The Spine race: Everything you need to know

Rick Pearson
·5-min read
hikers ascending a snowy trail in a mountainous landscape
Everything you need to know about the Spine Jamie Rutherford / The Spine Race

Sub-zero temperatures. Gale-force winds. Sleep deprivation. And 268-miles of running over hills and dales. Welcome to the Spine, rightly described as ‘Britain’s most brutal race’.

How did the Spine race begin?

The men to thank/blame for the Spine are Phil Hayday-Brown and Scott Gilmour. Having previously helped to organise the Polar Challenge, a 320-mile route from northern Canada to the North Pole, Hayday-Brown was looking for the UK equivalent. He and Gilmour began discussing ideas, liked the Pennine Way’s varied and challenging terrain and set about organising the inaugural race.

And so, in January 2012, 15 intrepid adventurers toed the start line at Edale, Derbyshire, for the beginning of the first ever Spine race. Only three finished that year (take a bow, Steve Thompson, Gary Morrison and Mark Caldwell), but word was out: Britain had birthed a monster.

Yet it wasn’t until 2014, and the dawn of dot-watching, that the Spine became such a popular spectator sport. The GPX trackers, now carried by all participants, allowed family, friends and the disbelieving general public to watch their torturous progress online. Today, coverage is bolstered by the presence of a number of professional sports photographers who document the ecstasy and agony of an ultra event like no other.

What are the rules of the Spine race?

One of the things that makes the Spine so brilliant and so brutal is its simplicity. Get thyself from Edale, Derbyshire, to Kirk Yeltholm, Scottish Borders, as quickly as your legs can carry you. Stop where you like, sleep if you must and take responsibility for your own safety. In this sense, the Spine is fundamentally different to the only other race in Britain that rivals it in the brutality stakes: the Dragon’s Back.

The Dragon’s Back is a ‘stage’ race, which means that participants have to stop and sleep at a designated place each night. That doesn’t necessarily make it easier – the Dragon’s Back has a tougher cut-off time than the Spine, which can actually be completed by a determined long-distance walker. However, it does make the likelihood – nay, almost inevitability – of sleep-deprived hallucinations a Spine race signature.

What makes the Spine race so hard?

Other than the non-stop element of the race, there are several factors that make the Spine race such a monumental challenge. The first is the weather. To state the obvious, the Pennine Way in mid-winter is a tad nippy. Daytime temperatures typically hover between 0-10°C, while nighttime temperatures can easily get down to -10°C. Then there’s the wind, rain, sleet and snow that you’re likely to encounter as you journey north. And, finally, there’s the elevation – over 10,000m of ascent, which is significantly more than climbing Mount Everest (8,849m).

Who’s won the Spine race in the past?

Perhaps the race’s most notable winner is England’s Jasmin Paris, who won the event outright in 2019 – all while expressing milk for her young son. Paris has since gone on to become the first-ever woman to complete the Barkley Marathons, which is one of the very few races in the world generally believed to be tougher than the Spine. This achievement saw her awarded with an MBE in 2024.

In the men’s race, Ireland’s Eoin Keith and Czechia’s Pavel Paloncy have both won the race three times, while the men’s blistering record of 72 hours, 55 minutes, 5 seconds was set in 2024 by England’s Jack Scott.

Are less brutal Spine options available?

What? You don’t find the idea of running 268 miles in sub-zero temperatures appealing? Fear not. Shorter options were created in 2022 and have proved extremely popular.

The ‘Challenger’ option allows Spine enthusiasts to run either the northern or southern half of the route. At 160 miles in length, it’s a mammoth task in itself. The ‘Sprint’ option, meanwhile, is 46 miles – still a major challenge, but far less intimidating than the full-length or Challenger options.

All these options are also available during the (far more appealing) Summer Spine, which takes place in mid-June each year.

gathering of participants at the start line of a winter racing event
Tom Hoyle / The Spine Race

What’s the mandatory kit list?

I packed my Spine bag and in it I put:

How do I apply to take part in the Spine?

Bewilderingly, the Spine race is hugely popular. In fact, all its 2025 races are sold out with the exception of the MRT Challenger North, which is available only to active members of Mountain Rescue.

However, all the information for entering its races in 2026 will become available on the official Spine website. Just bear in mind that there’s a vetting process: you can’t just rock up on the start line of the full-length events without a decent endurance-running CV.

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