The Spine is a winter ultra marathon held over a distance of around 268 miles from Edale in the Peak District to Kirk Yetholm, Scotland, along the Pennine Way. Participants are allowed seven days to complete the course.
In 2019 Yasmin Paris smashed the women's record and won the overall race in a time of 83:12:23, or about three and a half days. It inspired this poem.
In 2019 Yasmin Paris smashed the women's record and won the overall race in a time of 83:12:23, or about three and a half days. It inspired this poem.
Spine
The relentless steps of broken feet
under the mountain's watchful gaze
tread the ice-flecked ancient path
as the sun creeps through the haze.
She stares down to the stony ground
so many miles behind her now
her eyes form images that float
and fade like images of snow.
This day the Spine is calm, it
sends no blizzards, clears the sky
nature's silence is the scourge
that cleans the soul as time slips by.
Just one more hour, just one more day
across the heather, rocks and grass
holding Morpheus at bay
as she climbs the mountain pass.
Night falls as her clouded breath
rises to the glittering stars
light older than these rolling hills
guides them like a mystic's prayers
The final, aching, joyful steps
to touch the grey and silent wall
the Spine is beaten but unbowed
and repeats once more its siren call.
Tim Fellows 2019
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