Never too old to learn - Horton-in-Ribblesdale

As we approached Horton in Ribblesdale the clouds began to recede and I didn't feel quite so silly with my sunglasses perched optinistically on my head. It was time to meet school number 2 , Horton in Ribbkesdale primary school, nestled at the foot of mighty Pen-y-Ghent.

It must be hard to be anything but a runner when you study in a village like this. Surely the children must be born with the legs of mountain goats! It is certainly an inspirational place to be. You can't help but be drawn into adventure with surroundings like this.

As we walked in I could see eager faces peering round corners and a hushed whispering of, 'Its that Andy man - the runner man'!  The school itself is a colourful place, full of artwork and photos and again, as at Kirkby Malham school, the enthusiasm of the teachers is everywhere.

The classroom  rapidly filled up with the small and not so small and the excitement was infectious.   As I filmed Andy's presentation, I found myself giggling along with the children as Andy dressed Ryan up as a Spine race runner - layers and more layers of clothes topped off with a dinosaur hat, a headtorch  and he even had his own ball of ice on his shoe ( for those not familiar check out image to the right of the shoe of last years winner!!).

All the children we have met so far have thrown themselves into Andy's challenge, with no doubts or fears just an extraordinary degree of confidence, which, I don't think I'll be alone in saying, I wish I could do too!
It was heart-warming (is that too corny?! I can't think of any other way to describe it), to see them all getting stuck in - the older ones holding the hands of the younger ones, the cheers from the teachers, the faster one waiting for the slower.  With no need of coaxing, the school was already acting like a team and thinking like a team.

There is a lot to learn from these young'uns. It can be easy as an adult to maybe not give the children the attention they deserve or to take them as seriously as we should, I am certainly guilty, but I was certainly taught a lesson by the end of our day.
Amid breathless laughing and talking,  Andy asked them for advice they would give to other children who are finding the running difficult, so when you are next out on your training run and starting to struggle have a think on these gems...

'Even when its really difficult just think how great you'll feel when you finish'
'Pace yourself, don't use up all your energy, find a pace'
'When you can't run, you can walk a bit but never stop, because once you stop its much harder to start'
'Think of all the cake you can eat at the end!'

And so it is to Edale we go tomorrow!

 If you can help us reach our target to make this film please have a look at all the lovely rewards we can offer in return!

Update and School Visits!

Time is quickly passing with our Kickstarter appeal.  With only 14 days to go we have now reached 25% of our target amount needed to  continue making the film.  People are asking us what is going to happen if we don't reach the full amount - well sadly with Kickstarter, if we don't get the full amount we get nothing, but we still have a few things up our sleeve to tempt people to pledge, so we still think we will get there.   We are still positive!
We are working on contingency plans though...the great thing about this is that whatever the outcome we have learnt a huge amount and we have managed to get the word out to a huge audience all the way around the world.  

So it is business as usual until further notice!

We are heading off to Horton-in-Ribblesdale school, at the foot of the mighty Pen-y-Ghent, on Monday with Andy to film him giving the children the challenge to run the 268miles, and if there are any parents/friends etc out there who would like to be involved or go along then please get in touch with Andy!

Horton-in-Ribblesdale

The excitement of the kids is contagious, we are really looking forward to it, and they are great to film - they are so enthusiastic and love being part of the project.    

Next Tuesday, it is an about turn back to the Peak District where we will be filming at Edale primary school at the very beginning of The Pennine Way, and we will also be meeting a National Park Ranger - to interview and discuss the Pennine Way in more detail and get a real insiders view on life on and around the Pennine Way. 

So watch this space for some more mini school films, competitions, and even maybe some goodies to be given away.

September 30th Q&A session with Andy

Cracking the Spine

September 30

Let the Questions Begin! Please comment them on this post!

Scott Gilmour How will your approach differ from last year's attempt?

Cracking the Spine I'll do some training! And get my head round the whole damn thing instead of the first third. And be positive rather than crapping it. And do detail rather than big picture. And nail the 'what' & 'why' bit. And have oceans of leverage in place. And be focused on me. And be cool with the scenario that even my best efforts may not be enough. So no, Scott - not much different at all..!?!

Scott Gilmour Well I believe your meticulous approach will pay dividend Andy! You WILL complete!


Kevin Watkins How do we get our local school involved in CTS?

Cracking the Spine Kevin, please email me directly andy@doingbigandscary.com so we set up a call time tomorrow.

Kevin Watkins Will do.

Benjamin Gardner-Hall Hi Andy who takes the best photos Matt or Ellie ? lol

Cracking the Spine oi you! but now you mention it - it's a bit like the pesto question if its good mine, if its not matts . Ta Ellie

Cracking the Spine Asking me to drive a wedge into the heart of our working relationship at this early stage is abit harsh dontcha think??


Andrew Bernie Bernard How many calories will you need every day Andy?

What supplements will you be taking?

