Now let’s fast forward over the next 3 months, when the Ourea Events team and I excitedly prepared for our first Northern Traverse race. The handover from James and his team at Open Adventure was faultless, but nothing beats the experience of organising the event for yourself. We have all been acutely aware of some uncertainties in our own planning, and conscious of the unknowns lying ahead of us. 

This report will focus on the SILVA Lakes Traverse. The SILVA Northern Traverse Event Director’s Report will be shared in the next few days. You’ll need to read both to get a full and rounded view of the entire event week.

It’s been an incredible final day of running, as the last finishers have made it to Robin Hood’s Bay well ahead of the cut-off time. The standard of running has been superb, with both the men’s and women’s records being broken by a huge margin, and all 104 finishers making it in well within the final cut-off.

The 2022 edition of the SILVA Northern Traverse, a challenging continuous race that follows Wainwright’s famous Coast to Coast route, is the third edition of this event. This year, several dedicated ultra-runners have come back to run it for the third time, having now participated in every single race since its inception.

Although the first finishers are now in, there are still many runners out on the course. Today and yesterday, runners will have been crossing the North York Moors, a hugely varied section, involving woodland, bogs, well-maintained trails and a fun scramble up the Wainstones. From here, participants travelling in daylight will get good views of the Matterhorn of the North East, Roseberry Topping, and will catch their first glimpse of the North Sea, their final destination.

Kim Collison is the winner of the SILVA Northern Traverse after arriving in Robin Hood’s Bay at 6:54 this morning. He took just 44 hours and 24 minutes to get from St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay on the other side, beating the previous record by an impressive 7 hours.

Runners on the SILVA Northern Traverse have now completed their second day of running as they head into the night for a second time.

Today, many runners crossed the Yorkshire Dales section of the route.

Both the male and female records were broken on Saturday 2nd April at the 2022 SILVA Lakes Traverse, a 100km ultra race starting in St Bees and ending in Shap.

On Friday evening and Saturday morning, participants gathered in the usually quiet village of St Bees for the start of the SILVA Northern Traverse & Lakes Traverse as registration opened.