Why Is The Spine Race So Tough?

Let’s face it, racing up the length of the Pennine Way is going to be hard in any conditions, but in winter things can be particularly brutal. Potential hazards include blizzards, snow drifts, rain and mud underfoot, fog, wind and anything else winter can throw at you.

Add in cumulative fatigue, extreme sleep deprivation,  injury potential, long hours of darkness and, despite the route being a mostly way-marked trail, it’s going to be as tough as it gets. Just finishing is an amazing achievement, let alone winning.

 ‘The Spine Race was born not just to test ultra-racing skills, but expedition skills. We wanted to take things to a whole new level’

There are five manned checkpoints en route where competitors can rest-up, resupply from pre-packed duffles and get medical attention, but in between those, they have to be self-sufficient.

Racers carry between 5 and 10kg of mandatory equipment including bivi kit, stove and other survival gear, all carefully chosen for a balance of functionality and lightness.

Savvy racers will adapt their kit choice to cope with the savage conditions, some, for example will stash oversized shoes their re-supply duffles to cope with their feet swelling during the race.

Some competitors will team up with others along the route, but the real hardcore racers are confident and competent enough to go it alone even at night in the worst possible conditions.

Safety Back-up

There is a safety net of sorts. The event safety team assesses conditions and, in some circumstances will hold competitors back until they improve, modify cut-offs for safety reasons or, if necessary, divert the race.

In a nut-shell, say the organisers, ‘the race was born not just to test ultra-racing skills, but expedition skills. We wanted to take things to a whole new level. All the usual rules go out of the window and it comes down to survival. The Montane Spine Race is unique’.