Mixed reaction after Winter Spine Race cut-off is slashed by 12 hours for 2027

Co-founder and Race Director Phil Hayday-Brown has announced some significant changes for the 2027 Montane Winter Spine Race.

Entries for next year’s version open at midday UK time next Wednesday (4th Feb) following another memorable edition in 2026.

The event sees competitors traverse 268 miles up the Pennine Way from Edale in the Peak District to Kirk Yetholm on the English / Scottish border and is billed as ‘Britain’s most brutal’ ultramarathon.

It again had conditions to match this month, with snow and ice from the start as France’s Sébastien Raichon and Britain’s Anna Troup emerged as the respective winners.

Winter rules aligned with Summer Spine

But it’s at the other end of the field which the changes are likely to impact, with the seven-day overall time limit reduced by 12 hours.

Outlining the amendments and explaining the rationale, Hayday-Brown said: “From 2027, the cut-off time for the full Winter Spine will reduce from 168 hours to 156 hours. Checkpoint maximum dwell time will also reduce from 8 hours to 6 hours, aligning Winter and Summer rules. Later check-point entry and exit times will change, earlier will stay the same.

“A tighter cut-off reduces the spread of the field and limits the time competitors and teams spend operating at the very end of the race, where conditions, fatigue, and risk are most pronounced. During Winter 2026, the peak front-to-back spread of participants on the course reached around 170 miles.

“Under the revised cut-off, the race concludes on Saturday evening at 20:00, rather than running through to 08:00 on Sunday morning.”

Changing times

Hayday-Brown and Scott Gilmour created the race 14 years ago and the former explained: “The Winter Spine began in January 2012 with a simple question: can it be done?

“That question has since shifted to can I do it? The race has grown, and the environment around it has evolved. Preparation has improved. Kit and navigation tools have changed. The field’s shared knowledge is deeper than it was in the early years. We believe this helps to mitigate the impact of the timing changes.

“We reviewed finish data from 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026. Across those editions there were 443 finishers. A 156-hour cut-off would remove 55 finishers (12.4%).

“By gender: Women: 66 finishers, 9 removed (13.6%). Men: 377 finishers, 46 removed (12.2%).

“A key feature of the data is how concentrated the impact is near the cut-off. Of those affected, 13% are within 1 hour of the new cut-off, and 40% are within 3 hours. A modest uplift in pace near the back of the field therefore materially reduces the number of impacted finishes.

“The impact also varies substantially year to year. Overall, the difference between genders is small. As always, the aim is simple: to keep the Winter Spine safe, demanding, credible, and true to what it set out to be.

“As of 21 January 2026, The Spine Race Foundation has been established and granted charitable status (Charity No. 1216539). A central purpose of the Foundation will be to promote inclusion and accessibility.”

Already the news has prompted a wide range of reactions, with many wondering whether a reduced cut-off time will not only impact DNFs but also the make up of those who will now attempt to tackle the race, something which will soon become apparent and here at RUN247 we’ll be keeping a close eye on developments.