A MOUNTAIN rescue team volunteer is celebrating after finishing the arduous 268-mile Montane Spine Race at age 60.
It took Chris Wright more than six days to complete the challenge which follows the entire Pennine Way from Edale to Kirk Yetholm.
The challenge has raised £2,000 to date for Penrith Mountain Rescue, where he is a volunteer rescuer, and Alzheimers Research UK, in honour of his mum who is suffering from the disease.
The former teacher turned professional mountaineer said: “There was a point about 70 miles in where I was really suffering. I had a conversation in my head where I accepted defeat and that was really hard.”
Mr Wright had known what was in store for him having supported the race as part of its volunteer safety team for the previous two years.
Mr Wright said: “I slept for a couple of hours in the public toilets in Malham. I got up at 1.45am knowing I had a big job ahead of me because Hawes was another 30 miles but I pushed through.”
He eventually completed the race in 158 gruelling hours. “Looking back on it now I just think ‘wow, what an achievement’, because so many people dropped out – more than 50 per cent.”
In the process, he smashed his fundraising goal set at £500 for each charity.
The professional mountaineering and climbing instructor (MCI) said: “My main thrust in life is to inspire people to strive and achieve goals for themselves and get a buzz from doing it.”
Mr Wright is also celebrating becoming engaged to Barnard Castle art teacher Teresa Keeling. She gained gained fame during the coronavirus lockdown by turning her front window into an arts and crafts centre and offering creative things for families to do through her Facebook channel.
Mr Wright said: “I proposed last summer just after I climbed the Eiger. We became engaged in the Grindelwald, in Switzerland.”
The couple plan to marry in 2024.
For more details visit mountainmastery.co.uk or to support his Spine Race fundraising effort, see justgiving.com/team/chrisspinewinterspinerace2023.
