Amazing mental strength and resilience helped Eden-based ultra runner Kim Collison to a hugely popular victory in the Montane Winter Spine Race — widely regarded as Britain’s most brutal endurance race.
Not only did he win — at the fourth attempt — his time of 82 hours, 46 minutes, 32 seconds was the third fastest ever.
The race is a non-stop, 268-mile race along the Pennine Way.
Beginning from Edale in Derbyshire, runners have a time limit of 168 hours to reach the village of Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders.
They climb over 10,000 metres as the route crosses some of the most beautiful but difficult terrain in England, including the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland National Park, Hadrian’s Wall and the Cheviots, experiencing the full ferocity of the British winter, including snow, ice, storm force winds and driving rain along the way.
There are five main checkpoints, each with cut-off times — Hebden Hey, Hawes, Langdon Beck, Alston and Bellingham, at which competitors are are offered hot meals, drinks and somewhere to sleep.
Runners have a compulsory kit list which includes winter clothing, a stove, sleeping equipment and medical supplies.
It was an especially sweet victory for Kim, who lives at Mungrisdale, after he failed to finish the race in 2022, 23 and 24, despite being among those at the head of the field when forced to pull up for various reasons.
And the 43-year-old must have thought history was going to repeat itself for a fourth time when his legs became so painful he thought he was going to have to quit at Langdon Beck.
Speaking the following day, while heading for the Alston checkpoint, he said: “I wanted to throw the towel in, I was in so much pain and I couldn’t see a way out of it.
“Conditions are so extreme from what we had on Sunday to today (Wednesday), it makes things very slow and tough going.
“My legs were rock solid …. I went into the doctor and said ‘I’m not sure I can do this, I can hardly walk’. He had the good idea of putting warm water in my Nalegene bottle and I took a couple of painkillers, slept for another hour and it was pretty much let’s go and see …”
Kim, who runs for Borrowdale Fell Runners and is a professional running coach and guide, is a hugely respected runner who has represented Great Britain on the world stage and previously held the winter Bob Graham record, but the Spine Race had eluded him until Wednesday night when he reached Kirk Yetholm at around 7pm.
He was a hugely popular winner and received thousands of messages on social media and on the Spine Race tracking page, including: “I think everyone wanted you to win this one Kim. After so much heartbreak this will be your greatest win. Massive congrats.”
“Phenomenal Kim, great to see you winning this. Top athlete, thoroughly deserved.”
“Truly amazing and in such difficult conditions! You have definitely inspired people to get out there, including me! Rest up!”
“You pretty much did everything alone this year so thumbs up to everything you learned and banked in previous attempts, and all those days on the lovely Northern Lakeland fells. Can now say I met the Spine winner!”
