Victory for James Nobles after a close race at the SILVA Northern Traverse
James Nobles is the winner of the 2023 SILVA Northern Traverse coming into Robin Hood’s Bay at 07:45 this morning.
James had a storming run as he raced all the way from St Bees on the West Coast of Cumbria to Robin Hood’s Bay on the East Coast of Yorkshire in an impressive 47 hours 14 minutes. This is James’s second big win in less than a year, after he won the Montane Dragon’s Back Race® in September 2022.
It’s been a long journey for James, who has travelled day and night, through all weathers to the finish in Robin Hood’s Bay, where a frosty night had turned into a beautifully clear morning. He was met at the finish by his wife and 4-month old baby, who he was delighted to see after such a long adventure.
He has had a consistently strong performance right the way through the race , and the event team were impressed by not only his incredible strength and resilience, but his positive attitude even through the toughest sections.
James began the race running with a pack of strong runners, before pulling ahead and building a significant lead after Richmond. However, it wasn’t all plain sailing, with Robin Carter (second place) giving him a run for his money.
Throughout the night, Robin was creeping up behind the leader, though his efforts weren’t quite enough to catch James, who, knowing he was being chased, put on an extraordinary burst of speed. In fact, James sped up so much on the final night that he completed the final section from the Lion Inn to the finish a whole hour and a half quicker than Kim Collison, who holds the course record.
James Nobles emerged victorious after a hard race ©Tom Hecht
James found this challenge much harder than the Dragon’s Back Race
We caught James just after the finish – he seemed happy, but obviously physically exhausted.
He said, “I’m elated to be at the end."
While James has already proven his affinity for endurance running at multi-day events, the continuous format of the SILVA Northern Traverse is a new challenge.
“For me it was probably 5 times more difficult than the Dragon's Back Race just because of the continuous nature of it. I had no idea who I was for half of it. It was the lack of sleep - I struggled with that."
James’s impressive turn of speed in the final section was motivated by competition. He said, “Because of Robin, I was nervous that he was going to creep up on me. I was at Lordstones for 45 minutes in total, and he was in and out within 10 minutes. I just got out in front of him, and from then he was just pushing the whole time. It was a proper race for the last 40 miles. I kept looking on the tracker. There was usually about 5km between us, then we got to one point where he was 1km away.”
Robin and James catch up in the Event Centre after the race ©No Limits Photography
James generally preferred the mountains of the Lake District to the flatter more runnable sections, saying “I was in my element when I was climbing in the hills, but the flat bits were tricky.”
It was an incredible journey for James, with many highlights. “There's a couple of valleys in the Yorkshire Dales after Kirkby Stephen - gorgeous little valleys. That's stunning there.”
“The Support Points were amazing as always. The people there are second to none – the food was great. There were some very, very good burritos and they went down a treat.”
James was looking forward to a very well-deserved rest and lots of time to refuel after his phenomenal efforts. “I've never ever felt this tired or drained before. I feel broken.”
James was met by his family at the finish ©Tom Hecht
Robin Carter was just half an hour behind James
Robin Carter had a brilliant run after knocking an impressive 5 hours off his time from last year, completing the challenging race in 47 hours 46 minutes. While Robin has been on good form throughout, it was in the final night that he really came into his own.
It was wonderful to see such a marked improvement on his performance from last year. He said, “It seems to have gone really well. I'm really, really pleased. I went in with a different strategy. I had the confidence to run with the guys at the front of the field for a change, which I never really do, and it turned out well.”
He wasn’t aware of how close he was to the front, saying “I didn't really see James to be honest. I was more worried about Rob and Mark behind.”
Despite Robin’s phenomenal performance, there were some tougher moments.
“I did have low moments - the first night really. I think I was low on food. I tend to find eating in the night quite difficult and James and Rich who were just behind me sort of chewed me up and spat me out. I felt a bit low then. I took a good 30 - 40 minutes at Kirkby Stephen and eventually got some food in, thanks to all the kind helpers who were fantastic all the way round.”
He had an interesting nutrition strategy. “Cornflakes was the go-to food. Cornflakes with chocolate milk, an ice cream from Reeth, chips, beans and vegan mayonnaise.”
Robin Carter improved massively on his time from last year ©No Limits Photography
Third to the finish was Rob Barnes
Rob Barnes looked tired, but not at all like he’d just completed such a gruelling challenge as he ran into Robin Hood’s Bay this morning, coming in third place. He completed the run in a fantastic time of 48 hours 37 minutes.
For Rob, the SILVA Northern Traverse was unfinished business, having dropped out with an injury early on into the 2022 race.
This certainly kept the fire burning for him to come back and excel in the race this year. He said, “I wanted to get it done after last time. I came here last year and sprained my ankle after Honister Pass. I kept going to Patterdale to see if it would get better, but it didn't.”
He went very hard early on in the race, saying, “I went a bit fast on the Lake District. I was just enjoying myself - I like running in mountains but I'm not very good at it. I'm not too bad but when I'm racing against the rest of the guys here, to be around them is probably not the best pacing tactic for me.”
Rob didn’t sleep at any of the support points, instead choosing to have smaller mico naps. “I had a couple of small naps when I was feeling a bit low. Stuck to 5 minutes, lying down on a bench. I felt really tired in the late evening, then I took some caffeine and was absolutley fine.”
Like James, this is Rob’s longest continuous race to date, but his incredible performance demonstrates that it’s something he’s clearly very strong on.
Rob Barnes had a strong run into the finish ©No Limits Photography
The Top 3 Women are expected into the finish this evening
The first three women are currently expected later on this evening. In the women’s field, Lizzie Faithfull-Davies is still going strong and is making good progress through the North York Moors. While it was looking like it could be a tight race between her and Nikki Sommers yesterday, she has now strengthened her lead.
Nikki is still in second place, and still seemed in good spirits as she passed through Lordstones Support Point this morning. She didn’t stop for long, sorting her own feet and loading up on some good fuel for the onwards journey.
Meanwhile, Emily Mills who is in third place is still moving well as she makes her way ever closer to Robin Hood’s Bay.
The leading women are looking strong as they approach Robin Hood’s Bay ©No Limits Photography
Most runners still have a long way to go
With 300km of varied terrain to cover, it is unsurprising the field is now very spread out.
The Event Centre in Fylingdales Hall is still very quiet, with hours between each finisher, with finishers expected right the way through to Wednesday night.
While there is no denying that the lead runners have had a brilliant race, the really inspiring runners are those who will be going through a third and even fourth night of running. The endurance, determination and resilience it takes to keep going over such a distance cannot be understated. We will be catching up with their stories as they move through the course, or follow the journey via the live GPS tracking!
While James finished in under 2 days, many runners are still out on course ©Tom Hecht
Follow in our participants’ footsteps
Take on your own challenge and see what you can achieve! Entries are open NOW for the 2024 SILVA Northern Traverse. Or if you’d rather go for a shorter distance with stunning Lake District views, join us for the 2024 SILVA Lakes Traverse. We can’t wait to see you there!
Follow in our participants’ footsteps ©No Limits Photography