Winter Warriors Take on the Spine Race: This Week's Trail Tally

Cheviot Hills © The Spine Race

Every January, trail running fans (and not only!) become avid dot watchers following the runners taking on the Winter Spine Races, and this year “Spine fever” has been in full swing: glued to the tracker, catching up with the nightly YouTube series, checking photos from on-course on social media… and, most of all, getting inspired for a year of new adventures! Thank you to all who shared their stories and well done to everyone!

Anna Troup Takes the Winter Spine Race Crown - Plus Stories from Second-Placed Fiona Horsfield

The Montane Winter Spine Race is dubbed “Britain’s most brutal” and sits at the top of the rankings among the world’s toughest challenges. Taking runners from Edale in the Peak District all the way up to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders, it largely follows the Pennine Way and covers 268 miles (430 km) with c. 10,000 m of ascent. But the numbers don’t tell the full story: the true difficulty lies in underfoot conditions that change as the runners move up the map, in grueling weather that goes from relentless rain to strong winds and extreme cold, and in the cumulative effects of fatigue, sleep deprivation, and time on feet. Simply making it to the next checkpoint is a victory for every runner. 

This year’s race took place in the immediate aftermath of Storm Goretti, which had brought heavy snow in parts of the country, as well as ice and strong winds. Arriving in Edale on Saturday evening, however, the runners were greeted with a peaceful atmosphere, beautiful snow-covered hills, and literally “the calm before the storm.” Sunday morning told a different story: as soon as they climbed up on the Kinder plateau, the wind and rain were unforgiving. A few starters were forced to abandon before reaching the first official checkpoint (where they could get warm and dry indoors and use their drop bag with spare kit). Conditions were biblical. 

In the women’s race, the leaders made their way slowly north, with Finland’s Johanna Antila setting the pace at the front, followed by a group of Spine veteran Anna Troup, Northern Traverse winner Fiona Horsfield, and long course specialist Sophie Grant. For much of the race, Johanna stayed at the front as snow and ice turned to rain and bogs, the temperatures fluctuated, and the sleepless nights followed one after another.

By the time they left Byrness, with around a marathon remaining over the Cheviots, Anna and Johanna were running mostly together or separated by 5 minutes at most. It was during this rough, remote part of the course that Anna kept moving well, while Johanna fell back and stopped off the route just a couple miles away from the final checkpoint at Hut 2. She later explained that she had begun to hallucinate and was very unwell. Such a shame after a monumental effort, but hopefully a good lesson for future attempts as she recovers.

The Men’s Race of Attrition Sees Sébastien Raichon Take the Win - Our Accounts From the Field

In the men’s race, it was France’s Sébastien Raichon who took the overall victory in 95:43:52, after a very dramatic few days of racing. This year’s edition welcomed back some Spine “legends,” such as previous winner and current Pennine Way FKT holder John Kelly, multiple starter Eugeni Roselló Solé, or James Leavesley, who has been second before and several times in the top 10. The treacherous conditions on the first night would end the race for many runners, while others battled through to points where they simply couldn’t carry on. Sébastien later shared that conditions felt “apocalyptic” and he tried to emulate the tortoise from the fable of the hare and tortoise, staying patient and seeing what, if any, attrition would take place at the front of the race.

Doug Stewart, an endurance running coach and experienced ultra runner, had finished the Spine Race in 2022, knowing the route and conditions quite well. However, he was forced to stop in Gargrave, after c. 115 km, after multiple falls on the ice. “Lots of the ice was hidden under puddles of water or through the bogs,” Doug told us. “This meant that descents were really treacherous. The majority of the downhills before CP1 were extremely difficult, which resulted in lots of falls for the front pack of the race.” Doug stopped to avoid any further injuries, as the Spine Safety Team were sharing diversions being put in place because of the terrible conditions. 

Several falls wreaked havoc on James White’s race, too. He and a few other “Jameses” were running relatively close together through the first couple of days, before he gradually moved ahead while others dropped out or slowed down. By the time he reached Kirk Yetholm, James claimed second place behind Sébastien Raichon. He told us: “The toughest section was definitely Day 1 to Hebden Bridge with the snow and ice. Despite it snowing far more last year it somehow seemed worse this year underfoot. Possibly as the overhead weather wasn't as nice it meant fewer walkers had been out to compact it down. And then every section of slab or tarmac was sheet ice polished by the rain.”

