The Montane Winter Spine Challenger South is described as “Britain’s Most Brutal”. Going from Edale to Hawes, it’s 108 miles (18,000 ft) over the Pennine Way in winter conditions. What an adventure!
‘The Deets’
One week on, I’m still processing last weekend! Laundry is washed, kit is sorted, left over snacks have been consumed. Practical jobs are ticked off, yet the mental process takes longer.
Signing up 12 months earlier, I was delighted to secure a place. SPINE races are notoriously difficult to get into and there are no guarantees you will make it to the start line. Nervous and excited, I parked it until I had completed the Northern Traverse in April 2025. One event at a time.
“Britain’s Most Brutal Race” came with a mandatory kit list of the same epic proportions. 30+ pages of descriptions, details and explanations – with a direct email address to the ‘King of Kit Check’ just in case of borderline enquiries.
Two nights prior to race start, Storm Goretti made an appearance, and the start time was delayed by 2 hours due to travel disruption.
Travelling by car, we left early to battle the elements. It was fine on main routes, but Winnats Pass was closed. Beautiful snowy scenes surrounded us. We were very early for allocated kit check at 13:00 hrs.
Staff kindly advised it was quiet enough to join the queue early. Kit check is a number lottery – depending on the last number of your race, meaning either a full or partial check. It was my ‘lucky’ day – every item fastidiously checked and ticked off on a Google Form. Months of preparation paid off and the infamous ‘Passed Kit Check’ stamp featuring Lindley’s face was received on the back of my hand. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
Race number issued. Tracker photo taken. Safety briefing. You leave your drop bag in the safety briefing room, but I chose to leave on race day morning when the tracker is fitted to your race pack.
A quick celebratory coffee in the Penny Pot Café with Handsome (regular readers will recognise mention of my husband and biggest supporter Jay), then we hiked up the course for 5k. It was quiet, snowy, icy under foot and cold – setting the scene for the following morning.
A leisurely 10am, so there was more hanging around than I would have liked with 2 hours less daylight for day one. The sun was out, it was cold, fresh snow lay on the ground and the excitement of the first race of the SPINE was bubbling away. Countdown and off into the hills with a 8.5kg Montane Gecko 20L pack on my back; gloves and food bulging out of pockets and seams straining.
Race vest packing was a game of Tetris. It has been on adventure runs/hikes for months, combined with using a 10kg weighted vest for daily dog walk. It was never going to be easy, but mentally I had become used to carrying my extra home on my back, and the pace was indeed that of a snail weighing in at 13.5% of bodyweight.
Kit was packed in different coloured dry bags and ALWAYS in the same order, so that during sleep deprivation no thinking was required. Side pockets contained glove layering system and hats. Both front pockets (lower) stored various food items. Waist belt with “needed quickly items” such as head torch and key personal items.
The race starts along a tarmac road through Edale, then joins the start of the Pennine Way. Loitering mid pack, mindful of the distance ahead, but equally keeping an effort level which would be comfortable over 108 miles.
‘The Pennine Way’
Not even 2 miles in it became apparent traction aids were needed so I wrestled them on. They stayed on for most of the race, until my feet were so sore and crippled they were removed for the infamous stretch along Cam High Road; they were invaluable.
‘Coming over Jacob’s Ladder’
Steady up Jacob’s Ladder. Surprisingly the climb didn’t seem as long or as bad as expected, but I had been doing a lot of weighted step ups in training. The Peaks were beautiful, so photos were taken of the sunny snowy scenes. As we progressed further up the climb to Kinder Scout, the snow became deeper, the pace slower, the hip flexors working harder, moving forward with high knees. In places the snow was thigh deep and powdery – slip sliding even with my spikes on. In others there was some respite with firmer snow.
‘Kinder Scout’
The sun was out, all layered up and getting a sweat on, I was keeping a watchful eye on the snail’s pace that was unfurling on my Garmin – cracking it out at 25 m/m. Extra calories burned with every raise of a hip flexor. My Garmin EAT custom alert was going off every 30 minutes and I was sticking to the plan, easily working my way through my sports nutrition and real food snacks at a rate of knots and sipping on my drinks.
