Two Liss Runners have excelled in the gruelling Montane Winter spine races held along the Pennine Way.

Sarah Page tackled the Challenger South, 108 miles from Edale in Derbyshire to Hawes in North Yorkshire.  The trail race includes moorland and 5,400 meters of ascent including Kinder Plateau and Pen-y-Ghent.  Competitors have a time limit of 60 hours.

The race took place during the worst of the winter weather with storm Goretti, knee deep snow, freezing rain and long stretches of sheet ice.  There was even a last minute, weather related, course change to add to the difficulty.  

But Sarah showed what a tough competitor she is, sticking with her strategy of eating and drinking every 30 minutes to maintain energy.  She finished first female, and third overall, in a time of 29 hours 3 minutes which is the quickest ever achieved by a female athlete.

Sarah’s outstanding performance comes on the back of a number of impressive ultra performances.  This includes a stunning 2ndplace at the UTMB Arc of Attrition, 3rd place at the Lakeland 100 and victories at the Centurion South Downs Way 50 and the Maverick Jurassic Coast 50k.

Reflecting on the race, she said “It was one of the toughest things I’ve ever done. The conditions were relentless, but the support out on the course and the spirit of the event kept me moving. I’m proud of what I managed to do out there”

Next up for Sarah is the UTMB Mozart in Austria, before heading to Chamonix at the end of the summer for the UTMB Majors.

Fellow Liss Runner, Ben Potts tackled the full Spine challenge, 268 miles from Edale to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders.  The full spine has 10,900 meters of ascent across the Peak District. Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland National Park and the Cheviots.  Competitors have a time limit of 168 hours.

Having previously completed the Challenger North, it had been an ambition of Ben’s to undertake the full spine race.

Ben also had to content with the same challenging winter weather conditions.  He finished 9th male in an impressive time of 119 hours and 34 minutes,

Said Ben “years in the making, the Spine race lived up to everything I hoped for, and more.  Following storm Goretti, conditions were savage – bog, ice, snow, relentless rain and strong winds”.