Blea Tarn looking towards the Langdale Pikes. #LakeDistrict #AlphabetChallenge #WeekLforLayers #Scape #Landscape #Reflections #Photography

Resident doctors in the NHS to launch a six-day strike straight after the Easter bank holiday starting at 7am on April 7 until 6.59am on April 13.

‘Superhuman’ healthcare workers saved NHS from collapse, Covid inquiry finds www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Incredible, detailed reporting, even down to times recorded, fees, wording prompts. Either this man knows 💯 what he is doing or he's astonishingly careless and gullible. Whichever is the case, he is entirely unfit to lead a political party. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/ng-i...

It turns out that the runner I bumped into at the foot of Lords Rake on Friday is Arthur Hill and is quite handy!! He set a record for the Winter Bob Graham in December 2025. www.ukclimbing.com/articles/fea...

This is terrible news for anyone who entered the Northern Traverse, Dragon's Back or Cape Wrath ultra this year. #ultrarunning www.oureaevents.com/news/2026/ce...

We had a spectacular day in the Lake District. Snow on the tops. The hills looked amazing. We ran leg 1 (Skiddaw, Gt Calva & Blencathra) coming down Halls Fell, which was a bit snowy at the top but ok after that. I carried on to do most of leg 2 over the Dodds & Helvellyn but ducked out before...

I returned to Langdale Valley for another go at the 2nd half of leg 3 of the Bob Graham. The weather wasn't very promising at the start, cold,rain, hail & gusts of wind. However the forecast was for the wind to drop and when I got to Esk Pike it had & it stopped raining! Mickledore was OK so I...

This is the exact same Guy you could find 2,000 years ago as a Roman senator gleefully listing the number of Germani slain and sold into slavery, 900 years ago exulting in the sack of Jerusalem, or 100 years ago celebrating 500 yards taken on the Western Front. Timeless chickenhawk scum.

First trip to the Lakes for a recce trip for leg 3. Leg 3 starts in Dunmail Raise near Grasmere & ends in Wasdale. It's the longest & toughest leg with 2000m of ascent. We had mixed weather with snow, rain & sun. We did about 2/3rds of the route today, plan to do the 2nd half tomorrow.

Just returning from a fantastic week of ⛷️ in the French Alps. There were massive amounts of snow.

PS Ignore the mention of 300-500 miles for shoe life. Regular readers of our posts will know that the advice is out-dated, misleading and used by manufacturers to drive over consumption. Love the shoes you own.

Lots of good advice in this article on how to reduce the cost of a marathon. Supporting your local marathon is great for reducing costs, reducing carbon emissions (over 90% of emissions for events arise from travel) and supporting your community. Great to see recommendations re preloved kit.

joyce is going after elon again

It's 24 years today since I got married to this amazing person. I appreciate all her support & encouragement for the irrational challenges I do.

Made it! Briefly touched foot in Italy before we got here.

The 2026 Barkley Marathons began with one of the strongest fields ever. The starting field came from 15 Counties as well as 15 States, and included ten women. The course seemed not to care. Over 70% of the field is done. #BM100

We are off skiing ⛷️ in France this week. Travelling by Eurostar, spending a night in Paris, then a TGV to the Alps. Just waiting to board the Eurostar with a short delay on the way down to Euston. Love travelling by train.

High time shoe manufacturers* moved on from the myth 🐂 💩 that trainers need to be replaced every 300-500 miles. And Strava need to do the same. Over consumption is bad news for the planet 🌍 * the big brands are the prime culprits

Planning & training for a 2nd Bob Graham Round attempt has started! I will (hopefully) set off at 6pm on Friday 15th May up Skiddaw. Got a few recce weekends between now & then planned, mainly concentrating on legs 3 & 4. Support crew also taking shape. Feeling a lot more confident than last time.

First race since the Spine CS today, Pendle Way in a day (a 45 mile circular trail finishing up Pendle Hill). Felt good despite the bog & mud. Hoped to finish by sunset but had to a foggy, dark climb up Pendle with v. poor visibility. Pleased with my time (10h 18). Finished 42nd & 3rd MV50.

The ever-popular West Highland Way is leading the rankings, followed by the Cape Wrath Trail, the John Muir Way, the Scottish National Trail, Great Glen Way and the Skye Trail.

Alex Pretti was a colleague at the VA. We hired him to recruit for our trial. He became an ICU nurse- I lover working with him. He was a good kind person who lived to help and these fuckers executed him. White. Hot. Rage.

The winter @spinerace.bsky.social just got more brutal. The rules are changing next year, reducing the overall time allowed for completion from 168hrs (7 full days) to 156hrs. And the total time allowed for competitors to rest in Checkpoints is reduced from 8 to 6hrs. #SpineRace

Excited to be giving three talks over the next month. January I'll be at the National Running Show on a panel with Sophie Power + Lisa Jackson. Then in Feb I'm with @emmajourno.bsky.social at @inov8.bsky.social Sheffield followed by a solo talk at Fort William Mountain Festival. Pls come say hello!

