Nicky Spinks and Elaine Bisson underlined their class as they became joint winners of the women’s race in the Montane Spine Challenger North.
And we also looked set to have a share of the spoils in the men’s race but Harry Firth and Michal Dzieweczynski, with whom he ran virtually the entire race distance, elected to race it at the finish and it was the former who came out on top.
The Challenger North takes in the last 160 miles of the full Spine Race along the northern section of the Pennine Way, from Hardraw in Yorkshire to Kirk Yetholm on the English / Scottish border.
All smiles at the finish
Spinks and Bisson are great friends and no strangers to each other or the Pennine way either, having teamed up previously while completing the full course in 2024.
Conditions were particularly tough around the Cheviots but by then they had built a big lead and they crossed the line in 55:57:59, nearly two hours ahead of their nearest rival.
That was Alice Willson who completed what was an all-British podium in 59:43:18, all the more impressive as she fell early on in the race as ice pushed the runners to their limit.
Sprint finish!
The men’s race was equally compelling as Firth (GBR) and Dzieweczynski (POL) joined forces from the outset.
Firth finished the Winter Spine in the top 10 last year, while Dzieweczynski has impressive 100-mile results to his name so it was no surprise to see them dominate, though they were joined for the first 24 hours by Andy Shaw (GBR) before he dropped back.
It was Firth who proved fractionally stronger in the closing stages – he left Hut 2 three minutes adrift but overtook Dzieweczynski before crossing the line in 46:00:29, almost exactly two minutes to the good.
The pair embraced at the finish line and then it was a full two-and-a-half hours later before Shaw took third place and he in turn was over six hours in front of Janne Snellman (FIN) in fourth.
