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As you may know I have Arthritis in my right foot and some other joints.  Some days can feel like a combination of stubbing your toe continuously through the day, with every step you take.

This year I changed my car as my Arthritis in my knee was too difficult to bend to get in a low down car.  I now have worked through and developed strength to be able to live with, combining physio and exercise and run further.

Most of the above is made worse as I changed my walk gait when I snapped my right leg, tibia and fibula, in 2010.  Doctors did suggest running would be difficult again in the future.  Two operations later and having a lot of titanium supports removed I was able to run without too much pain.

In 2014 to make things worse I was diagnosed with a small blockage in my pulmonary vein that was causing black outs (one of which broke my nose)!.  This led to job change, diet and behaviour changes, to deal with the problem and to avoid a pace maker for as long as possible, but that's another story.

The challenge:

In January I will be competing in the Montane Spine Challenger North will take you from Hawes to Kirk Yetholm. That’s 160 miles on foot. I will have 108 hrs to complete. Taking on the northern section of the full race spine race along the Pennine Way.

From the Spine website:  www.thespinerace.com

The Pennine Way is one of the most demanding National Trails in Britain, and certainly the most iconic. The trail crosses some of the most beautiful and at times difficult terrain found in England, including; the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland National Park, Hadrian’s Wall, and the Cheviots; finishing at the Scottish Borders.

The MONTANE® Spine® Challenger North is open to anyone with appropriate experience* who wishes to test themselves and compete in a truly demanding race. Expect to face extreme weather, deep snow, ice, mud, bogs, groundwater, storm-force winds, and driving rain in a gruelling, non-stop, 4.5-day race from Hawes to Kirk Yetholm.

It’s not just the conditions that are against you, your own body and mind could become your worst enemy. Tiredness, fatigue, sleep deprivation, and exposure to the extremes of winter weather are all to be expected. To finish you must be prepared and willing to push yourself harder than ever before.

There is very little hand-holding on this race. We expect you to travel with a degree of self-sufficiency and skill which sets this race apart from others. Why? You should never embark on an adventure of this magnitude without the appropriate knowledge and skill to make yourself safe in a time of need. There is nothing more personally reassuring than being secure in your own abilities. That said, we still attach a GPS tracker to you with an emergency button just in case!

I have completed the south section of the race (108 miles) in 2016 and 2018 but this will be my longest race ever, in a race billed as the most brutal race in Britain, in winter, along the mountainous Pennine way from Yorkshire to Scotland on foot.

The race has approx. 50% success (or failure) rate and while I have painful niggles to work with, the sleep deprivation will be the most difficult to deal with, having suffered hallucinations in the 2018 race that was 50 miles and two days shorter.

http://madmansreturn.weebly.com