Montane Spine Race Preview 2024
Live tracking link is HERE
The 2024 Montane Spine Race gets underway at 8 am, on Sunday, 14th January 2024. The event has developed almost a mystical aura since it started in 2012. As I wrote in a previous post, “The insane or inspiring idea of covering the 268 miles/431 km, of one of Britain’s most iconic trails, non-stop in mid-winter, seems to have struck a chord with the running and wider outdoor community.”
THE SPINE RACE ROUTE, THE CHECKPOINTS, THE SUPPORT.
The Montane Spine Race starts at the southern end of the Pennine Way at Edale in Derbyshire, and finishes at the village of Kirk Yetholm, at the base of the Cheviot Hills, just over the border in Scotland.
It takes in 10,732 metres of ascent and 10,941 metres of descent.
Competitors have 168 hours or a full seven days to complete the course.
No tangible support is allowed on the route, and competitors must be completely self-sufficient out on the course. The use of local shops, cafes or pubs for supplies is allowed. However, no following support vehicle or crew is!
The various checkpoints offer access to hot food and drinks and the ability to leave a drop bag with fresh supplies for the next leg.
The Winter Spine Race is as much a challenge of managing yourself in winter conditions in the hills, in a continuous multi-day format, as it is a test of pure running fitness.
CHECKPOINTS
Main Checkpoints are located at,
Edale. Start. Split Distance Total Distance
Hebden Hay. 46 Miles
Malham Tarn. Monitoring point
Hawes. 67 Miles. 113 miles
Langdon Beck. 42 Miles 155 miles
Duftown Monitoring point
Alston. 31 Miles. 186 miles
Bellingham. 42 Miles. 228miles
Byrness Monitoring point
Kirk Yetholm,Finish 40 Miles 268 Miles
There are smaller intermediate monitoring stations at key locations. The route is varied and at times remote, crossing boggy moorland and passing over several summits like Kinder Scout, Pen Y Ghent and Crossfell, which at 2,929 feet or 983 metres is the trail’s highest point and the highest English summit outside the Lake District. By Alpine standards ,this is not too high. However, the weather in Mid-Winter, boggy and undulating terrain, along with the reality that there are only around 9 hours of daylight in Mid January makes for an added challenge.
The route also includes a section along Hadrian’s Wall passing the Sycamore gap, the iconic location of the recently felled sycamore tree.
2024 ENTRIES
In 2012, at the inaugural race, there were eleven starters but only three finishers. The event has certainly grown, and this year, there are 171 entrants listed with around 35 women and 135 Men.
The 2024 mens race is pretty loaded, to say the least, with five previous men’s winners in the field who have logged up 9 Spine race victories between them.
John Kelly will start the race as the favourite. The 2020 winner is also a two-time Barkley Marathon Finisher. He holds the current FKT (Fastest Known Time) for the Pennine Way in the summer.
Damian Hall, the 2023 Winner, and Barkley Marathon competitor will push John. Hall is also a previous holder of the FKT(Fastest Known Time) for the Pennine Way in the summer.
Ireland’s Eoin Keith, has five previous Spine Race finishes and is a three time winner. A record matched by the Czech athlete Pavel Paloncy. Spain’s Eugenie Rosello-Sole is another previous winner amongst the entrants.
Add to these, the talents of Kim Collison, Jack Scott, James Nobles and Simon Roberts, and there looks to be an exciting event in prospect.
Among Kim Collison’s achievements is being the previous holder of both the Lakeland 24-hour record and the Scottish 24-hour Munro record. He is also a previous record holder for an unsupported Winter Bob Graham Round. More recently he set the current record for the 300km Northern Traverse from St Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood Bay in Yorkshire. He is back for his third attempt at the Spine Race after having to drop out on his two previous attempts.
Read our pre -race chat with Kim HERE
Jack Scott, 2nd in 2023 and holder of the FKT (Fastest known time ) on the 212-mile Southern Upland Way, is in some ways the “upcoming young pretender,” still gaining experience of long multi day races, but who hopes to again challenge more experienced and well-known names at the front of the race.
Simon Roberts, amongst other achievements, proved his multi-day pedigree when winning the Dragons Back race in 2021 and has shown good recent form with a win at the 55-mile Montane Cheviot Goat in December, a race in true winter conditions.
James Nobles,another winner of the Dragons Back race down the length of Wales in 2022, and also the 298km Northern Traverse in 2023, could be one to watch along with Rory Harris, former Lakeland 100 winner and winner of the 2023 108-mile Spine Challenger race.
Spotted on the start list are the husband’s of two former Spine winners, Marco Consani, back for his second Spine, husband to 2022 women’s winner Debbie, and Konrad Rawlik, married to 2019 winner and course record holder, Jasmin Paris.
Women’s contenders
The women’s race does not have the depth of the men but includes Claire Bannwarth the returning 2023 women’s Champion. Only Jasmin Paris and Beth Pascall have faster women’s times for the Winter Spine.
In June 2023, she took the win, at the World Championships Big Dog Backyard ultra covering 402.360 Km /250 Miles. A prolific racer on the trails, she has also represented France at 24 hours with a 24-hour Pb of 234.533 miles set at the Brug race in Switzerland last September. She finished 2023 by running 226 Km /140.977 Miles in the Barcelona 24-hour track race in early December,
Nicky Spinks, a Legend of British long-distance mountain rounds and multi-day epics, will ensure the French woman will not have it all her own way. Nicky has Podium finishes at the 330km Tor des Geants in 2021 and 450km Tor des Glaciers in 2022, so brings a wealth of multi-day experience to the Spine.
Anna Troup has a string of victories in notable races, including the Arc of Attrition 100, The Lakeland 100, and in 2022, the summer edition of the Spine Race. She currently holds the women’s FKT for completion of the Pennine Way.
Elaine Bisson has podium finishes at the Spine Challenger’ the Lakeland 100, and the Northern Traverse in recent years and was 2nd to Debbie Consani at the Spine Race in 2022.
The Hare and the Tortoise,
.The event can be a little like the Hare and the Tortoise.
In 2022, Damian Hall and Kim Collison went out as if it was a mere 100 miler or intent on setting a new course record. Neither finished, leaving the very experienced and likeable Irishman Eoin Keith to come through and take his third victory in the event.
2023 saw Hall and Collison repeat their enthusiastic start. Collison would be forced to drop out with issue just beyond the 100-mile point. Hall did manage to hang on well to record the victory with a new men’s course record.
Due to a navigational error, Jack Scott had strayed off the official route in the dark one night. Having received a 40-minute time penalty for this, he took second place along with the second-best time on the course.
OTHER SPINE RACES
Along with the main Winter Spine, there are other events over the weekend. The 106-mile Challenger South which starts at 8 am on Saturday 13th January,also from Dale, and the 160-mile Challenger North starting at 8am on Monday 15th January at Hardraw.There is also the he 46-mile Spine Sprint. Full details of all the races, can be found on the SPINE RACE WEBSITE
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Adrian Tarit Stott.
The author is a former GB 24 hour ultra international with over 100 ultra race completions. He has also been involved organising ultra distance races for over 30 years. Still an active recreational runner, he is currently a member of UKA’s Ultra Distance Advisory Group (URAG) and part of the selection and team management for both Scottish and GB ultra teams.He is also a freelance writer, contributing articles and reports to several websites and magazines including Athletics Weekly and Irunfar.
