Hello 2022 participants!

At the end of last year, we announced that Ourea Events would take on the management and organisation of the Northern Traverse and Lakes Traverse. Since then, we have had lots of emails and messages from participants about the event with suggestions, comments, and questions. Firstly, many thanks for taking the time to send us these, and for being passionate about the event. Secondly, my apologies for the many holding emails we have sent you in return. We have wanted to really get to understand the nuts and bolts of the event and this has resulted in quite an intense period of on-the-ground reconnoitring, venue meetings, handover meetings with Open Adventure and many operations team meetings at Ourea Events. All squeezed in with a two-week office shut down over the festive period.

Our vision is to build on the excellent foundations put in place by James Thurlow and his team from Open Adventure. We want to embrace the ethos that the race already has, but at the same time introduce the culture of Ourea Events. This inevitably means we are going to make some minor changes to the event as previously stated, and these will affect both the Northern Traverse and the Lakes Traverse. However, be 100% assured that our guiding principle for all these changes is to improve the participant experience and to make the event logistics more robust. I’ll outline all the changes below for you to read through at your convenience.

The route

I have now completed a full recce of the route. Whilst I already knew some of the route intimately, particularly around the Lake District and the North York Moors, there were some sections I had no knowledge of at all; the Vale of York for example. My choice when completing an initial recce of a race route is usually to walk as this gives me more time to reflect on the route, soak up the atmosphere and really take in the surroundings. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed walking the entire Lakes Traverse and Northern Traverse and the contrasting sections of the three national parks are quite stark when you go straight from one to the other. In summary:

The Lake District

The first 100km of the Northern Traverse is also the Lakes Traverse and this part of the route is undoubtedly the toughest. It features the roughest trails, some indistinct sections, the biggest climbs and as is susceptible to more severe weather. The initial section along the coast from St Bees (0-6km) is a delight and offers a different vista to the lakes and mountains synonymous with Cumbria. There is then a less attractive section through villages and farmland (6-15km), but the enticing view of the Ennerdale mountains is easily sufficient to keep you motivated and progress is quick. Soon you are traversing alongside Ennerdale Water (from 25km) and quickly heading up into the mountains. The entire section through the mountains of the Lake District (25-85km) is simply fantastic, following (mostly) well-defined and decent footpaths. There is another short stretch of farmland encountered (85-93km) before reaching Shap.

The Yorkshire Dales

After Shap (the finish of the Lakes Traverse) you almost immediately step into the Yorkshire Dales and the terrain morphs as you head towards Kirkby Stephen (93-123km) and that classic high moorland limestone karst landscape. Quite a contrast to the Lake District. The sections over Nine Standards Rigg (123-141km) and Melbecks Moor (141-175km) are remote and certainly have the potential to be the muddiest of the route, but they lead to the market town of Richmond, where you may find respite in quaint cafes, and the end of Yorkshire Dales section.

The Vale of York

The journey through the Vale of York (175-211km) uses a combination of footpaths, quiet roads, and tracks. There is no getting away from the fact that this is a long section of low-lying farmland but there is comfort to be gained from the knowledge you are making good progress towards the North York Moors and the quiet satisfaction of knowing this is all part of the tremendous feat of racing across an entire country.

The North York Moors

The northern escarpment of the North York Moors (211-260km) is dramatic with panoramic views to the north. The route follows superb paths and tracks throughout that will make life easier on tired legs while enjoying the spectacular landscapes of heather on the grouse moors. That said, the moors are exposed to the weather and it’s not a section to underestimate. The final section (260-283km) of the race has its own distinct character, and you traverse through fantastic woodland, rural paths, moorland, and villages before reaching the coast. The final coastal section along the Cleveland Way (283-288km) is also dramatic and makes for a fitting finale to the Coast to Coast route.

When we initially took on the Northern Traverse my natural inclination was to align the event route to the recognised Coast-to-Coast record route. This would have resulted in various changes to the current Northern Traverse route. On reflection, I have decided that we will not do this, and our focus should be on a robust and sustainable route that prioritises smooth event logistics and safety. So in 2022, there will only be very minor tweaks to the event route as agreed with various stakeholders (for example bypassing a farmyard etc.)

At the time of writing there are no other updates of the route to share, although we are in conversation with many landowners and stakeholders along the route. Any route updates will be announced subsequently and likely timed to be a talking point at the webinar coming up in February.

Format updates

I’ll walk you through these in a logical manner.

Pre-event webinar

We will be providing an optional pre-event live webinar for both Lakes Traverse and Northern Traverse participants. There will be a short presentation from us, and the opportunity to ask questions. We see this as a less formal opportunity to get know each other and clear up any uncertainties in good time before the event. This will most likely happen in February, and we will confirm the date and provide a link to all participants in due course.

