Mark Hetherington

Before the summer of 2022, I felt I needed to push myself even more in 2023. I landed fairly quickly with the Silva Northern Traverse. The choice came through following fellow ultra-runners Thomas Øderud & Jakob Kallevik when they ran the Cape Wrath Ultra, another event run by Ourea Events. It looked professional and well organised… something I felt was really important to allow me to concentrate on just running!

The day before the race, mum came and met me to provide transport and support up into the Lake District. We arrived at St Bees on the Friday afternoon and I got my first taste of the event’s team, rest of the field and began to feel the nerves. I had a quick chat with Irish ultra-king, Eoin Keith, fresh back from his recent attempt at the Barkley. He seemed to be keeping this as an excuse for going out and having fun, rather than winning. Others arriving from overseas added to the conclusion that this was a special event and something that everyone was looking forward to.

Registration was also a joy. The dreaded kit-check went smoothly. I was ready to go and perform my last minute checks, eat, drink and sleep well before a bright and early start on Saturday.

I had time for a nice breakfast, before heading down to the beach and in traditional Alfred Wainwright fashion, dipping my foot in the Irish Sea. A quick final brief from Race Director, Shane Ohly, and we were promptly away. We had a fantastic run out around St Bees Head up and over the cliffs. A good group of about 8 runners started off at a rocket pace. Yours truly thought it wise to forget everything that he had been planning, thus also forgetting that this race was 300km long, and went off in the 2nd group completing the first 10km in just over an hour…

At the start in St Bees ©No Limits Photography

St Bees to CP1 Rosthwaite (47km)

Having set off too quickly, I was also about to get my first tastes of what heavy rainfall had done to farmland. Moving slowly was resulting in sinking deeper into the mud, so quick feet were needed. Our initial group started to thin out as we all began to find our tempo.

We started to catch the back of the pack of Lakes Traversers who were obviously out for a nice long day (& night) out hiking and enjoying the scenery.

The trails and roads continued downhill into the village of Ennerdale Bridge and onto the beautiful Ennerdale Water. The terrain started to get technical that I started to realise my error in starting too quickly. Common sense prevailed pretty quickly and I agreed with myself that this pace would only end in a DNF and I really needed to restart my race, gather myself and run/walk a tempo that I was content with.

Following Ennerdale, a tractor road stretched on for about 7km through the old plantations on the southside of the aptly named High Stile, High Crag & Haystacks before we started the first proper climb up Loft Beck. This was my first taste of what the climbs in the Lakes would look like - it was time to crack out the poles and power on. Down at the lower areas of the climb, mud made it difficult to find grip, but moving on up, rock paths & sherpa steps made this much easier

The great part about this section all the way through to Shap was that we were mixing with other Lakes Traverse runners and there was always someone to run with. Conversations were struck up and everyone helped with the nav work, helping us down off the hill and into Rosthwaite where our first CP was. Refilling bottles, eating a whole load of veggie pizza, shortbread and flapjacks and I was back out on the trail. 

Rosthwaite to CP2 Patterdale (71km)

Running out of Rosthwaite, I knew we were heading back towards a new climb up Greenup Gill. I found myself moving along with a fellow competitor from the and conversations distracted from the long and slow climb up the hill until we would start down to Grasmere. The open spaces were amazing. One of the main reasons I love these events so much is experiencing places I have never been before and pushing myself while there. Add conversation with a variety of interesting people, and time just flies.

Moving through Grasmere, the dulcet tones of Eoin Keith made me aware from behind and I knew that I had a good guide for the next section towards Grisedale Tarn. It was only up at the top that I started to get a sense of the weather setting in as the wind gathered and temperature dropped. Bonatti trousers were adorned and the NEDA cap was exchanged with a beanie. Ski gloves added to the look and I was ready for the final push over the top. It was also here that I first encountered another competitor who I would run a fair amount with over the coming days – the winner of the women’s event, Lizzie Faithful-Davies. Along with a few other Lakes runners, we negotiated the top and descent into Patterdale just before the daylight left for the first time. 

At Patterdale, we were presented with exactly what an ultra-runner needs… Drop-bag ready upon arrival, kind and helpful volunteers who would help with hot drinks, fillings water bottles, a chef would serve up a hot meal and the offer of more and more just kept coming. If you had forgotten to do something, someone would remind you of it… The Silva Coffee truck was also here, so I managed to get a lovely cup of strong black coffee.