One of the hardest points in James’ race was having issues with his headtorch battery after he left the second checkpoint at Hawes and was climbing Great Shunner Fell in the dark: “Fortunately in races of this length you have time to calm down and not make rash decisions. I decided the best option was to call in at Keld and have a 2 hour sleep there in order to use up some of the night and equalise the hours of darkness and headtorch battery. It actually was the best thing that could have happened as I left Keld feeling great and was able to make up a lot of the lost time on the way to Langdon Beck, whilst "well" slept.”

James’ advice for people doing the race? “Grit it out and remind yourself that you just need to get to Day 3 when routine sets in, the enormity is less and some enjoyment can be had.” He’s also advising runners to buy lots of waterproof socks and make sure they spend lots of time on the route!

Behind James White, third place went to James Hargreaves - the two Jameses that made it to the end from the original front pack. Well done to the other 68 men who completed the race, as well.

Sébastien Raichon on the first day of the race © Craig Hannah

More Tales From the Spine

Behind the front of the pack, multiple storylines unfolded as the rest of the eighty-eight finishers made their way to Kirk Yetholm. The Spine Race YouTube channel covered many of these in their daily videos, which you can watch here. This year was also particularly well covered by many talented photographers out on course - so check out the Spine Race account on Instagram, where they shared many evocative stills. 

We also need to mention the amazing performances from the other Spine races, where the highlights were:

• Elaine Bisson and Nicky Spinks teaming up to run together and win the women’s race in the Challenger North in 55:57:59; they were followed on the podium by Alice Willson;

• The men’s Challenger North was won by Harry Firth in just over 46 hours, followed 2 minutes later by Michal Dzieweczynski, and in third place by Andy Shaw;

• Former Spine winner and current men’s record holder Jack Scott storming to the victory in the Challenger South, over three hours clear of second-placed Ciaran Cooke; Steve Hopwood was third;

• Sarah Page winning the Challenger South in third place overall, with Sarah Perry second woman, winner of the MRT category, and fourth overall; Susan Fawkes was third lady and tenth overall;

• In the Sprint South, Joe Leadley took the win, followed by Christopher Warner and Andy Mearns; Sophie Littlefair won the women’s race, with Kelly-Marie Staunton and Eleanor Walker joining her on the podium;

• For the first ever Sprint North, Damian Hall (former winner of the full race and former Pennine Way FKT holder) teamed up with Jon Shield to cross the line in first place together, followed by Graham McKinlay. Louise Goddard won the women’s race and was eighth overall, followed by Tasha Brook and Ilona Morgan (ninth and tenth overall, respectively).

Last but not least, the Spine Race puts on a special set of events for active members of the Mountain Rescue Team every year. Competing alongside the Challenger South and North, the MRT runners also feature in the overall rankings. This year, Sarah Perry (who recently broke the women's Backyard Ultra world record) was victorious in the women's race, placing fourth overall (just behind Sarah Page). Meriel White and Louise Beetlestone joined her on the MRT female podium. 

In the male MRT competition on the Challenger South, we saw John Evason take the win, placing seventh man overall. He was followed by Craig Brooks and Iain Airth.

There was also an MRT competition on the Challenger North. Cleo Bishop-Bolt was first in the women's race, joined on the podium by Carly Parry and Anna Danby. And in the male MRT race, Rhys Beddoe won and placed fourth overall. Tim Darlow was second, followed by David Canavan in third. 

A huge well done to everyone once again. 

Spine Race runner © David Miller

I always enjoy watching the Spine Race dots move up the map, and this year was no different. I held my breath waiting to see the Spine Safety Team head out to find Johanna Antila within a couple of miles of Hut 2, but also shouted at Kevin Munt’s dot when he turned south by accident earlier in the race. This year, Spine Race HQ published a dot watchers’ guide - testament of how much we all get involved with the race every January. I am in awe of all the starters, everyone’s stories and achievements. Well done all, I look forward to watching some of your dots in June, or next January!

- Alecsa Stewart