268 MILE SPINE RACE | 130 Hours of Thunderstorms, Heat and Blister Hell
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In June 2023, I traveled to the UK for only the second time ever to participate in the 2023 summer edition of the Spine Race.
This race spans the entire length of the 268-mile Pennine Way National Trail and traverses 4 National Parks. It starts at the southernmost point in Edale, England, and finishes at its northernmost point in Kirk Yetholm, Scotland. Runners climb nearly 40,000 feet while navigating some of the most challenging and varied terrain Britain has to offer.
My only goal was to make it to the finish line within the 156-hour time limit, but even that seemed impossible as I was finally toeing the starting line. Just making it to the starting line seemed unlikely just 4 days earlier. Not only had my passport arrived just 4 days prior to my flight to Europe after its renewal had taken nearly 13 weeks, but all of my luggage (and all 40lbs of my running gear and nutrition for a week) had gotten lost during the journey. I was only able to pick it up at Manchester Airport the day before my mandatory gear check and race bib pickup. The weather forecast for the entire race week had been very promising just a week out from the start.
However, this changed dramatically just days before I would depart on my biggest challenge, yet. Now, we were promised extensive thunderstorms and rain for 2 or more days. In between, we would get to enjoy unseasonably warm temperatures. Unfortunately, these conditions did materialize and caused havoc on the entire field, especially our feet. Blisters and trench foot caused some of the field to drop out early in the race. This is considered a self-supported event and with checkpoints a minimum of 40-60 miles apart, runners needed to be largely self-sufficient. I had developed my first blisters by mile 70 and with the help of one of the medics, I was able to take care of some of them. Unfortunately, a couple of them were too deep below the epidermis to lance. They would continue to get worse, limiting my ability to run.
The physical challenge of running 268 miles, the severe lack of sleep, and the compounding foot issues made this not only my longest ultra by more than 30 hours but also my most challenging. The struggles and low points throughout the race were more than counterbalanced by the amazing scenery of the place. If you enjoy this content, please do me a solid and subscribe to my channel. It helps me out a lot. And if you have any questions about gear, nutrition, or anything else related to this race in particular or ultra marathons in general, please feel free to post your questions in the comments below.
And don't forget to check out my two race prep videos discussing the mandatory gear as well as the one 40lbs drop bag runners are allowed for this self-sufficient race.
Please visit www.ultrakrautrunning.com/2023... for my complete list of both mandatory and optional gear choices.
Пікірлер: 77
This was a brilliant video. What an eye opener….and what a good man you are caring for the animals too despite it costing you time and energy. That’s what it’s all about. Well done on your huge achievement.
@ultrakraut
Ай бұрын
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed the video.
Amazing what you folks can do. I can't thinking about one wrong step and it could mean death coming off those cliffs!
@ultrakraut
2 ай бұрын
It's actually not that bad when you're out there:-)
One of the best videos of this race I've seen! Amazing!
@ultrakraut
5 ай бұрын
Thanks so much for the kind words! Hopefully you’re subscribing to keep up with this year’s videos, lots of exciting events on the horizon:-)
A really incredible vid! Thank you so much and congrats.
@ultrakraut
5 ай бұрын
Glad you liked it!
Good for you for helping the baby sheep!!! Stunning scenery. I so admire and respect your perseverance, strong performance and positive attitude on such a long and difficult route. So interesting to see the many different yet similar sections of the "path": gates, animals, smooth, rocky, paved, tunnels, fields, ridges, clouds, rain, sun, waterfalls, Alter Ego, etc. Good music, too. Thank you for an amazing video.
@ultrakraut
11 ай бұрын
Thank you very much! I’m glad you enjoyed it. It was definitely both challenging and beautiful.
Thank you for this.
Great footage. Just attempting to record these events whilst competing in them requires a whole extra level of mental energy, and an additional battery carrying/recharging burden that make it simply too much extra hassle for most. Thank you.
@ultrakraut
Ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it! Much appreciated!
Fabulous. Great entertainment thanks. Me and my girlfriend really enjoyed the video. Thanks, Raymond. 😀😀👍💪
@ultrakraut
5 ай бұрын
Glad to hear it! It was fun to both run and capture on video:-)
Absolutely loved this Martin. You put this together so beautifully. Thank you for sharing your journey. We briefly met at CP5 Bellingham where I was volunteering - I may have made you eggs on toast!
@ultrakraut
11 ай бұрын
Thanks so much, especially for the eggs on toast!!!
Thank you for filming so much! Cool to see the race and your experience with it
@ultrakraut
5 ай бұрын
I am glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for sharing this, what an achievement! My friend has just completed the Winter Spine and I’m going to interview him for my running channel - so nice to see all the scenery and checkpoints come to life!
@ultrakraut
5 ай бұрын
Thanks! Yeah, it was definitely the adventure and challenge of a lifetime.
The spine race goes through my garden and if your Lucky enough to catch me you can have some hot food and drinks 👍👌💚💛❤️
A great film ... in my part of the world too - I love running some of the Pennine trails
@ultrakraut
11 ай бұрын
Thank you! This race was definitely one of the most spectacular and challenging events I’ve ever done.
Congratulations! That looked brutal but you powered through. You Sir are an ANIMAL!!! ..... and you had awareness and kindness to save a cpl lambs. Outstanding!
