Spine Race
Written by Catriona Adams. Published 12 August 2026
The Spine Race covers all 268 miles of the Pennine Way, non-stop, from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders — with a winter time limit of 168 hours. Devised by Arctic expedition guides Scott Gilmour and Phil Hayday-Brown, it first ran in 2012 with just 3 finishers from 11 starters.
Key points
- 268 miles (431 km) of the Pennine Way, Edale to Kirk Yetholm, non-stop — winter limit 168 hours (7 days).
- Devised by Arctic expedition guides Scott Gilmour and Phil Hayday-Brown; first run in 2012 with 3 finishers from 11 starters.
- Four shorter formats share the same route: Challenger South/North and Sprint South/North.
- Jack Scott holds the current record (72h 55m 5s, 2024); Jasmin Paris became the first woman to win outright in 2019.
The numbers
| Distance | 268 miles (431 km) |
|---|---|
| Elevation gain | ~13,300 m (43,600 ft) |
| Time limit | 168 hours / 7 days (winter) · 156 hours (summer) |
| Route | Edale, Derbyshire → Kirk Yetholm, Scottish Borders — the entire Pennine Way |
| First run | 2012 — 3 finishers from 11 starters |
| Devised by | Scott Gilmour and Phil Hayday-Brown, Arctic expedition guides |
| Title sponsor | Montane, since 2013 |
| Summer edition added | 2017 |
One route, five formats
| Format | Distance | Time limit |
|---|---|---|
| Spine Race (Winter / Summer) | 268 mi (431 km) | 168h winter / 156h summer |
| Challenger North | 160 mi (260 km) | 108h winter / 90h summer |
| Challenger South | 108 mi (174 km) | 60h |
| Sprint North | 43 mi (69 km) | 18h |
| Sprint South | 46 mi (74 km) | 18h |
Current records
| Category | Holder | Time | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Course record | Jack Scott | 72h 55m 5s | 2024 |
| First woman to win outright | Jasmin Paris | 83h 12m 23s | 2019 |
Jasmin Paris' 2019 win made international news beyond the sport — she was still breastfeeding during the race and expressing milk at checkpoints, and her time broke the previous overall course record by more than 12 hours.
Why January, on purpose
Roughly 8 hours of daylight against 16 of darkness, temperatures that turn wet kit into a real hypothermia risk, and navigation made harder by exactly the conditions that also raise the stakes of getting it wrong — the Spine Race doesn't soften any of that. See our guide to self-navigation for fell and mountain running for how that skill applies when the margin for error shrinks this far.
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