Patterdale to CP3 Shap (96km) 

Leaving Patterdale in the dark meant only one thing… a long, hard climb up to the highest part of the course, Kidsty Pike. The climb itself was fairly gentle and it was less than 2 hours before we were over the top. Thick fog and a damp mist made nav work harder, but we were sharing the effort and keeping a decent pace through the evening. Then came the descent… Not only was this steep and technical, it was incredibly muddy! To my embarrassment, I fell at least 20 times, caking myself in mud. I can certainly confirm that I was happy to hear that we had reached the banks of Haweswater.

The final few km across muddy farmland had been too much for a number of the lakes runners I was with and they were walking it in. It seemed a very strange thing for me that some were coming in to finish and collect their medal, and here was I just before 01:00 on Sunday morning, arriving at a third of the distance, ready to push on again through the night. No drop-bag at Shap, but a good and hearty soup, cuppa tea and some fantastic flapjacks helped me on my way again.

Shap to CP4 Kirkby Stephen (128km) 

What came shortly after Shap was a big milestone for me… crossing the M6 motorway.

So the next step of the run was through the northern side of the Yorkshire Dales National Park through the night, alone. I realised that my own company in the middle of nowhere in the dark is actually a nice place to be. The Dales were fairly easy to navigate, but due to the recent rainfall, they were incredibly muddy and it was difficult to pick a straight line as you tried to avoid deep puddles. This was especially true in the depth of the night across Tarn Moor and Ravenstonedale Moor before it became a bit more manageable as daylight started to make its presence known again as I moved over Smardale Fell. 

Moving towards the checkpoint, it felt like a good idea to get some sleep. Arriving at the rugby club, there was a mixture of emotions amongst competitors… one runner was suffering from trench-foot, others were about to get their heads down and at least 2 were determined to carry on without sleep. I contemplated the situation and realised that I really didn’t ‘need’ sleep, but that it was probably wise to try and get some. After eating a portion of chips and a fried egg, I set my alarm for 2 hours and tried to sleep. About 45 mins later and with ca 30 mins shut-eye, I emerged, semi-refreshed but ready to press on. 

A stunning day on Nine Standards Rigg ©No Limits Photography

Kirkby Stephen to CP5 Richmond (183km) 

Moving out from Kirkby Stephen presented another climb up towards Nine Standards Rigg. The climb was gentle and being alone again meant I could delve into a new band that my friend Jon had introduced me to. This got me through a lot of the next few.

Towards the top, the definition of ‘good old british mud’ was redefined. Moving through generally muddy ground, some marshland and then a whole painful distance of wet peat hags on the way from Nine Standard Rigg to Birk Dale tested the vaseline lining that I had been applying trying to waterproof my feet.

Arriving down at Ravenseat I was starting to feel some pain in my right knee. I decided that paracetamol was to be my friend for the final 50% of the run. It was about here that I was caught by Kevin Gay, and could follow a better pace with motivation and company through Swinner Gill Mines, before the unexpected but brutally steep and loose climb up Bunton Hush to Melbecks Moor. Here I received an sms from my dad that they were waiting in Reeth to cheer me along.

Having absolutely no idea how far this was, my anticipation was raised, and I looked forward to seeing someone. Little did I know that this was still about 13km! Finally down in Reeth, I stopped and bought a can of coke and a chocolate bar and sat down on the village green to discuss the journey so far.

Moving on from Reeth was a simple 16km to Richmond. Curry and chips consumed, and a further 45 minutes of tossing and turning in the tent, ended in getting up, having some scrambled egg on toast and setting off across the Vale of York.

Richmond to CP6 Lordstones (232km) 

This section was a slog… the longest part of the course with asphalt and flat terrain, meant that it really should have been easy pickings, but the body and mind can mess with you after so many km down. It started well and I saw through the tracking that many others who were ahead of me, had actually stopped, so I had moved up from an okay position to being on the cusp of the top 10. I also crossed into totally unknown territory, moving across the 200km threshold.

Keeping momentum through the dead of night was key for the mental focus as I knew it wouldn’t be long until we had the dreaded dual carriageway of the busy A19! When eventually reaching the A19, I was so happy that it was only 02:45 and cars passing by were few and far between!

