SILVA Northern Traverse runners are now in their second day of running, many having run through the first night without any sleep. While the challenging weather of Storm Kathleen battered runners on Day 1, on Day 2 the main challenge was the extremely wet ground conditions, as runners tackled the notoriously boggy sections through the Yorkshire Dales.

Dave Phillips and Hannah Rickman have comfortable leads

Seasoned ultra-runner Mark Darbyshire set off at a blistering pace and was well ahead of both the course record and the next runner behind him when he got into Richmond this morning, having not slept at all through the night. However, sadly the cold weather and the rain took its toll, and he retired here. It was an incredible run, and we hope to see him back at a future edition. 

Now in the lead is Dave Phillips. Dave had a brilliant run at the Summer Spine Race last year taking the win, but must now contend with much more wintery conditions on this race. He is moving incredibly well through the course and has a considerable lead. If he continues at this speed, he is expected into the finish in Robin Hood’s Bay 

For much of the day, Jeremy Cottingham (who was 2nd man on the 2022 SILVA Lakes Traverse) wasn’t too far behind Dave, but he sadly dropped out shortly after Richmond.

This means Scottish runner David Parrish is now in second place. David has never taken on a continuous race like this before, but he has proven his running strength after winning the 2023 Cape Wrath Ultra.

This means Finnish runner Juha Lehtonen is now third placed male, although fourth overall.

Meanwhile, in the women’s field, Hannah Rickman is absolutely smashing her way round. She is just ahead of the course record set by Lisa Watson in 2022, in spite of less-than-ideal conditions.

She is third overall and has a significant lead on Liane van Dijk who is second in the women’s field. In third place currently is Nia Albiston, who is not far at all behind Liane, so it could be a close race for second place.

Kirkby Stephen was a popular rest and refuel destination

After a long slog through the night, many runners were grateful for the opportunity to stop in Kirkby Stephen. Here, they could take a warm shower, have some hot food, and get some much-needed sleep indoors before heading out onto the next steep climb of Nine Standards Rigg.

Runners here seem battered by the intense weather overnight, but spirits seemed generally high, with many enjoying a chance to stop and catch up with each other and share stories.

Eddie Sutton, of Tea and Trails podcast, was one of the runners we caught up with as she headed out from a well-deserved rest.

She said, “I’m feeling okay – quite battered. But generally aim is to go off the first half really steady and then generally have a bit more movement. It was pretty wild at Grisedale Tarn. I’m here. Sometimes I quite like bad weather – I was thinking ‘God I’m so cool!’” 

We caught up with Hannah Rickman and David Parrish in Richmond 

While everyone else has been struggling with the harsh winds, David seemed to take it in his stride, commenting at Shap, “It could have been worse!”

He looked fresh at Richmond, and was enjoying catching up with Hannah Rickman who arrived only a few minutes later.

He found the last section particularly tough. “I ended up doing the last bit all on my own, which wasn’t great because you have to nav it and I kept making little errors.”

While he looked incredibly strong, he has naturally slowed down with 178km in his legs. He said, “I’m going slower. I can feel it. It was runnable and I can’t get any speed. I don’t know if sleep would help though.”

After getting some food and catching up with his family, David decided to forego sleep and head back out.

Meanwhile, Hannah decided to take some much-needed rest before her onwards journey. While she wasn’t intentionally going for the record set by Lisa Watson, she is gradually getting ahead of her time.

We asked her what the toughest bit was. She said, “Nine Standards was awful. So horrible, so boggy, miserable. I saw frogspawn on the path which had turned into a pond! “

Having come second in the Winter Spine this year, Hannah is very experienced when it comes to continuous races.

We asked how the experience compared. She said, “It’s different. It’s shorter, so it’s hard to judge the sleep. I don’t know if now was too soon or if Lordstones was too late. The weather last night was worse than anything I’ve faced on the Spine though.”

The second night is set to be tough

While our runners can see an improvement in the weather, it is often the second night of running that many people will find the toughest, as this is when the sleep deprivation will really catch up with them. Deciding whether to sleep in a support point or venture out into the night must be on the minds of many of the runners this evening. 

While Dave Phillips and Hannah Rickman seem to be incredibly strong, they still have a long battle ahead of them before they make it to Robin Hood’s Bay. It is still very much anyone’s game.The next section these runners will face is the wild and remote North York Moors, and it will take every ounce of strength and resilience to get through this next night and to that much dreamt-about finish line in Robin Hood’s Bay.

Follow the journey 

Fancy some dot watching? Keep an eye on our intrepid participants as they inch their way ever closer to the finish line at Robin Hood’s Bay.

Save the date – Entries open on 12th April

Feeling inspired? Don’t forget to sign up as soon as entries open on Friday 12th April for your own adventure.