John Kelly again underlined his class – both on and off the trails – when he spoke about the penalty he was given in the Montane Winter Spine Race.
The American ultrarunning legend is a three-time finisher at the notorious Barkley Marathons and also has an impressive history on the Pennine Way, for which he holds the FKT (fastest known time) as well as winning the Winter Spine in 2020.
Last year he was derailed by an ankle injury about a quarter of a way in, but then stayed on the race to help the support teams.
This time he made it to the finish as fourth male (fifth overall), just over five hours behind winner Kim Collison.
VAR on penalty decision!
But a penalty midway through momentarily stopped him in his tracks, with the Spine Race organisers then revising that as follows: “Following a review of the previously issued penalty to John Kelly and consultation between the Race Director and HQ, it has been agreed that the initial 26-minute penalty will be withdrawn.
“However, as John gained a 13-minute advantage by following a shorter route, and to maintain the original gap between Kim Collison and John over the Cauldron Snout section, a 13-minute adjustment will be added to John’s time.”
And writing on his social channels, Kelly explained exactly what unfolded, explaining: “I’ve been pointed to a discussion re: my missed diversion (detour) on Spine. Everything from “John did it on purpose” to “the race did it on purpose because John doesn’t like carrying a spork.”
The latter was a tongue-in-cheek reference to a friendly debate he initiated before the race about the 41-page kit list!
![Lucy Gossage John Kelly end of Montane Winter Spine Racee 2025 [Photo credit: Wild Aperture Photography / The Spine Race]](https://run247.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Lucy-Gossage-John-Kelly-end-of-Montane-Winter-Spine-Racee-2025.jpg)
What actually happened?
Kelly added: “Some people have an ability to magically know from afar everything in great detail. I don’t have that, so I’ll just share what I know from actually being there.
“I first learned about the diversion from Kim when we got to the end of it at the same time from different directions. I went instantly from being excited at making it through a riverside scramble at night in the wind & clag to being completely deflated. The diversion was longer but on a smooth road.
“When I got to Dufton the 1st thing I said was to make sure HQ knows I missed it. When I received the 26 minute penalty, yeah I was upset, and I let that distract me into making an actual nav error that cost me more time & energy.
“On the other side of Cross Fell I was told it had been cut to 13 minutes after they found no one told me. That seemed reasonable. I didn’t want an unfair penalty or advantage. Penalties were different based on whether the person was told & on their speed of travel. That’s about math(s), not spork preferences. 🙄
“It wasn’t good for me, or for Kim, or for the race. I do wish I could have “served my time” jogging up & down a road for 13 minutes & then got back to racing. As it was, head to head racing was no longer possible.
Fortunately Kim smashed the rest for an incredibly well-deserved win that left no doubt what the outcome would have been anyway.
“The checkpoint before the diversion is busy & when I rushed out they missed telling me. It was night, windy, and raining so I put my hood up, my head down, and I missed the diversion sign. Race staff & I discussed it last night because that’s how improvements are made: openly talking instead of either disparaging people or blindly agreeing to fit an existing view.
“I try hard to apply Hanlon’s razor to social media: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by [ignorance].” Sometimes I’m the one on the other end of that.”
Praise for winners Collison and Gossage
And looking back on the race as a whole, he added: “The 1st time I did @spinerace in 2020, I had the outcome I wanted, but thanks to Storm Brendan hitting us mid race the experience was, well, outright miserable. It was great to see @kimcollison get his outcome this year – the well-deserved culmination of 4 years of effort. Honestly, knowing now what I didn’t know then I’m not sure how I had that success on my 1st attempt. This time I didn’t get the outcome, but I had a bit of all the experiences. 😂”
Kelly was also filmed encouraging women’s winner Lucy Gossage when she overtook him for fourth overall, saying: “You’re killing it, well done.”
And he rounded off his first post-race thoughts with a heartfelt thankyou: “The constant in the experience was the people – volunteers, race staff, friends, competitors, and people coming out along the course at odd hours to offer odd runners food, water, & encouragement.
“Thank you so much to all those people, and my own family and personal support, for making this type of experience possible.”