Jack Scott has done remarkable things on to the Pennine Way. In 2024, he won the Winter Spine Race on England’s oldest National Trail, covering it south to north, in a race record time of 72hrs 55mins, barely sleeping as he shattered the previous best.
Two years on, he returned hoping to run its full 260 miles, this time north to south (Kirk Yetholm to Edale), this time in Summer, and this time as a speed record attempt.
The current record stands at an incredible 58hrs 04mins, set by American ultra runner John Kelly in May 2021. He eclipsed the previous best of 61hrs 34mins, by Damian Hall in 2020.
The one huge issue was the heat, with the UK like much of Europe in the middle of a heatwave.
Elite pacers
Jack began his attempt on the morning of Friday 10 July. He had a support team and pacers in place, all helping him tackle an iconic route that stacks up around 36,000ft (11,000m) of gruelling ascent.
First up on the pacing department were Josh Wade and English Fell Race champion Ben Rothery who helped guide him over the Cheviots before meeting Keith Wigley, Mark Derbyshire and Dan Weller at Bellingham.
However the heat was searing and while everything was on track for the first 18 hours or so, it then started to take its toll overnight.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, his main sponsors Inov8 posted: “100 miles in, @trail.jack has ended his attempt on the Pennine Way record.
“Cooked by the relentless heat of day 1, Jack struggled through the darkness before calling time.
“An incredible effort in such brutal conditions.
“Recover strong, Jack.”
Was it ever on?
On social media one person did ask the question so many were thinking when the record attempt was given the green light in conditions which made it way harder than the already incredibly high bar.
“It was never on in that heat was it?” was the question but Jack himself replied: “It’s always on as the Pennine way has pulled things out of me that is beyond my own and other people comprehension. Sometimes you can and sometimes you can’t 😀
![Yee (far left) and Sawe (far right) [Photo credit: TCS London Marathon]](https://run247.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Alex-Yee-start-London-Marathon-2026-912x720.jpg)
