Mud gremlins and bum slides among Spine Race tales

Mud gremlin hallucinations, bum sliding down from summits and setting off alarms in public toilets are among the anecdotes of winners of a gruelling ultramarathon.

Anna Troup, from Grasmere, was the first woman to finish the 268-mile (431km) Montane Winter Spine race along tough terrain through Cumbria, Northumberland National Park, Hadrian's Wall and the Cheviots on Thursday.

Meanwhile Rhys Beddoe, from Kirkby Stephen, broke a new record for the MRT Challenge North race, a shorter 160-mile (257km) variant of the event.

Both runners have described the joy of sharing the finish with their families and the testing conditions they faced, which included snow, horizontal hail, bog and being "encased in ice".

For 55-year-old Troup, who also won the race's summer version in June, getting to the start line itself was a challenge.

"My dad was seriously ill so I wasn't even sure if I could do it, but my brother encouraged me to seize the day.

"It gave my dad something to watch while he was being treated in intensive care," she said.

The race started off the back off Storm Goretti, which meant participants set off in full winter conditions.

"I saw the wind picking people up and dumping them, with Spine Race numbers being ripped off people's backs," Troup said.

"I decided to bum slide all the way down Kinder Scout [in the Peak District]. Undignified and ridiculous, but it worked."

Troup said a "lovely memory" was kipping in front of a roaring fire inside a woman's house.

"Half an hour later I set off out the door, only to immediately fall into a bushy verge," she said.

"Near Cross Fell I had my worst low as my back and neck went into spasm," she said.

She described not being to see beyond her arm and being "totally encased in ice", which was "pretty scary".

"I just kept putting one foot in front of another and I suddenly felt better.

"I wanted to rest and chat to people along the way to make sure I was getting the full experience."

Troup said getting to the finish line was a "total relief".

"My husband is the least emotive man ever and he scooped me up in his arms... his mother actually emailed me to say it was so nice to see."

She said although she had a "runner's lean" at the end, where an athlete starts to tilt after a lot of exertion, she was "actually really lucid and with it mentally at the end".

Troup also said her husband "really stepped up" and helped her prepare.

"Anyone who is doing a big race like this becomes really tedious - all they are thinking about is weather and performance.

"Someone keeping you sane at home is really important," she said.

Troup and her husband logged her achievement on Strava, but forgot to change it from a "morning run".

"It looks so funny... but if just one more person feels they can attempt 'their Cross Fell' because this old lady has shown them it's possible, then I will be so thrilled."

The runner, who works in financial services in London, said "everybody has a journey", advising those interested to "start in baby steps".

She continued: "99% of the time, I'm not in a position to run so I mostly use an indoor bike to train."

Alongside the main race, the event features six other races of varying distances.

This year saw strong performances from Cumbrian athletes, with Cockermouth's Sarah Perry winning the MRT Challenge South race and Rhys Beddoe, from Kirkby Stephen, smashing the record of the MRT Challenge North race in 54 hours, 42 minutes and 33 seconds.

Harry Firth, from Gilsland, on the Northumberland-Cumbria border, won the Challenger North race.

Beddoe, 39, said his reasons for doing the Mountain Rescue variant of the race was to fundraise for Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association and "for the challenge".

"Well, the conditions fully delivered on that," he said.

He said "thick black ice" was "really difficult" to move on, with moments of being "barely able stand up in the wind".

"Water levels - especially the River Tees - were so high. It was horizontal hail on Cross Fell."

Among the testing times, Beddoe said he was "smiling throughout", with it "all being about having fun".

He recalls having a nap in some public toilets near Hadrian's Wall but accidentally setting off the occupancy alarm while there.

"I'd only closed my eyes for two minutes...so that woke me up," he said.

He also had hallucinations involving "mud gremlins".

"I also thought lichen on Hadrian's Wall was Banksy artworks... I thought 'wow, I can't believe he's done paintings here'."

He said he was able to "just roll with the hallucinations", and that three portions of lasagne sorted him out.

"I just kept thinking about how lucky I was to be able to do it and just an amazing sense of gratitude for those living on the race route and helping.

"I saw Hannah, my wife, and my two stepdaughters at the finish but I wasn't sure if I was hallucinating so it was a great surprise," he said.

Beddoe said the training had a "huge impact" on his family so "it's as much their achievement as it is mine".

"Hannah made everything possible so to share the finish with her was so special," he said.

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