‘Happy Days’
Checkpoint 1: Torside Reservoir MRT (Mountain Rescue Team) 15:41 (5:41:58hrs) 15 mins
The volunteers were helpful and friendly, organising hot water for a cup of tea (always carry my own green tea with ginger for nausea) and polished off a sandwich. All on track, feeling good. Head torch on (getting ready for darkness), bottles topped up and next batch of food moved from backpack to front pockets.
Black Hill next. The sun was setting and it was feeling colder, even with the heat of the climb on the inside of my layers. I vowed to crack open some noodles at Standedge for supper.
‘Torside’
Checkpoint 2: Standedge MRT 20:15 (10:15:53hrs) 16 mins
Pot noodle in a mug. Whilst it brewed, to what tasted like perfection, bottles topped up – half hot water/half cold as the outside temperature was below freezing, especially with wind chill factor. Fishing around for my spork was fiddly; made a mental note to leave that more accessible next time. Mini Thermos flask refilled with hot water. Onwards and not too far to Nicky’s Bar.
Checkpoint 3: M62 Crossing 22:19 (12:19:47) 30 mins (a.k.a Nicky’s Bar)
Cheeseburger, chips, more green tea. Bottle top ups along with a welcome sit down. It was warm inside the little cabin, nobody wanted to move with their bellies full of food and the chance to rest their legs. Lots of banter and a Spine official shouting “don’t get comfortable, some of you need to move on”. I kept my beady eye on the wall clock. Rules state you can stop for 30 mins without notifying HQ. Any longer, let them know your status, otherwise, they start to contact you and, if all else fails, send out the cavalry.
Back out into the freezing cold and headed towards the White House Pub (another MRT stop) but pushed on to a potential flatter jogging section at Blackstone Edge Reservoir. There was no jogging however – I allowed food to settle and pushed on with a power hike. As a decent hiker I hit good paces. I spied a few athletes, red tail lights glowing, and aimed as a distraction game to catch them up.
I came across a competitor (Phillipa) who was a match for my speedy hiking. As we were due to turn right, she veered left (the wrong way). Checked the watch and shouted after her. She caught me up, thanked me, started to chat and the miles whizzed by.
Stoodley Pike was our next destination. Because of the snow, navigation was easier, so that was a blessing in disguise, as I recalled at some points during recces that it wasn’t very clear which path to take. Thank you to faster runners for leading the way!
The monument loomed over us impressively in the dark – little did we know it would also appear on the back of our Finisher’s top. We headed down to Charlestown, over the road, under the railway bridge and up, up, up a very steep section back onto moorland. We were looking forward to reaching Hebden Bridge, our one and only opportunity to see our drop bags.
Ice was forming; it was super cold with a freezing side wind as we followed the diversion off the Pennine Way down into Hebden Bridge (about 5k out and back). You have to go to the checkpoint or I’m not sure I would have bothered. Descending into it were horrendous icy steps, so we carefully picked our way down, dreading the return back up. It was very slow progress, but we made it safely to the promised land.
Checkpoint 4: Hebden Bridge (CP1) 03:06 Sunday (17:06:35) 3.5 hrs
On arrival at the Scout Hut your poles are taken from you, labelled and racked. You’re delivered to a chair with your drop bag and the instruction to “make sure it doesn’t explode everywhere!”. It was busy, noisy and lacking space. A volunteer immediately offers you a hot drink = win. You’re advised to remove your shoes, get your sleeping stuff out and if wanting food directed across a walkway. Food first, then sleep. Opted for the jacket spud with butter, cheese and a cup of tea.
Reporting back into the main room, you’re allocated a bunk room. It was very cold; I regretted not taking a hat and jumper with me. Having plugged watch and torch into battery pack, I lay on the bunk trying to rest, relax and stay warm – all to no avail. My hip flexors were sore and screaming. I wriggled about trying to do a cobra pose in my sleeping bag which must have been quite a comical sight. After 60 mins of fidgeting, back to the kitchen for some rice pudding and more tea with my sleeping bag around my shoulders as it was freezing cold.
Once sorted, you close your drop bag and ask a volunteer to kit check your hill bag before leaving. Of course, they wanted to see my bivvy (right at the bottom). Repacked again and managed to leave at 6:20am. With no sight of Philippa, I set off into the darkness.
Next up lots of moorland and Within’s Heights. Infamous Bronte Sisters.
