kit that they are happy to use. Whereas elite runners talk about some of their kit as being as minimal as possible, because they won't use it in any eventuality.

Hi Nic - working checked and found wanting, in my opinion!

Jacks 433km included all gains due to height changes, so shows the correct distance. The map shows short because of flatness and straight lines. Your example of 170m x 2 = 340m would be modelling a very flattened triangle, actual hills are steeper than the average gradient! Think about 12 x 1000m hills making up the height gain. If these were steep (say 45 degrees) each up and down would add 1.4km to the distance walked, so 2.8 km rather than 2km. After all 12 hills that would add 9.6km to the overall flat distance...

PS: In gliding, for accuracy you need to calculate distance taking into account the curvature of the Earth, ie use a great-circle calculation.

Strava upload from Jack: https://strava.app.link/KH7wQ1h0sGb

Nuts

Now we've reached the part where I turn my attention to the back and will the stragglers to keep making checkpoint cutoffs.

Currently rooting for Raf Willems (272) to make the CP5 Bellingham cutoff - it's going to be a bit tight, I think!

Do you know what time the Bellingham cut off is? Can't find that info, though have noted that the lanterne rouge black cup is now ahead of him

The map pointer says race cut-off Friday 2400 hours

Midnight tonight.You can see the information by clicking on the checkpoint on the map.

If you look at each competitor's checkpoint times, you can see an ETA for the upcoming checkpoint. For Raf, it's currently expecting him at Bellingham at 22.55, which isn't so bad - although as you say the laterne rouge is ahead of him at the moment. When I posted earlier it was looking much tighter.

Thanks - now know how to find the cut-offs!

Hope he makes it to the end this year.

I was wondering how the various runners use their GPS or watches. I've seen a few photos of runners using etrex type GPS units on their shoulder straps, but perhaps only as spot checks?

Are they allowed to use a GPS map tracker (e.g. OS maps app with a GPX route file)?

Do most recharge their watch etc whilst at a checkpoint?

The units taped to the top of their shoulders are the trackers that produce the GPS trace for OpenTracking (the link at the top of the thread). Every competitor has one, and they are designed to last the duration on one charge (they used to need charging or switching but I believe OpenTracking have made some improvements in recent years that allow the units to last the full race)

Most runners will also have their own watch (or watches, even) for recording their run, which they will either have on a low power mode to last the duration, or charge it occasionally on the move or while stopped.

They may also have the route saved to that watch, or on their phone, if they find that the easiest way to make easy nav choices.

Then everyone also must have a handheld GPS device for navigation, something like the Garmin GPSmap 64s. This is required in the kit list, and ensures everyone has means reliable of navigation in tricky situations - in the rain, in the dark, out of mobile signal, etc.

Can't remember if it's in the kit list too, but paper maps may be carried too.

Basically, there are no rules on having too many devices (it's not like fell running), there are just minimum requirements.

Handheld GPS units are mandatory kit, competitors can use gps watches for navigation but need to have a separate standalone handheld gps unit in addition to this e.g. Garmin GPSMAp 65s. This is because gps units like these have larger screens which can display more of the route than a comparatively small watch screen. There’s nothing against using osmaps on a phone with the route in the rules, aside from the gps rules described above, but it would not be recommended as your primary navigation tool because of their vulnerability to the cold. Also you need to be contactable by the race organisers and safety team at all times in case you go off course, you stop moving for long periods of time or if a nearby runner needs assistance. Based on the blogs I read, I’m not a Spine racer yet, many charge their watches and would change their gps batteries in the cps.

Great info, thanks!

I hadn't realised the race organisers might reasonably make phone contact with the racers, but it makes sense. Good luck if you decide to do The Spine in future years

Last push now!

From the Facebook page:

"Our final pack of runners have made the cut off at the checkpoint in Bellingham, but by the narrowest of margins. Raf Willems, who comes back to the Spine for redemption from his DNF so close to the finish line last year, left with just 2 seconds to spare."

Fingers crossed for them all

Edit: it does seem now that Raf Willems has retired everyone else is ahead of the Lantern Rouge, so promising for them

I top up my watches (always take two in case one crashes or fails) in checkpoints, though many modern watches can make the distance with one quick charge. I use my watch as my primary navigation tool, putting it over my jacket so I can always see it.

I only use the handheld gps as back-up in difficult conditions because my watch doesn’t have a map. That was only once this year, to make sure I didn’t fall into Dunfell Hush in driving, drifting snow and darkness. Otherwise it was turned off for the whole race. I never use my phone for the reasons you say - to stop it going flat.

Paper map and compass are also mandatory but I never use them - not because I can’t (used to run overnight winter MMs) but because it’s slower and very easy to make mistakes when you’re very tired.

Overall though, navigation is fairly straightforward for most of the route, with only a few tricky bits if there’s a lot of snow.

Although it's too late now, I believe the Bellingham cutoff is not the arrival time, but leaving the check point by that time. Presumably the same for the other checkpoints as well.

That’s quite interesting to hear your experience, I used a watch for navigation for a winter ultra recently, previously I did the same event thumbing a map and compass but because I didn’t use poles (didn’t have those either) my quads were destroyed at the end. Second time round using the watch coupled with checking the map every now and then was more efficient and allowed me to keep my hands free for the poles. I do slightly feel conflicted about using it as primary nav tool, but I suppose I could always fall back to the map and compass if required. 

That whole Crossfell area is really disorientating, I’ve been up in the clag in autumn and you definitely don’t want to fall into all those mine workings. Well done on finishing the Spine,

Final finisher has arrived!

What a great year for us dot watchers, congrats to all the runners.

Can't wait til next year now!

It really has been a great year. Can't wait for the summer version!

I'm still in disbelief over what these people can do and I'm a runner! In some ways knowing how hard I find 30 miles makes it even harder to fathom The Spine.

Yesterday, I ran a 30 mile event with about 3000' of ascent. I chuckled to myself near the start when I remembered that I'd be urging the dots on The Spine home at 30 miles to go with phrases like "come on, you're nearly there!" Nearly there?! With 30 miles to go! My event had just started and I was already anxious about getting round. It brought home the enormous mental strength it must take to keep going even when "so close" to the finish.

Yes, this is correct. It's not unheard of for those who are only just making cutoffs to get through the checkpoints very quickly and then bivvi just outside them if they don't have time to take a nap at the checkpoint itself.

I don't know how long people spend at checkpoints - obviously to some extent, that will depend on how much time an individual chooses to spend there - however I don't know how much compulsory administrative stuff there is to do, and what is a reasonable minimum time for a fast turnaround if required.