The Montane Spine Race is designed to be gruelling, and this year’s British winter didn’t disappoint. Blizzards, 70-mile-per-hour winds, waist-deep snow, and low overnight temperatures all took their toll on race participants. “Britain’s Most Brutal” event takes place along the 268-mile Pennine Way, which stretches from the Peak District in England to the Scottish borders. Participants run unsupported: they carry all their supplies (food, sleep system, clothing, and medical supplies), and no pacers are allowed.
John Boothman has become a bit of a club specialist in these challenging events and even though he has entered this competition previously and knows what it entails, he once more put himself forward for days of pain and suffering.
He was not long into the race and he felt sickly, to the point where he considered pulling out of it. Not only that, but there were strong winds and it was raining heavily and the going was very tough People were constantly passing him and by the time he got to Hebden Bridge, he was in 46th position. However, he slowly started feeling better and although he was just plodding steadily along, he was actually improving his position as many people were dropping out.
He slowly started clawing his way back up the field to the point that when he reached Alston, he was in 28th position. At one stage, because of the snow fall, he veered off the track and found himself up to his waist in a snow drift. He managed to get back on the track, but lost half an hour and a lot of energy with that mishap. Ascending the last major hill before the finish, again he did not feel well and his stomach felt upset. However, once on the descent, there was a hut where he could get a coffee and eat a chicken wrap and with that inside him, it gave him a new lease of life. I was a good job too, because as he was leaving the hut, three chasing runners were just arriving. He felt that he had to put as much space as he could between himself and these three runners and he was going as fast as he could. When he left the hut, there was a group of runners about a mile in front of him. With just seven miles to go, catching them looked an impossibility, but with his new found energy, he kept going and not only passed them, but led them home by 33 minutes. As for the chasing group, he led them home by 40 minutes. It says a lot about his strength of character and determination that after 260 gruelling miles, he could muster the energy to actually jog towards the finish, whilst those around him were just concentrating on slowly plodding home.
His final position was 21st man which was quite some comeback from his position at Hebden Bridge.