@ultrakraut
11 ай бұрын
Thanks, it was a grand adventure for sure!
What a phenomenal achievement - well done! I thoroughly enjoyed your film of the whole race too - thank you. Good luck with future challenges.
@ultrakraut
11 ай бұрын
Thanks very much!
Fantastic effort, glad you got to capture Sycamore Gap. 😎
@ultrakraut
7 ай бұрын
Thanks! It was shameful to read about what happened to it just a month after I was there.
Superb achievement! I thoroughly enjoyed your video as an ex-pat and runner from the U.K. (Cumbria and N. Yorkshire) now living in Boston, USA. I hiked the PW back in the mid-90's and appreciate the hell your blistered feet went through as I too suffered as you do in the wet conditions and undulating terrain of this great "path." I have subscribed to your channel as of today so look forward to seeing more of your runs!
@ultrakraut
6 ай бұрын
i appreciate the kind words and the support! The PW is absolutely specatular and nothing like other ultras. Lots of exciting adventures and events to come in the new year and training is about to commence:-)
Great job! Thanks for recording all that amazing scenery.
@ultrakraut
11 ай бұрын
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
👊💪🎉🍾, Incredible!!!!! Congratulations!!!
@ultrakraut
11 ай бұрын
Thanks, buddy!
Congrats! Thanks for the time and effort you take to create these video's and the prep ones as well to show what you are taking, etc. I look forward to your runs in the future.
@ultrakraut
11 ай бұрын
Thanks very much! Latest race video went up last night.
well done re the sheep mate. hats off to you.
Congratulations on an absolutely amazing adventure 🏃🏽♂️💪 👏👏👏👏
@ultrakraut
11 ай бұрын
Thanks very much!
Truly inspiring stuff. Congrats on finishing off this beast of a race.
@ultrakraut
10 ай бұрын
Thanks very much! Toughest and longest challenge to date for sure!
Peat usually makes the water brown. Iron makes it orange. Most places round here are brown 👍💚💛❤️
Superb 👏👏
Nice - thanks for sharing! We met briefly at Leadville 10k :) Good luck at Tor des Geants!!!!
@ultrakraut
10 ай бұрын
I remember! Thank you!!! Hope all is well with you!
Way to go. Congrats on your race.
@ultrakraut
11 ай бұрын
Thank you very much!
Great video! I did the Summer Challenger (south) last year and my long term goal is the full summer Spine one day. Tough tough race - huge well done for getting to KY! 🎉👌
@ultrakraut
11 ай бұрын
Thank you! Good luck on your future adventure on the Pennine Way!
Great achievement and a great video 🙂
@ultrakraut
6 ай бұрын
Thanks very much!
Fantastic video!!
@ultrakraut
6 ай бұрын
Thank you very much!
Amazing effort just watched this and glad I have found your videos well done on a tough course I lived near the cheviots while I was growing up so Kobe how tough it is.well done sir
@ultrakraut
9 ай бұрын
Thanks very much! It was quite the adventure!
@22:44 the water is brown because of the iron ore it contains.
@ultrakraut
8 ай бұрын
I mentioned that to a fellow runner off camera, I was just taken aback initially until I remembered similar discoloration at other mountain races.
Do you remember going through a garden before greenhead with 2 caravans, 4 car's and lots of chicken's and ducks?💚💛❤️
🙌🏼🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🙌🏼
8:29 8 mins and the views are already amazing
@ultrakraut
8 ай бұрын
Thank you! It is a beautiful place!
Really nice vid Martin. You must have put almost as much effort into the editing as the race! Well done again on the result, and it seems like you enjoyed enough of the journey too. Will keep an eye out in case our paths cross at a future 100.
@ultrakraut
11 ай бұрын
Yes, on both accounts. It took nearly a month to finish editing:-) I cut nearly 3 hours of footage out, which pained me. The course is just spectacular!
@ultrakraut
11 ай бұрын
…and by the way, you absolutely crushed it! Congrats again!
Absolutely beautiful footage! Thanks for sharing that! How long did it take to recover from that thing? It looked like you were moving fairly well the day after.
@ultrakraut
10 ай бұрын
Thank you! While I did not have any residual muscle pain after, my cardiovascular system definitely took much longer to recover. The feeling of exhaustion persisted a lot longer than what I’ve been used to. I am finally feeling like myself again, just in time for the Tor des Geants 330 in 2 weeks:-)
what kit did you use to record/video your epic Spine race? - BTW thats the best video diary of the Spine that ive seen!
@ultrakraut
3 ай бұрын
I carried one GoPro Hero 11 and multiple batteries in my drop bag to swap once per day. I’m glad you enjoyed the video.
what is the kit list? those packs are massive!?
@ultrakraut
7 ай бұрын
Check out my kit videos kzread.info/dash/bejne/nmt1wdeFhqu0mag.htmlsi=WHNlG6HohpDxa6OF and kzread.info/dash/bejne/poGblNVmqqnOgbw.htmlsi=yo2b5j4cPhSx6kqp
I have videos of interviews from spine racers on this channel and you maybe on it. Also on my other channel rastaman Ralph 💚💛❤️
@ultrakraut
4 ай бұрын
I will check it out
Would have liked less music .Geat effort
Congrats on your awesome race!🎉 Amazing job, way to go!💪🏃🏔
@ultrakraut
11 ай бұрын
Thank you!