The Spine Race

The Spine Race runs the length of the Pennine Way — 268 miles from Edale to Kirk Yetholm, non-stop, with a 156 hour limit. It is run twice a year: in January, when the daylight is seven hours and the ground is usually under water or ice, and again in June. Shorter races share the course. The Challengers take the southern 108 miles from Edale or the northern 160 from Hardraw; the Sprints cover 46 miles from Edale and 43 from Brown Rigg. All of them are self-navigated: the Pennine Way is waymarked as a National Trail, but nothing is marked for the race and you are expected to be able to move through a Pennine night on your own. Fields are small and every race sells out.