The Spine Race Blogs

Welcome to the Spine Race Blogs page, where you'll find a comprehensive collection of articles and blog posts about one of the toughest endurance races in the world. The Spine Race, which is held annually in the United Kingdom, is a grueling 268-mile non-stop race along the Pennine Way, a national trail in northern England. Participants in this race are tested to their limits both physically and mentally, and must overcome challenging weather conditions and rugged terrain.

In this page, you'll find inspiring stories from previous participants, helpful tips and advice for anyone considering taking part in the race, and in-depth analysis of what makes the Spine Race so unique and demanding. Whether you're an experienced runner or just starting out, you'll find something of interest here. So sit back, relax, and enjoy exploring the world of the Spine Race.

2023 The Cold Year

• Steph Dwyer MRT Womens Record
• - ABBY'S SPINE MRT CHALLENGER- A PENNINE ODYSSEY

2022 Diversion Year

• Ultracrazy - CHALLENGER NORTH 2022 - IN TO THE UNKNOWN

2021 The Covid Year

• Spine Race 2021 - The Water Horse
• Spine Dreams - The Doubtful One
• - The Spine Race and Other Mishaps

2020 Storm Brendan Year

Storm Brendan was a significant weather event that affected the United Kingdom in January 2020. It brought strong winds and heavy rain, leading to widespread travel disruption, power outages, and damage to property.

• John Kelly - 2020 The Spine Race winner
• Mountains in Mind - Spine MRT Challenge
• Jen Scotney - MONTANE Spine Challenger Kit List 2020 Ten Top Tips for Running the Montane Spine Challenger
• Peter Gold - Spine 2020 Part I: The Final Frontier Part II: Robbit the hobbit Part III: Beyond Bellingham
• Eoin Keith - The Spine Race 2020 – Preview
• Eoin Keith - The Spine Race 2020
• Ella - The Montane Spine MRT Challenge 2020 Kit Used
• Paul Shorrock - It’s that time of year again!
• Antonio Codina - Spine 2020 race report part I – The Spine fever part 2 part 3 further thoughts gear and fuel
• dartmoordogrunner- Thinking Out Of The Box 2020
• Drew - My road to the Spine Race Challenger 2020
• Dan Milton - 146hrs 11mins, a life time, the blink of an eye, an eternity… The Montane Spine Race
• Mikw Churchyard - The Fellowship of the Spine part 2 part 3 part 4

2019 The Moist Year

Jasmin Paris won the Spine Race in January 2019.Paris's win was significant because she not only became the first woman to win the race, but she also broke the course record by more than 12 hours. Paris's win was widely celebrated and brought attention to the growing popularity of ultra-distance running and the achievements of female athletes in the sport.

• Jasmine Paris - Spine Race Winner
• Jasmine Paris - SPINE RACE WINNER’S KIT LIST Q&A
• Chris Worton - So who is carrying the potatoes then???
• Chris Worton - Into the darkness - Spine 2018 race report
• John Edevans - The Spine
• kevrob77blog - Montane Spine MRT Challenge Jan 2019 – Race Report
• Eoin Keith - The Spine Race 2019 – Preview
• Nick K Maidment - Spine 2019
• Stuart - back on The Spine Challenger back from The Spine Challenger
• kevrob77 - MRT Challenger 2019 Race Report
• dartmoordogrunner - Feeding Strategy for 2019
• Drew - Spine Challenger What Went Wrong
• Wouter Huitzing - Spine Challenger 2019, Race report
• Stacey Holloway - GIVING BACK: THE SPINE RACE
• SuperKev - Montane Spine Race 2019
• Daragh Kelly - The Spine Race 2019
• ULTRACRAZY - Surviving Britains Toughest Fun Run
• Eventus - Taking Part in the 2019 Montane Spine Race
• John's Running Adventures - The Spine
• Jayson - The Montane Spine race 2019 – A journey started
• Adam Jacobs - Spined Sealed Delivered: Thoughts on Mandatory Kit

2018

• Paul Shorrock - #239 – The Spine Race 2018 – “roughing it” at Greg’s Hut #238 – Back to the Pennine Way and the Spine Race
• Ultra Average - SPINE CHALLENGER – KIT LIST Race Report
• Stuart - a long write-up of the ‘short’ race
• Peter Gold - 2018 Spine Challenger When finishing feels like failure
• Eoin Keith - The Spine Race – 2018
• Eoin Keith - The Spine Race – 2018 Preview
• Richard Lendon - The Spine 2018 v7
• The price of ultrarunning/ the price of safety - Spine Challenger - it's not cheap!
• Brian Harman - The Spine 2018
• Sarah Norman - 147. Spine race 14th to 21st January 2018
• Paul Mettam - Spine Challenger
• kevrob77 - The Spine Race – Post Race Summary
• Lizzie Rosewell - The Spine Challenger: Part 1 Through the Peaks Part 2 Into the Dales
• Colin - My Spine Adventure 2018
• Wouter Huitzing - Spine Challenger 2018
• Jura Runner - post race notes DNF race report
• - RADICAL POSSIBILITY Steph Dwyer

