Montane Spine Race 2025: The UK’s most brutal endurance race kicks off this Sunday
Spanning 268 miles along the most iconic and demanding national trail in Britain, the Pennine Way, the Spine Race pushes participants to achieve the extraordinary
The Montane Winter Spine Race, the ultrarunning event that’s widely regarded as the UK’s most brutal race, will begin this Sunday, January 12th, 2025, at 08:00 from Edale, Derbyshire and finishing Kirk Yetholm, Scottish Borders.
Along the 268-mile route, participants will face extreme temperatures ranging down to -10°C, with the likelihood of icy, snow-covered paths and unpredictable weather. The challenge is amplified by a staggering total ascent of 10,732 metres—more than 1,800 metres higher than the summit of Everest—and a thigh-shredding total descent of 10,941 metres.
Competitors will battle to cross the finish line in Kirk Yetholm, Scottish Borders, within the gruelling 168-hour time limit.
The Montane Spine Race is a journey that pushes participants to go beyond what’s expected and achieve the extraordinary. This race is about testing limits, and no matter the weather or terrain, the goal is to go further and faster across each mile of the course.
The race will see some of the UK’s toughest ultrarunners, including Montane athletes, face the elements head-on and push their mental and physical limits. In 2024, Jack Scott beat overall and men’s course records by an incredible 10 hours, while Clare Bannwarth took the women’s title for a second year running.
This year #TeamMontane is strongly represented in the starting line up of ultrarunning stars, including seasoned ultrarunner Simon Roberts (full 268-mile challenge), women’s Lakeland 100 winner Robyn Cassidy (full race) and men’s Lakeland 100 winner Mark Darbyshire (Challenger South) along with Jon Shield (Challenger North) who will be relishing the forecasted sub-zero conditions as he prepares for the Montane Arctic Spine race next month, Dougie Zinis (full race) a previous winner of a previous winner of the Montane Spine Race, Tom Hollins (Sprint) and James Nobles (Challenger South) who will competing alongside his father.
The Montane Spine Race full distance event starts at 8.00am on Sunday 12th Jan and is complemented by three other race formats: the 108-mile Montane Spine Challenger South starting at 08:00 on Saturday January 11th from Edale, the 46-mile Montane Spine Sprint starting at midday on Saturday January 11th from Edale, and the 160-mile Montane Spine Challenger North starting at 08:00 on Monday January 13th from Hardraw.
Race Coverage
The Montane Spine Race will be a week-long journey. You can follow along with daily posts to all of our social media channels including Facebook and Instagram, as well as the live tracking data for all competitors in the Montane Spine Race at the online portal.