This section was incredibly slow and tedious. Hiking solo again; the mental exhaustion of checking where to put your feet. Morale was at a low point despite the quietness, beauty and vastness of the moorland. The slabs and paths were totally iced over. As the temperature warmed slightly above freezing, it started to sleet. There was then sleet on top of ice and water between the slabs and ice. Scary even with traction aids. One step at a time. Focus. Don’t slip. Use poles. Engage core. Do not want to fall and land on injured left hip.
‘Icy Slabs’
The MRT appeared at roadside crossings checking that we were lucid, warm enough and providing bottle top ups. I was grateful to see them and might have had a little cry at Ponden Reservoir on reaching a lovely friendly MRT, after one incredibly tough section. Reassured, I continued over the Bronte Moors, and it looked epic in the wintry conditions – very Wuthering Heights. I was too cold to stop and take a photo so took one in my mind.
Checkpoint 5: Cowling 12:23 (26:23:23) 5 mins
Ad hoc stop: Lothersdale Hare & Hounds Pub 60 mins
My belly was focused on Lothersdale and lunch. During the recce Handsome met me at the end of a section in the Hare & Hounds pub and we shared the most amazing pie and pint. Joyous memories.
‘Roast Lunch’
Informed HQ of my ‘lunching’ status. As my roast chicken arrived, Handsome messaged to say that 9th female was not far ahead and if I pushed on, I could catch up. I replied with a photo of my meal saying “Busy – lunching!”. I wasn’t there to race, but to complete. Philippa had arrived and we set off together for the next section; a chap called Andy joined us.
Rain again. Field upon soggy field on repeat; quite unimpressionable. The highlight was a stop at Gargrave Co-op, with fresh fruit for dinner. We were filmed and photographed by Spine Media asking us if we knew each other before the race, where we had met on the course etc… We got excited we might be on the daily YouTube summary – we weren’t!
We took respite in the wooden bus stop in Gargrave. It was busy with Spiners using it as an impromptu aid station – snacking on goodies, rejigging saturated wet clothing and fiddling with rucksacks.
Onwards to Malham. Over countless fields. Watch out for the turning off the little lane, be sure to turn right into the fields as we missed it until we were ‘off route’. Malham seemed never to arrive, even resorting to checking the OS maps. At night the wet, slippery, muddy fields were not offering a clear path of direction so there was a welcome distraction team effort of checking watches, left a bit, right a bit, there’s a stile there, gate over there.
Morale was low on arrival, so in the pub we went, for a team chat and coffee.
Ad hoc stop: Malham Buck Inn Pub 30 mins
We stared into our coffees, warming our hands. There was a brief discussion about the YHA being very close and warm, how tired we were and didn’t want to grind it out to the finish. How might we explain our DNF in a few days’ time to others? The caffeine hit its mark: “I’m grinding it out to the finish; we can do this.”
Malham Cove. We had been told there was a last-minute diversion around this area, but not given any details, nor the GPX prior to the race (unlike a couple of other diversions). No sign on the gate entrance to the National Trust area, so called HQ to check the details as we didn’t want to incur a penalty. The diversion was once you climbed up the left-hand side of the Cove to the limestone pavement and instead of across the top – too icy and slippery – it took you around the back. Not a huge detour, more of a game of spot the red and white tape and route signs for half a mile.
Checkpoint 1.5 (6) Malham Tarn 01:15 Monday (38:01:15) 20 mins +2.5 hrs in Bird Hide
Pushing on to Malham Tarn, there’s a 1.5 Monitoring Station (max stay 30 mins and hot water only). I furnished the volunteer with my second Pot Noodle and mug, then waited for my noodles to brew.
A few hundred yards from the checkpoint is a National Trust bird hide with space for eight on the floor. We agreed to stick together going forward and the other two were keen to rest, so the ‘bird hide bivvy’ was settled upon, which meant wrestling my sleeping kit out of my hill bag, despite me vowing for it to never see the light of day.
Next, as we started an uphill climb after making our way through a farm, I knew this was the start of the Fountains Fell – a long but not technical climb. As we approached the top, we were overtaken by the first ‘Full SPINER’ (Eugenie, who sadly later DNF’d). He was going very fast with his poles – quite impressive to watch. The descent off Fountains Fell was the slowest EVER. Treacherous ice. Wind. Middle of the night. Sleep deprivation. Frustration at the slow progress, but safety being the priority.