Cracking the Spine More than I think. One of the lessons of this year was that I was eating and drinking less than I needed (energy for forward locomotion AND heat generation) - so something has to change. One of the leads this project has thrown up is the chance to work with a nutritionist which means I may well be get all scientific with the calorie stuff.


Cracking the Spine Oops - forgot to answer the 'supplement' thing: I don't as a rule. Just not comfortable with it. The only thing I've ever done is multi-vitamins. Given the possibility that we might be going all science-based on the fuel front I am, as they say, girding myself to practice the skills of being open-minded on the subject...Quite a task for a 40 something bloke who knows what he likes.


Andrew Bernie Bernard How much sleep do you expect to get?


Cracking the Spine Dunno. More interested in how much sleep I'll need 'cos this bit is uncharted waters: Do I plan it in advance expedition-style or just go till I drop runner style? Really haven't got that figured yet.

Sarah Gardner-hall Andy what's your biggest motivation to keep going when the going gets tough ?


Cracking the Spine Varies race to race, Sarah. I figure out the 'what' and 'why' for a biggie race each time. Common denominator since becoming a Dad has been our boys: See Dad finishing something he starts and enjoying the process etc...


Pete Harris Hi there . Whats the route.and what time do you.start ??

Cracking the Spine Pennine Way south to north 8am start saturday Jan 11th Pete


Kevin Watkins Andy how do you balance training time, racing and having a family?

Cracking the Spine Sometimes I get close to some sort of balance, sometimes I'm hopeless and every so often we (Charlotte and I) nail it. That's been a key: Practicing the skills of talking and sharing - now there's a concept. I'm better than I was but then priorities do shift when small people arrive. Sometimes of course if endurance stuff is our bag I think it is helpful to put ourselves out of balance, uncomfortable, hurting - as long as you can choose to come out of that and re-charge and our Significant Others have been fore-warned and have signed off on it. It's all still a work in progress tho'

Kevin Watkins Great reply Andy will let my wife read this!


Sarah Gardner-hall Do you think as I do in ultras that so much of it is mental rather than physical & if u can get your head around the distance & event that anything is then possible.?

Cracking the Spine IF you can keep your feet intact, manage your mood and find your way, then yes Sarah - I agree


Pete Harris What is the starting point

Cracking the Spine Middle of Edale village. Follow the nervous laughter - it'll be us.

Thanks to Andy for taking the time to answer all the questions.

If anyone can help us in our mission to raise money for the project please follow the link to the Cracking The Spine Kickstarter Page

Are our young people slowing down?

 I write periodically for www.tribesports.com Here's an article (not mine) about young people slowing down and a thread which is stimulating some discussionhttp://tribesports.com/topics/the-slowest-generation

Completely contrasts what we saw at Kirkby Malham primary school this week.
They asked me for my take and took a short version - here's the full one:

'I'd state three things at the outset on this one:
Beware generalisations; there are always exceptions - and we tend to get what we focus on.
So if you're writing a piece bemoaning the slowing down of youngsters then you would focus on evidence that supports your case. Wouldn't you?
I certainly would.
And if you're concerned about that very trend then you'd tend to notice stuff around you that is consistent with that - and that doesn't mean other stuff ain't happening, that's just how our brains work - especially the editing suite bit. Look up 'Reticular Activating System' and you'll see what I mean...
So 'slowing down' is certainly a part of a bigger picture - but how representative of that big picture is that part?

There's no doubt that our society has changed in many ways over the last 30 years. Most of us are more comfortable and enjoy more choice in our lives and our own hardwiring is both part of the problem and part of the solution: We are efficiency-orientated organisms programmed to achieve a desired emotional state with the least amount of effort.
Wanna feel proud? The you can crack a new gaming level on yer X-Box.
Wanna feel part of something? Join a Facebook group.
30 years ago joining your local footie team would have got you to the same state - only there was physical activity involved too.

So where am I going with this? Dunno really.
Are we slowing down? Some of us certainly are - and some of us certainly are not. Take my sport of ultra running for example and at the top of the sport there are plenty of young guns ripping up the trails in what is supposed to be a game for old guys and gals. I think we have more polarisation now than we did - that's certainly a feature of wider society so it's entirely reasonable to expect it to show in sub-cultures. So if there's less of a homogenised middle maybe it's just easier to notice the differences because differences there certainly are. One of the things we can say about the growth in 'extreme' outdoor/endurance sports is that there are clearly folks out there who are highly motivated challenge-monsters and the folks at the top end are seriously pushing boundaries.

With the degree of relative comfort most of us enjoy in our lives now you have to be really motivated to choose to break out of that. And that stands out.
And then there's the other side…'

The schools part of Cracking The Spine is all about getting 'em young, giving 'em a transformational experience and the skills to use and repeat that. No doubt a healthy % will go 'off piste' at some point through teens and 20s, but I believe they'll notice the difference eventually and if so there's a fighting chance they'll return to the fold -and that's got benefits way beyond their own lives. For me that's part of the answer to the 'Why?' bit of all this.
So let's make it happen.

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