2017

• Mountains in Mind - Spine Race 2017
• ukruncat - The Spine Challenger 2017
• Peter Gold - The Spine Race Cometh
• Peter Gold - 2017 Spine DNF — Part I
• Peter Gold - 2017 Spine DNF — Part II
• Peter Gold - 2017 Spine DNF — Part III
• Eoin Keith - The Spine Race 2017 – Prologue
• Eoin Keith - The Spine Race 2017, Part 1 -My (Pennine) Way
• Eoin Keith - The Spine Race 2017, Part 2 – Wall to Wall adventures
• Nick K Maidment - Training to complete 2017 Full Spine Race
• Pavel Paloncý - Spine Race 2017 – 268mile chase
• chrisjworton -All packed and Ready to Go part 1 part 2 part3
• Bruce Ballagher - MANDATORY SPINE KIT LIST? BRUCE BALLAGHER; LESSONS FROM THE SPINE RACE 2017
• Richard Lendon - Not The Spine Race Report - Part 1: An Unexpected Journey Part 2
• Lizzie Rosewell - A Pennine Adventure, and some thoughts on the Spine Challenger part 1 part 2
• Ange - The spine race 2017
• Michelle Payne - Out of the Comfort Zone – Spine Challenger part 2
• Rob Harper - Spine Challenger 2017
• Slogger at Spine 2017
• Ella - The MONTANE Spine Mountain Rescue Challenge 2017
• ogeerunner - The Spine Race Part Three
• Stuart Secker - Volunteering on the Spine
• Sarah Norman - Spine Race Marshalling
• Chris Haswell - Montane Spine 2017

2016

• Paul Shorrock - #194 – The Pennine Way in winter – twice as much fun for Javed As seen from Gregs Hut Here we go again
• Peter Gold - 0 weeks to go — 12 hours to go — oh shit!
• Peter Gold - 2 weeks to go — hello Frank
• Peter Gold - 4 weeks to go — tent, bivi or both?
• Peter Gold - A view from the back of the 2016 Spine Race — Part I
• Peter Gold - A view from the back of the 2016 Spine Race — Part II
• Peter Gold - A view from the back of the 2016 Spine Race — Part III
• dartmoordogrunner - A Really Wet 2016 Spine Race! Be Prepared
• dartmoordogrunner - Spine Race 2016, a few thoughts
• Kevin Otto - Back to The Spine Race, a tale of obsession, determination and challenge.
• Anna B - The Spine 2016 - Part 1 Part 2Part 3
• Eoin Keith - The Spine Race 2016 – Gear Review
• Eoin Keith - The Spine Race 2016 – Nutriton
• Eoin Keith - The Spine Race 2016, 1 – Once more into the breach!
• Eoin Keith - The Spine Race 2016, 2 – The racing begins
• Eoin Keith - The Spine Race 2016, 3 – Little Details, Big Effects
• Eoin Keith - The Spine Race 2016 , 4 – Attempted Getaway
• Eoin Keith - The Spine Race 2016, 5 – Defining Moments
• Eoin Keith - The Spine Race 2016 – 6, Control!
• Shippo's blog - The Grey
• Shippo's blog - Spine kit - What worked for me and what didn’t
• Shippo's blog - Aftermath.
• Chasing Trails - Breaking The Spine 2016
• Pavel Paloncý - Spine Race 2016 – tactic game
• Andy Cole - Spineless
• Andy Cole - Motivation and the Spine Race - a Cautionary Tale
• Stu Westfield - The 2016 Spine Safety Team
• Spine Race 2016 - Spine Safety Team 3.
• - Nick K Maidment - 2016 Spine Challenger 137
• Richard Lendon - The Spine 2016 v5
• Sarah Norman - Spine Race Marshalling
• Jura Runner - Kit Notes Fancy an Adventure

2015

• Mountains in Mind - The Spine Challenger
• Richard Lendon - The Spine 2015 - Race Report Part 1 part 2 why
• Stu Westfield - Spine Race 2015 - Mountain Safety Team
• Ogeerunner - The Spine 2015

2014

• Paul Shorrock - #149 – No pain, no gain – The Spine Race 2014 Here we go again
• Ogeerunner - The Spine 2014
• Richard Lendon - The Spine 2014 v3
• Stu Westfield - Spine Race 2014 - Mountain Safety Team
• Damian Hall - The Spine Race essential kit list
• Rob Harper - Spine Challenger (DNF)
• Jura Runner - THE SPINE CHALLENGER ULTRAMARATHON – RACE REPORT

2013

• Paul Shorrock - #141– Two men and a dog, and the highest noodle bar in the UK (Having a fun time on ‘The Spine Race’!) inside story Britains Most Brutal Race Let the madness begin
• Richard Lendon - The Spine 2013 - a few after thoughts Race Report
• Mountain Man - Spine Challenger

2012

• Richard Lendon - The Spine 2012 - race report
• Paul Shorrock - The Spine – Britain’s most brutal race! (Part 1) The Spine – Britain’s most brutal race! (Part 2) #60 – A special delivery by the coal man!

Advice Blogs

Shoes

• Stu Westfield - 2014 Spine Race - Footwear Survey, Findings & Conclusions
• Stu Westfield - 2020 Spine Race - Footwear Survey 2020 - Part 1 part 2

Blisters

• Peter Gold - Blister free feet
• Peter Gold - How I tape my feet
• Peter Gold - The Ickornshaw Moor Bog Blister

Mental

• - PRIME YOUR MIND FOR THE SPINE

General

• Stu Westfield - Navigation: tools for the 2014 Spine Race (Updated Feb 2014)
• Pavel Paloncý - Spine Race Hints: #1 – Ask, visualize, memorize
• Pavel Paloncý - Spine Race Hints: #2 – Navigation!
• dartmoordogrunner - Spine Race Myths and Misconceptions.
• dartmoordogrunner - Spine navigation Reality
• dartmoordogrunner - Improving Race Speed updated 2019
• dartmoordogrunner - Sleeping Stratergys and foot issues updated 2018
• dartmoordogrunner - SPINE Kit -Clothing 2017
• dartmoordogrunner - Spine Kit guidelines part 2 Clothing,( updated Dec 2017)
• Mountains in Mind - Spine Challenger Top Tips
• Ultra Matters - Spine Tips

Poetry

• Spine Poetry - A Collection of Verses for the Family on the Way

Reference

• Anne Green Original list of blogs