Hall bouncing back from Spine Race to face Tor de Géants

Damian Hall is ready to bounce back from his 2022 Spine Race DNF by targeting the challenging Tor de Géants in September.

Two months on from the Spine Race Hall says he is now “98%” recovered after suffering from a groin injury along the Pennine Way.  

Fond memories of Spine Race

Crucially, at the time of his retirement from the Spine, Hall was in the lead and on course for another podium finish at ‘Britain’s most brutal race’. 

Despite this however, Hall, reflecting on the DNF, still looks back fondly on the race and was reminded why it remains such an “incredible” event in the ultrarunning calendar. 

He said: “I had so many messages from people saying that it must have been frustrating to retire and so on and of course it was, but honestly, I came away from it with a far more overwhelming feeling of positivity rather than frustration because I had such a brilliant time. 

“It was two things, although I didn’t finish the race, performance-wise I was very happily surprised at how well I was doing – I wasn’t expecting to be quite as strong, although ironically it was a weakness that let me down. 

“I had also completed the race twice before and it had been quite a few years since I last did it, and it was just a reminder of what an incredible race it is – by that I mostly mean the people who come out to support you.” 

Tor de Géants challenge

Hall has confirmed he will be heading to Wales later this month, as he takes on the Beast of the Blacks in the country’s Black Mountains.  

He’ll then be heading to the Yorkshire Dales for the Fellsman starting line. 

But Hall says his “big one” for 2022 is the Tor de Géants – a grueling 330km race with 24,000 metres of ascent – which takes place this September, but admitted he may have entered a few more races before travelling to the Italian Alps in the autumn. 

He concluded: “Tor de Géants is going to be the big one for the year – and to prepare for that I have a place at Ultra-Trail Snowdonia. 

“I am weighing up what to do in the summer, I am still undecided really, there are one or two projects that excite me.”