I was reaching the western side of the North York Moors, where we would climb onto the higher moors. Entering the third day, I was starting to lose some vital faculties. Climbing through Arncliffe Woods, I started to wander off track, sleep-walking, and no amount of caffeine bullets or tailwind could seem to wake me from this trend. Time to try and close my eyes for a few seconds. I found a log, sat down, took off a glove and placed it on my head and closed my eyes! The “logic” behind this was to wake up as the glove fell off my head. It worked! I assess that I got about 10 seconds sleep, but this was enough for the body to reset and start to work properly again!

On the way up the final summit before the next CP, the temperature hit below zero Celsius with a mist making most areas of navigation more difficult. I was also caught by Lizzie. I finally had someone to set a tempo I could attempt to follow to Lordstones. As a final checkpoint, this was certainly time to load up on both nutrition and sleep. Mission 1 went well and I ate really well, and while I managed also to sleep, an hour was all I got before the sun and cold came to force me back out onto the hill.

Through the North York Moors ©No Limits Photography

Lordstones to Robin Hood’s Bay (300km) 

Very odd to think about a final section without any checkpoints lasting over 67km, but that’s what awaited us runners towards the end. I made a decent start out from here and realised quickly that my legs were refreshed and this was the type of terrain that I love. Nice ascents and fairly technical rocky descents. In the short distance of a few km, I passed 4 runners and still had a fairly healthy tempo to start across the ridge towards Farndale Moor. Moving past The Lion Inn, and across Glaisdale Moor, a quick stop to care for feet enabled me to continue the descent to Glaisdale with more pace than I would have thought possible. It all felt good, but I knew it couldn’t last forever. On the way through Glaisdale Rigg, I spotted the event photographers from NoLimits. “Great” I thought, “I have good speed, am looking good. Put on a smile and enjoy the moment. You may even make it onto the Instagram posts…” What a stupid thought! I made it onto the official posts alright, but my idea of ‘looking good’ obviously had no mirror to verify.

Mark on the final stretch through the North York Moors ©No Limits Photography

Down in Glaisdale, I had got the distance to Lizzie in front of me down to about 500m, and extended my lead over those behind to about 7km, but I was starting to feel I had pushed too much through that section. The boggy valley through to Grosmont was tough, and my water supplies were being depleted quicker than I had planned. Sleep-deprived, I didn’t even think of stopping at a shop or pub, but just tried to press on.

Now there were only thoughts of finishing and the goal of under 72 hours was starting to look too easy. A quick re-calculation and 60 hours was the new goal, alongside a nice cold beer at the finish! Coming out of Grosmont was a long 3km road climb up to the top of Sleights Moor and more importantly mentally, the first views of the sea on the East Coast of Yorkshire! Alfred Wainwright had different ideas of what the best route to Robin Hood’s Bay was and we were still in for a trip down into the valley at Littlebeck before the final slog across the very wet Greystone Hills to Hawsker and onto the coastal path down into Robin Hood’s Bay. 

Upon hitting the coastal path, the whole magnitude of the adventure I had been on hit me, and a few emotions were leaked out through the eyes. Running into town just before 19:30 and down the extremely steep slope of the high street towards the finish line engulfs a wealth of emotions, but the feeling of accomplishment in seeing some Northern Traverse volunteers, kitted out with British and Norwegian flags beside my Dad & Ann, cheering me in was one feeling that will remain with me for a very long time! Medal adorned and mission completed with the final dip of the toe in the North Sea!

So now, what do I make of this whole experience? Well, firstly, I am chuffed to bits! Never in my wildest dreams did I believe that I would be able to run the Wainwright route from Coast2Coast and do all 300km in 59 hours and come in 9th place in the Silva Northern Traverse! It really shows me that you can put your mind to anything and with the right support and training, you can accomplish it! Apart from that, it was a real confirmation that I love to run long distances and I love a good challenge…not just in the moment that the challenge is taking place, but in the planing, training and build-up as well! Having a goal in mind and working strategically towards it is an amazing experience and one I look forward to doing a lot more in the future!

Thanks to Shane and the Ourea team for an amazing event! Feeling safe and taken care of was the main reason I paid to do this race and the team and volunteers really did not let the event & runners down! 5 stars and top marks all round!