Pre-event online briefings

This pre-event online briefing is mandatory and will focus on any course updates and safety matters. It will take the form of a pre-recorded video that participants will need to log in to and watch in their own time. The link to this will be sent out in late March. By covering many of the course updates and safety matters online before the mandatory in-person briefing (on the Saturday morning before the start), we expect to make the briefing process much more efficient.

Park and ride

There has been overwhelming demand for a park and ride option from Shap (Lakes Traverse participants) and from Robin Hood’s Bay (Northern Traverse participants) to St Bees. We are delighted to say that we have arranged private parking and a coach transfer service from these locations. Details are now live and we will sell park and ride tickets on a first-come, first-served basis for those who would prefer the simplicity of having their vehicle parked close to the finish.

Park and ride Robin Hood’s Bay (Northern Traverse) - departs 15:30 on Friday 1st April @ £55 per person
Park and ride Shap (Lakes Traverse) - departs 05:00 on Saturday 2nd April @ £35 per person

You can edit your entry to book your park and ride place now.

Useful to know:

We understand some of our participants will need to stay in St Bees on Friday night and accommodation options are limited. We are working on a solution to provide a basic accommodation option (but this is not guaranteed!). Please bear with us.

Registration venue

This has moved from the Seacote Hotel, to St Bees School.

Parking/accommodation in St Bees

We’ve updated the information on parking options for participants who choose to drive to St Bees, but we do recommend using our park and ride options so that your car is ready and waiting for you at the finish!

Registration, briefing and start times

Previously, Northern Traverse participants had started at 09:00, 30 minutes before the Lakes Traverse, but this would create frustrating bottlenecks on the first section of the route and also at the first support point. The Lakes Traverse will start at 09:30 as it did previously, and we will change the Northern Traverse start to 10:30 for 2022.

Registration for both the Lakes Traverse and Northern Traverse will be open on Friday evening and again on Saturday morning in the function room of the St Bees School. There will also be a short race briefing for each race held at this location immediately before a mass migration to the start.

New timings are on the details page.

Finish bag

We will transport one bag, maximum weight of 5kg direct to the finish of your race. This bag should be robust and waterproof to withstand handling and outside storage. Your finish bag will need to pass weigh-in before it is accepted onto our transport.

Drop bag (Northern Traverse only)

This is one of the elements of the event we have grappled with the most. Previously participants had to duplicate kit into two different drop bags, with each bag alternating between the different support points. After much consideration we will simplify this so that Northern Traverse participants must only supply ONE drop bag and we will take this to the same four of the six support points as in 2018. We believe that this makes planning for the event simpler for participants and logistics more complex logistics for us, but that is what we are here to do. There is a weight limit of 15kg and a size limit of 80L for this drop bag, and it will need to pass a weigh-in before we accept it onto our transport. More details can be found on the kit page.

Event rules

There has been a comprehensive update to the event rules. There are no fundamental changes, but we have brought these in line with the rules for all other Ourea Events races. It is each participant’s responsibility to familiarise themselves with these. There are two general principles, which underpin the rules of the event; fairness and safety. Please be under no illusion; we will apply these rules without hesitation or favour to everyone in the race from first to last place. We don’t want to come across as overzealous but the application of fair rules to everyone at an event is a significant part of the coherent structure of an event. I would just like to highlight a few important points:

Honest mistakes happen

We take part in events ourselves; we understand that sometimes people make genuine mistakes, for example forgetting some mandatory kit or cutting a corner of a mandatory route. Our approach is simple; if the error is accidental and if a participant confesses to having made it, they will be treated with leniency (most likely just a strike – see below)

Deliberate cheating

Any deliberate cheating will likely result in disqualification. Disqualification means that the participant will be required to leave the event immediately, and at their own cost.

Bad behaviour

We all get tired at these super long endurance events, but any aggressive and/or rude behaviour to any of the event team, members of the public or anyone associated with the event will result in disqualification.

Three strikes and you are out

We know that most breaches of the rules are accidental and as such we issue strikes. A strike is like a slap on the wrist and may also be accompanied by a time penalty. However, we realise that most participants are not really bothered if they finish in 40, or 41 hours, and therefore a time penalty is not much of a deterrent. Over the years, we have observed a tiny minority of participants (usually just one or two per event) who seem to think that the rules don’t really apply to them, and consistently break them. This is why we created the ‘three strikes and you’re out’ rule. This means if we issue a third strike, the participant immediately becomes non-competitive (i.e. allowed to finish the event, but with no result or finish recognition) or disqualified, depending on the seriousness of the rule breaches.

