Dave Phillips and Jenny Yeo claimed victories at the Montane Summer Spine Race after well over three days of racing.
The British ultramarathon is one of the world’s toughest and sees runners traverse the Pennine Way, covering 430km as they head from Edale in the Peak District to the finish in Kirk Yetholm on the English-Scottish border.
Phillips and Yeo’s successes come five months on from the winter edition, which saw triumphs for Damian Hall and Claire Bannwarth, while the Summer Spine Sprint earlier this week produced two record-breaking runs.
Phillips dominant
Phillips took the men’s win after a dominant performance, overcoming sleep deprivation to finish in 76:59:33.
The British runner revealed that he wasn’t able to sleep for more than 15 minutes since the start on Sunday morning.
“I came with the intention of getting a decent time and I didn’t know where the other runners were so I’m very happy to win,” he said.
“There’s plenty of low points over 270 miles. Everything seemed to go wrong on the second night. When it’s a long race it’s the little things that build up.”
Phillips finished over 16 hours clear of second-place Peter Mortimer – the US-based runner came out on top of a battle with Phil Harris, finishing just less than an hour ahead.
“I would have liked to have gone faster but I’ve been jet lagged from the start,” he said.
“I ran with Rory for some time, but had said to him that as soon as 4th place came up, I’m going to go.”
Harris would take third ahead of Michael Hyde and Rory Brevin, who were a little over two hours and four hours back from the podium respectively.
100-hour epic
Yeo overcame Laura Swanton-Rouvelin to clinch victory in the women’s race, finishing in 101:39:50 as she also took sixth overall.
Yeo and Swanton-Rouvelin had ran together for much of the race, but the eventual winner opened up a lead at Alston and never looked back.
Swanton-Rouvelin cruised home in 109:37:50, with Alice Kershaw picking up third as she finished on Friday afternoon, stopping the clock in
2023 Summer Spine Race results
Men:
- Dave Phillips (GBR) – 76:59:33
- Peter Mortimer (GBR) – 93:12:27
- Phil Harris (GBR) – 94:12:19
Women:
- Jenny Yeo (GBR) – 101:39:50
- Laura Swanton-Rouvelin (GBR) – 109:37:50
- Alice Kershaw (GBR) – 128:13:14
