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'Hallucinating' mountain runner rescues lost dog

NNPMRT Clëo Bishop-Bolt is crouched down in a wooden hut holding on to a large white and tan dog. Two men in black padded winter coats stand either side of her. Ms Bishop-Bolt wears a red woollen hat with a torch attached, a red long sleeve top and a black padded body warmer.NNPMRT
Clëo Bishop-Bolt and a fellow runner got the "crying" dog to safety and a reunion with its owner

A mountain rescue volunteer who says she was "hallucinating" as she entered the final stretch of a 160-mile race stopped to rescue a "crying" lost dog in the dead of night.

Clëo Bishop-Bolt was taking part in the Montane Winter Spine Race when she came across the dog near the summit of the Cheviot, Northumberland's highest peak.

Ms Bishop-Bolt, a member of Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team (NNPMRT), said due to her exhaustion it took her a moment before she "realised that it was real".

She got the dog to a rescue hut before finishing the race in third place with a time of 88 hours.

Ms Bishop-Bolt said: "As I came towards Auchope Cairn, I started to hallucinate.

"I was seeing faces in the mud, I was exhausted.

"It had happened to me before, during the summer race, so I knew how to deal with it.

"All of a sudden this dog appeared alongside me and ran in front of me into the darkness.

"I could hear the poor thing whimpering and crying, it was so cold up there it must have been freezing."

NNPMRT The lost dog, which is a brown and white hound-like breed, in the dark, looking away from the camera.NNPMRT
Ms Bishop-Bolt spotted the dog on the Cheviot in Northumberland

The dog did not have a collar on so she and another competitor, Paula Dimond, tied a jumper to use as a lead.

After contacting race HQ, officials met them at the nearest rescue hut.

The dog was then collected by the local estates team and taken down the valley to be reunited with its owner.

NNPMRT Clëo Bishop-Bolt smiling at the camera in front of a grey and orange Northumberland Mountain Rescue 4x4 car. She's got her long, light brown hair in a plait and is wearing walking-gear, holding two walking poles.NNPMRT
Ms Bishop-Bolt came third in the gruelling race, despite the rescue detour

Ms Bishop-Bolt was taking part in the race from Hadraw in North Yorkshire to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders to raise money for NNPMRT.

She said: "I was just so thrilled to finish the race, it was a fantastic experience.

"I met so many inspiring competitors and race staff."

NNPMRT team leader Jamie Pattison, said he was "incredibly proud" of his colleague.

"Not only has she completed a brutal mountain race, raising funds for our team, but she did it whilst upholding the finest traditions of mountain rescue," he said.

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