Today 142 intrepid runners set off on the SILVA Lakes Traverse, a 100km journey from St Bees to Shap across the beautiful Lake District. Meanwhile, 105 began their epic 300km journey all the way across the country to Robin Hood’s Bay. 

The main challenge of the day for the participants was wind. The start line in St Bees is always breath-taking with the cliffs rising sharply out of the sea, but with the strong winds of Storm Kathleen, it was more dramatic than usual, with the waves crashing down on the beach, and organisers having to work harder than usual to put the start line in place.

Participants on the Lakes Traverse set off promptly at 7:30, with SILVA Northern Traverse participants setting off an hour later, many having observed the Wainwright tradition of selecting a small pebble to take with them on their journey across the country.   

Today participants in both races made a journey through the breath-taking Lake District, as they ran through the unspoilt Ennerdale Valley, before tackling the first high fells down into Honister slate mine and Borrowdale. From here, they tackled a rocky climb over Greenup Edge, dropping down into Grasmere before ascending to Grisedale Tarn. While on a summer day Grisedale Tarn is a popular wild swimming destination, today conditions were arduous with wind speeds of 50 miles an hour. Participants were relieved to drop down into the Support Point at Patterdale where they were treated to a free coffee by SILVA at the Fika Van before tackling the final section. For the frontrunners this involved a climb over Kidsty Pike and then along Haweswater, while the rest were diverted onto a lower route.

Runners really demonstrated their grit and determination today in conditions that can best be described as testing.

Juhana Kirk was the first into the finish in 12 hours 11 minutes

 SILVA athlete, Brian Sharp, was the leader for the first half of the day, and was only strengthening his lead despite challenging conditions on the top. However, after taking a tumble at Grisedale Tarn he sadly had to retire at Patterdale after suffering an injury to his hand, allowing Juhana to take the lead. While he is naturally disappointed for his race to end,  he has vowed to be back next year.

Juhana had an absolutely storming run, although he struggled with the effects of the high winds on his knees. Juhana has completed the Northern Traverse back in 2022, so he is no stranger to long distance challenges, having also previously performed well at the Dragon’s Back Race.

We caught him at the finish line. He said, “I’m glad to get out the wind and out the rain. At times it was pretty perilous. It was a job just to stand up.”

“I was battling Brian before he dropped, but he is a bit fast so I decided to run my race.”

He enjoyed the route in spite of the weather. He said, “It’s beautiful. In a race like this, you wish you could take it all in but you end up just looking at your feet.”

2nd into the finish was Mike Stainthorpe, who was in excellent spirits, although relieved to finally come into the warm and dry.

3rd man was Alex Shah, who slowly worked his way up through the field, really hitting his stride in the latter part of the race and was surprised to learn how well he had done in the race.

Samantha Lissaeur took the women’s win in 13 hours 27 minutes 

Samantha Lissauer was the first lady into Shap, although Beth Langley was chasing her down on the run in after Haweswater.

 Samantha was greeted at the finish by her family and her dog, and seemed in great spirits in spite of the challenging weather.

She said, “It really was a brilliant race. Everyone was so friendly.”

She found conditions incredibly tough though, particularly at Grisedale Tarn where the wind was blowing the water from the tarn up onto her, leaving her soaked through by the time she got to the finish.

We asked if she had intended to be so competitive and take the win. She said, “I wanted to get it in under 15 hours, and I did that!”

Second Lady was Beth Langley, who had a consistently strong run throughout the race and was less than 15 minutes behind Lissauer.

Georgia Campbell was the third woman into the finish, having been diverted to the lower level route along Ullswater, and was gaining on the front two ladies as she came running into the finish.

Many are being re-routed to a lower level route

Anyone through the checkpoint at Patterdale before 17:30 was sent over the full route over the high point of Kidsty Pike at 780m, where the wind speeds continued to batter the tired runners.

However, anyone arriving after this time has been diverted on a lower level route via Ullswater to avoid the winds which are picking up overnight. As a result, today’s results are provisional and will be finalised tomorrow.

We expect Lakes Traverse finishers to be arriving throughout the night and well into Sunday morning.

Mark Darbyshire and Hannah Rickman look set for a record breaking run

Meanwhile, SILVA Northern Traverse their journey to Robin Hood’s Bay on the 300km Northern Traverse course. As they head into the night, they can expect more wet and windy conditions.

Currently in the lead Is Mark Darbyshire (course record holder for the Arc of Attrition and the SILVA Lakes Traverse), who rumour has it, is looking to break the course record of 44 hours set by renowned ultra-runner Kim Collison. He is moving incredibly well, arriving into Shap only 10 minutes behind Juhana, despite setting off an hour later.

He was through Shap in record time, stopping only for half a bowl of chilli before heading back out ready for the night shift.

Meanwhile, Hannah Rickman is dominating the women’s field in the SILVA Northern Traverse. After coming second in the notorious Winter Spine Race, she looks set to do one better here. She was in incredibly high spirits as she left Shap support point, heading out into the night, and is, at the time of writing, ahead of the course record set by Lisa Watson.

However, there is still a long way to go, so it will be interesting to see how the race pans out for Darbyshire and Rickman as they continue their adventure as the race heads into its first night. With conditions being so challenging, it would seem unlikely for this to be a record-breaking year, but Darbyshire and Rickman seem determined to prove this wrong!

Follow the journey 

Tomorrow the SILVA Dales and Moors participants will be setting off on their respective journeys, while the Northern Traverse runners continue on through the night.

Save the date – Entries open on 12th April

Feeling inspired? Don’t forget to sign up as soon as entries open on Friday 12th April for your own adventure.