Mandatory kit

There are no fundamental changes and hopefully just even clearer advice about what clothing and equipment is acceptable. If you have any questions, please get in touch with us well before the event to seek clarification. There will be a thorough kit check of your mandatory kit at registration and spot checks at any time during the event. Participants will not be able to start the event if they are missing any items of mandatory kit.

Highlights of changes

Northern Traverse participants will need to pack their own plate/bowl (in their drop bag) for accessing food after the Shap support point (no disposable serveware will be available).
Northern Traverse participants will need to pack a personal first aid kit in their drop bag.
We have updated information on the spare layer all participants will need to carry.

Please see the updates on the kit page.

Menu update

Sustainable food is a fundamental component of our overarching sustainability strategy as a business. We are very aware that this strategy affects everyone because our staff, volunteers and participants all rely on the food we provide to fuel them through our events.

We have served a meat and fish free menu to participants since our first event in 2012. Over the years, we have worked hard to develop the menus we provide for our participants, to ensure the meals are nutritionally balanced for their needs. Our food sustainability policy covers this in more detail.

This does mean that there will be some changes to the menu that was offered at the previous 2018 edition of the event. We are delighted to be able to now share our menu for the 2022 event and we are confident that you’ll enjoy the nourishing, tasty, nutritionally complete menu whilst taking some pleasure from the reduced environmental impact of the event food.

We will endeavour to provide the full menu at each of our support points 24-hours a day.

Additional food options

As well as the food provided by us at support points (i.e. included in your entry), we have highlighted a number of venues along the race route who will be able to provide participants with additional food options from their regular menu. Of course, these are subject to the venues' normal opening times.

Cut-offs

Don’t worry there are no changes to the overall time to complete the course! You will have noticed that we have pushed the start times back a bit, and therefore we have adjusted the cut off times accordingly. These are clearly listed on the details page.

In contrast to our other expedition races (Montane Dragon’s Back Race® and Cape Wrath Ultra®), where the cut-offs are tight, the ethos and nature of the Northern Traverse and Lakes Traverse races allows them to be more achievable by more participants, and this is reflected in the cut-off times. The cut-off times are based on 4km/h, plus extra time for ascent, plus extra time each day to rest. Whilst participants also need to make time for sleeping and stops at the support points, remember 4km/h is ‘only’ a fast-walking pace.

GPX file

We will be providing all participants with a highly detailed GPX file of the Lakes Traverse and Northern Traverse routes. We recognise that not everyone is a navigational ninja with a map and compass, and by pre-loading the route onto a suitable device, participants are much more readily able to follow the correct route stress-free.

Race maps

In previous editions, participants were sent a (not waterproof) 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 Ordnance Survey map a few weeks prior to the event. Rather than print two copies of the map, we are going to supply one bespoke, waterproof event map to each participant. This map will be handed out at registration rather than posted. The new map will be made by Harvey Maps and be 1:40,000 scale. We have a long-standing relationship with Harvey Maps who make our brilliant, and award-winning, maps for the Dragon’s Back Race® and Cape Wrath Ultra®.

More information about the map

Race numbers or bibs?

Another topic that has created much discussion in the office and amongst the participants is whether we will continue with race bibs for the Northern Traverse. We have decided to change to race numbers for both the Lakes Traverse and the Northern Traverse. Each participant will be issued with a set of numbers (small number on the back of their rucksack/race pack, large number for the front) at registration.

Response team

Whilst we sincerely hope you won’t need their assistance, like all races organised by Ourea Events we will have a professional response team consisting of experienced Mountain Rescue team members working on the event. Their role is to provide emergency assistance to any participants on the course.

ITRA points

We can confirm ITRA points for the 2022 edition of this event as has previously been promised and that both races are listed as qualifying races.

Finally

As you can see there are various tweaks to the event format and design. Overall, we are very focused on incremental improvements to the event from a participant experience and safety perspective. Please bear with us if there are any errors, omission or contradictions and let us know so that we can clarify and speedily update the website. Thanks again for all the support.

Actions?

Participants will have been emailed some actions that are now available to, or requested of, them by editing their entry to:

reserve a space on the first-come, first-served park and ride option
ensure they fill out any dietary requirements
ensure they have filled in any relevant health information
set their Trees not Tees preferences if desired
ensure all their other personal details are correct

And of course, whilst the above has highlighted key updates, we strong recommend you sit down and read the largely re-written details page of the website.

We hope you have found this update useful and are now feeling better prepared for what to expect come April.

Good luck with your continued training and we will be in touch again soon with more updates.

Yours in running,

Shane

January 2022 update