Challenge Stu

The last weekend in April normally means one thing for me - the Fellsman. It's a classic, and a race I really love. 61ish miles across the stunning Yorkshire Dales in a big horseshoe from Ingleton to Threshfield. The race has everything a race in the UK should have - big climbs, proper off road bogginess, and amazing views. It's a race I've never quite done as well at as I would like (I can't remember how many times I've been 4th but it's certainly a few), meaning that it has a continued lure to return each year. The Fellsman - why would you do any other race?? However, this year would be different, because in Yorkshire on the same day each year there's another prestigious race going on. The two even cross paths at Hill Inn, in the valley between Whernside and Inglebrough... Which probably gives away which race it is - the 3 Peaks Fell Race. There are similarities to the Fellsman, but this one is shorter (23 miles), less boggy and "off-path" (...

Last weekend I was privelaged to support Nicky Spinks in her most recent of a long line of incredible achievements. It was a great day, and resulted in Nicky's lowering of her own ladies' Bob Graham Round record to 18:06. To put it into perspective, many people who try to get round the "BG" only scrape under the 24 hour time limit by a few minutes, after years of training and hard work. Last Sunday Nicky started at 4am, from Moot Hall. The first leg was supported by Konrad Rawlik, Jasmin Paris and Jon Gay (the "Scottish contingent") and was completed on time without too much drama, apart from a cut hand. This was apparently quite deep, but was wrapped up at Threlkeld and Nicky continued on schedule. Waiting for the start of Leg 3 By the time she reached my alotted starting point at the end of leg 2, Dunmail Raise, she was within a few minutes of the planned 17:15 (!) schedule and looking good. After a couple of minutes stop and a quick re-...

Well that's it, it's summer now! The Sheffield Adventure Film Festival (ShAFF) took place this weekend, and I raced my first short fell race of the year... both make me feel like the summer has begun so the flip flops are on this morning. Firstly, ShAFF: It's a fantastic event for a city with such a strong link to the outdoors, and the attendance of climbers, runners, bikers, skiers, kayakers, and everyone else over the weekend shows that Sheffield really is the place to be if you enjoy being outside! I was involved in a few talks, watched some films, bought some gear and spent a while chatting to people, but a few highlights for me were: - Meeting (briefly!) Ricky Lightfoot on Friday night - Karen Darke's IMpossible film - Watching the tense end of the rugby in the Accelerate running hub! So thanks very much to Matt and the Heason events team for organising the event and for having me in such illustrious company as an ambassador ... Roll on ShAFF 2016! Maybe ...

So, after a bit of a last minute invitation I ended up in the Caribbean last week! I joined a yacht called Spirit of Juno to take part in the RORC Caribbean 600 race, a 600-ish mile journey around the beautiful Caribbean islands, starting and finishing in Antigua. Caribbean 600 route I flew out on Thursday for a few days of training and preparation before the start of the race on Monday... Having not really sailed since the Fastnet in 2011 (the 3 Peaks last year doesn't really count since I was a runner not a sailor!) this was definitely useful for me. When I arrived, most of the crew were already there so we had a quick introduction and got started sailing. It was also a good opportunity to wander around the marinas and see the other boats - Antigua is one of the world's few gathering places of the lesser-spotted super yacht, boats like the incredible 203ft Athos: The rest of the crew were mostly very experienced sailors, so I ended up taking on the role of enginee...

Next week was supposed to be a nice gentle taper week in preparation for the High Peak Marathon, which takes place next weekend. However, after a late dropout and an unrefusable offer from the skipper of Spirit of Juno, I will be flying to Antigua on Thursday to take part in the RORC Caribbean 600 yacht race. The weather in Sheffield has been pretty good for the last few days and the running from our new house is fantastic, but a trip to the Caribbean to race in such a prestigious event was an opportunity I couldn't turn down... Spirit of Juno is a 65 foot racing yacht operated by OnDeck , and skippered in this race by Paul Jackson, whose own boat Wild Spirit I raced the Fastnet a few years ago. Paul is also my Father-in-law, hence asking me when he needed someone who could take a bit of time off at short notice... Thanks Paul! Spirit of Juno It's all been a bit rushed so to be honest I don't know a great deal about the race at the moment, but it's 600 nauti...

Last year, thanks to my awesome friends who spent hours of their lives and risked serious finger injury by clicking on a facebook competition every hour for weeks, I was whisked away by Dogtag  to be filmed running about in the mountains near Interlaken as part of their new TV advert. As I mentioned in my last post, it was a really cool trip with some great like-minded people. Well, as well as the TV advert (which you can watch here ), the additional footage captured by Perretta Projects has been used to make a short film about each of us... Well, it will be, I'm actually the first to have my film completed! It looks really professional (obviously - these guys are professional film makers) and though my teeth appear to stick out more than I realised they do it's not as cringe-inducing as I thought it might be. There are some action shots and an interview about running, life, and the answers to burning questions such as "Is it hard?" It's a great reminder of...

2014 has been an amazing year for me, and since today is the last day of the year I've had a quick think back to the major races of the year. I've written about them all previously, but here's a quick whistlestop tour of my year. I've also been thinking forward, and plotting 2015, but more on that later... For today, here are my personal highlights of 2014. I hope you have had a great year, and all the best to anyone reading this for 2015! Skimo Scotland My Ski Mountaineering career was scheduled to start in February, but things didn't quite go to plan! After a bit of practice on a family ski trip in the Alps I did at least know how to put the skis on, though I had no idea what to expect in my first "Skimo" race at the Ben Nevis range in Scotland. Unfortunately, high winds meant that the race (and the second one on the following day) had to be cancelled. This was a shame as the snow was OK, but we just couldn't safely get to it! I have subseque...