Finally, we were down off the climb on the tarmac section to Pen-y-ghent. At the bottom of the next climb MRT checked we were warm enough and reminded us about the next diversion on the Pen-y-ghent climb due to high winds and ice. Fortunately, I had downloaded the official diversion for a ‘just-in-case moment’. Quick fiddle with my Garmin; new course loaded. I was momentarily secretly pleased with the reroute.
Half-way up the climb the course diversion turned us left and then back down the mountain along the Three Peaks route. The delight of the detour evaporated. Suddenly there were a couple of descent sections which involved using hands and four points of contact, interspersed with more gradual newly laid slabs. Perhaps the original route would have been better.
Horton-In-Ribblesdale and the infamous toilets for a quick refuel on the floor. Out came a mince pie which I had saved for this special occasion. You can see that this adventure was very fuelling focused!
‘Feet with Spikes’
Checkpoint 7: Horton 08:12 Monday (46:12:30) 20 mins
The MRT were outside, so we refilled our bottles and set off towards the Cam High Road. During the recce I really enjoyed this section as the terrain felt like ‘runnable rolling’ and reminded me of the South Downs Way (my favourite local trail). Very different however at this point in the race. Just slow walking.
The feet were very sore and ‘squeezed’ by the traction aids, so they came off, making the judgement call to go trainers only. The right decision, despite there being some snow drifts and ice along this section. It felt like bliss to travel with no spikes under foot; so much more comfortable. We continued making slow progress as we zig zagged around the pockets of ice and snow drifts, trying to stay steady on our feet. A few slips here and there but moving forwards.
We remained positive, enjoying the quiet companionship when no words were spoken. The miles become slower and I recalled my race plan stating that I needed to do this section in 35 min/miles. The mileage countdown to Hawes stretched out before us. With 10k to go we perked up, but in reality (doing the maths), that meant another 3 hours on the course.
The tedium of Cam High Road reminded me of my experience on Blakey Ridge (Northern Traverse 2025). I was eager to find the muddy hill turning where you finally start your downwards descent. Down we came, sliding in the mud and puddles until a mile out of Hawes.
Standing near a gate, just before a country lane, was Handsome. He filmed us coming down our last descent, cheekily asking “Where have you been?”. Delighted to see him, my smiling reply was “Bivvying in a Bird Hide!”. Through another couple of fields, very tiny stiles/gates in stone walls and the side of the churchyard, we then turned left up Hawes High Street to the finish line.
‘Tiny Stile/Gate in Stone Wall’
The Spine Media team instruct you to stand next to the postbox for your Finisher’s Photo – who knew it was a ‘thing’? At this point we thought we had finished as we stood about having photos by the media team and Handsome. We hadn’t – you have to go into the Market House itself and go over the finish line which is up a few steps.
‘Postbox Photo!’
‘Finishers Photo’
Immediately inside, you are looked after by the volunteers. Tracker removed from your pack, trainers off, set up a table each with your drop bag, drink, food and then get yourself sorted. Your Spine Mail (with lovely messages all printed out) arrives, a certificate of you being a ‘SPINE Finisher’ stamped on it in red, a medal, and a long-sleeved finishers top.
Finish: 14:15 (52:15:56 hrs)
Four weeks later…
The deep-seated fatigue has gone. The hip rehab programme is in progress. I am back doing some turbo work and swimming. No running just yet. The WhatsApp group chats are quieter, but there’s a bubbling excitement stirring up about the impending opening dates for SPINE 2027.
Learnings?
1. Planning, practicing fuel, pack weight, terrain specifics, time on feet is key.
2. Recceing sections of the route; personally invaluable. Plus you get a little mini break and get to see more of the route in the daylight.
3. Mandatory kit all worked well but I’d love to have a little more space in my race vest, so the search is on for the perfect pack!
4. Support point drop bag admin organisation is important for reducing and making a smooth Aid Station experience.
5. Being able to deal with adversity, adapting race plan to suit whilst sleep deprived and remaining mentally strong is crucial. This has come with experience.
6. Buddying up with like-minded individuals whilst out on the trail is great fun and most enjoyable. Quiet companionship. Adventuring at its best.
