Meet Our Supporters: Matty and Carly run the Winter Spine Race
Meet Our Supporters: Matty and Carly run the Winter Spine Race
In January this year, Matty and Carly took on one of the toughest winter endurance challenges in the UK: the Montane Winter Spine MRT Challenge North. Covering 160 miles of the Pennine Way in full winter conditions, the race demands remarkable resilience, and the ability to keep going through cold, darkness and exhaustion. After more than 95 hours on the go, Matty and Carly crossed the finish line together – a huge achievement, and testament to their determination and dedication!
Both full-time members of RAF Lossiemouth Mountain Rescue Team, Matty and Carly know mountain rescue inside out. They regularly work alongside volunteers from Scottish Mountain Rescue teams and have seen first-hand what it takes to keep teams trained and ready to respond. Taking on the Winter Spine was not just a personal challenge, but a way to directly support the volunteers they work with, and to give something back to the mountain rescue community they are proud to be part of.
We caught up with Matty after the race to hear about their experience…
Could you tell us more about yourselves, and your time in the RAF Mountain Rescue Service?
Myself and Carly are both full time members of RAF Lossiemouth Mountain Rescue. Carly is currently the Team leader for Lossie MRT and I am the Training co Ordinator. Between us we have been in Mountain Rescue for many years.
Why did you choose to fundraise for Scottish Mountain Rescue?
Choosing to raise money for Scottish Mountain Rescue was pretty easy. We work with the SMR teams on a fairly frequent basis and get to the know the members on a fairly personal basis. We’ve both seen firsthand the difference that these donations make. People forget that the members of SMR don’t get paid to do this and they are doing it in addition to their full time jobs!
What inspired you to take on this particular challenge?
Simple… Hannah Francis from Lochaber MRT! Joking aside we’d seen this event advertised before, but when we met Hannah on the SMR Avalanche course last year and heard she’d got a place, we thought we had to join in!
View this post on Instagram
Was there anything you did to prepare for the Spine Race, both physically and mentally?
Me and Carly have both done Ultra events before, but an event on this scale was totally new for both of us. Physically we did a fair bit on Mountain trail running, in addition to our routine training weekends with Lossie MRT. Mentally I’d think we can both agree we did very little to prepare for this race… it will just be a case of one foot in front of the other.
Can you tell us about your time on the race itself – did you have any particularly high or low moments? What kept you pushing on?
Throughout the race we both had our fair share of highs and lows. The first day is always the easiest when the adrenaline is highest and you’re not fatigued. By night two, we’d had some poor weather for most of the race in the dark. Combine this with a lack of sleep and this is where it becomes pretty hard to keep your morale up as well as your partners. We can both say this is the first time we’ve managed to fall asleep whilst walking and hallucinated from lack of sleep! However, on the other hand being out on the hill for sunrise after a long old night, definitely boosts morale. We also bumped into three members from Lochaber MRT who were doing the race as well. We did sections of the race with them, which was a huge boost in morale and a pleasure to spend some time on the trail with three very physically and mentally strong individuals!
How did it feel to ‘touch the wall’? What did your recovery in the following days look like?
Touching the wall was a great feeling. It’s something that we’d both been talking about constantly which kept us going during those difficult times. Seeing friends and family at the finish line was incredible and the support from volunteers and members of the public was unlike anything either of us have experienced before. Recovery wise, the pair of us where walking around like we’d both had double hip replacements! Getting good quality whole meals in was our biggest aim with plenty of rest and sleep to try and catch up what we’d lost during the race.
What advice would you give to someone considering a similar challenge?
If we were to give advice on an event like this, we’d say prepare yourself to be uncomfortable for a long period of time, both physically and mentally. People who do events like these are usually pretty good at the physical aspect, but mentally we don’t think many people have truly pushed themselves physically when they’re cold, tired, fatigued and it’s dark and miserable weather. Doing this for 160 miles, is mentally challenging for any individual, regardless of how many times you’ve done it.
Looking back now, what does completing the Spine Race and raising such a huge amount for Scottish Mountain Rescue mean to you both?
Completing the Challenger North Spine has been very rewarding for both of us and has been a huge sense of achievement. Looking at the amount of money we’ve manged to raise during this event definitely made those long cold dark nights worth it as we know what a positive impact this will have on all the SMR teams.
A big thank you from SMR
Together, Matty and Carly raised an incredible £1,722.00 for Scottish Mountain Rescue. Funds like these make a real and immediate difference – helping to support volunteer wellbeing, specialist training, essential equipment and personal accident insurance that allow teams across Scotland to remain ready to respond – Any Hour, Any Day, Any Weather.
As people who work shoulder to shoulder with volunteers, Matty and Carly understand exactly what this support enables, and just how vital it is. We’re hugely grateful to them for taking on such a demanding challenge, and to everyone who donated and encouraged them along the way. Their effort is a powerful show of solidarity with the volunteers who give their time and skills to keep people safe in Scotland’s mountains.