Today, I've mostly been making #marmalade. Classic Delia Smith recipe, with a few spoons of black treacle.

Until the end of the month, Franco Manca - who do very nice pizzas - will give you £1 off for every kilometre you run (as long as your run is in the shape of a pizza). Ultra runners could be eating a lot of free pizza this January! www.francomanca.co.uk/stories-and-...

This time last week I had no idea what an adventure I would be having on the Pennine Way #spinerace. (I've already downloaded the race pack for the Winter Challenger North!)

Oh no! Kevin Munt has retired at Housesteads. His race has finished with about 50 miles to go. Juan Patjane still trails behind the red lantern by about 2 miles and needs to get to Bellingham before ?midnight to make the cut off..

The department I lead on this race is 170+ people strong. I place teams at 10 locations along the 268 mile Pennine Way to care for athletes as they tackle their brutal challenges. I am so proud of the work that they do More info in ALT texts Please show them all the love ❤️ Edale 👇🏻 #SpineRace

Kevin Munt #205 and Juan Patjane #221 have been together for a lot of the #SpineRace yo-yoing with the black lantern. Now there is a little gap & Juan has fallen behind. Perfect pacing?

Big news! The world famous Tour de France is coming to Merseyside

A long post about my experience of the Challenger South #SpineRace. This was my 1st 100-mile race. My longest race before this was Lakes in a Day (50 miles), & a BGR attempt that finished at Honister. However, I had trained hard since October, doing 32-35 mile runs, and felt ready to give it a go.

I made it to Hawes, 47 hours after leaving Edale. Very pleased to finish my first 💯 miler. Feel we had the full range of Spine weather. Day 1 beautiful snow with packed snow underfoot. Day 2 intermittent rain/sleet, sheet ice underfoot & strong wind that made the final leg from Horton interesting.

I've made it to CP 1 at Hebden Hey. Meanwhile the leaders are beyond Gargrave. Great weather today. Very icy and have mangled one of my YakTrax. Fortunately a very generous runner who is not continuing has lent me his pair. #308

We made it! Kit all checked & raring to go tomorrow morning! 🏃‍♂️ 💯 miles ❄️ 🏔

This is the kit I'm hauling 100 miles up the Pennine Way through the snow ❄️, will probably be wearing half of it!

Storm Goretti is due to make the @spinerace.bsky.social interesting. For those dot-watching, the start of the Challenger South race & Sprint South have been put back to 10am & 1pm on Saturday morning. This is due to train cancellations planned between tomorrow & Friday.

Went for a slog up the very wintry Carneddau in North Wales. Testing out my Spine layering to see how it fares in the cold. Waist deep snow in some places.

8 days until my Spine CS! 2 planned runs left next week, one gym visit and two clinical shifts this weekend where I'll be trying to dodge any last-minute viruses. Last minute race organisation in full flow, mainly sorting out my CP routine & printing it & useful notes to myself.

The Spine Races start next weekend. There are some outstanding runners in all the races. The full Spine Race has Allie Bailey, John Kelly & Eugeni Sole. Jack Scott is competing in the Challenger South, Nicky Spinks in the longer Challenger North. Damian Hall is competing in the Sprint North.

Happy to finish the year with some pre-work hill reps. Takes me over 300km for the month & over 6000m ascent. This is the most distance I've run in a month, and takes me to within a marathon of my yearly target. Think I am physically ready for my southern Spine adventure. #SpineRace #UltraRunning

Delighted to be appointed as interim Divisional Medical Director for Broadgreen Hospital from 1st January. This will mean looking after operating theatres, preop services & pain medicine as well as the Medical services and wards on the site.

Finished my biggest volume week with a run from Crowden to Black Moss reservoir (& back) on the Pennine Way with my full kit on. Weather was mizzly and misty. (No good in glasses!) Underfoot was pretty wet & muddy. Easy week coming up now. #ultrarunning

I've received my time slot for registration today...just over 3 weeks to go!!

Last month I fulfilled my longtime dream of running 100 miles in a single day. This is the story of how it all unfolded, one mile at a time. #running

I've done my planned longest run last week (35 miles)..picked a beautiful day for it on the Clywdian Range in North Wales, running from dawn until dusk. I was pleased with how I felt at the end. I have a big couple of mileage weeks coming up, including a bimble on the Pennine Way. #ultrarunning

Proud of my training this month. I've run 300km (nearly all on trails) and climbed almost 6000m in the month. Just need to keep it going in December! strava.app.link/Pj9L2rZCIYb

The youngest child took me to see Seb Lowe in Manchester last night. He was amazing, and only 22. Folky/rocky protest songs, like a very sweary Billy Bragg. Best songs are Love Bomb & Dogs and Cats.