When our Outdoor Ed Co-ordinator Jay asked if he could look at doing some volunteering as part of his PDR, this was not what any of us could have envisaged…

Montane Spine Race

“Britain’s Most Brutal” event takes place along the 268-mile Pennine Way, which stretches from Edale in the Peak District to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish borders. Participants run unsupported: they carry all their supplies (food, sleep system, clothing, and medical supplies), and no pacers are allowed.

Additionally, the route isn’t marked, and racers navigate the trail on their own.

The weeklong event and its five races extend for 2023 from January 15 to January 22.

• Spine Race — 268 miles over the full length of the Pennine Way, 156-hour time limit
• Spine Challenger North  — 160 miles on the northern part of the Pennine Way, 108-hour time limit
• Spine Challenger South — 108 miles on the southern part of the Pennine Way, 60-hour time limit
• Spine Sprint —  46 miles, 18-hour time limit

The Spine Race is designed to be gruelling. Blizzards, 70-mile-per-hour winds, waist-deep snow, and low overnight temperatures -15 at some points during the week.

A level playing field, women and men compete together against one another. Jasmin Paris still holds the women’s and overall course record of 83:12:23.

Jay’s role was as part of the Safety Team, on night shift (with very little sleep in between).

An incredibly tough volunteering job found Jay working in temperatures of -14, averaging 3 hours sleep a day and walking over 50+ Km with over 2000m of ascent.

He had the opportunity to deal with hypothermic runners, runners asleep on their feet and assess parts of the route for ice and snow to assess if diversions were necessary (this included a trip up Pen-y-Gent (694m) at 3am in fog, ice and snow. On his last day he responded to an incident which quickly escalated into a full rescue involving one of the team doctors, paramedics and 5 other safety team members. He also looked after the eventual winner of the race, Damian Hall.

Jay said of the experience “It has been a huge learning experience, taking me out of my comfort zone! I just had to grit my teeth and get stuck in. I have learned a lot more about planning and contingency, and re-enforced the skills I already have. I can’t wait to use and pass on all these skills when working with the students on their DofE.” 

He enjoyed the whole experience so much, that not only is he hoping to volunteer again next year, but he will also be running the ‘baby’ spine – The Montane Summer Spine Sprint – this June!

I think we can all agree there is no better man for the job, good luck Jay!