WINTER SPINE RACE 2025

INOV8 Athlete Sarah Perry on the 2025 Spine Race

Sarah Perry on The Spine Race 2025 / Photo: ericmurphy.co

2025 RESULTS & ROUND-UP

The 2025 Winter Spine Race started on Sunday January 12th at 8am from Edale, Peak District. There were 160 starters, including INOV8 athletes Hannah Rickman, Laura Swanton-Rouvelin and Sarah Perry.

A total of 78 ultra runners finished in Kirk Yetholm within the 168-hour time limit. A further 82 runners retired from the race.

As always, the remote 268-mile course up the Pennine Way trail has lived up to its billing as serving up ‘Britain’s most brutal’ race. With deep mountain snow, treacherous icy trails, endless muddy bogs, wildly ferocious winds, each runner has faced an adventure they will never forget.

Sarah was as the best placed of our athletes, finishing 4th woman on her Spine Race debut in a time of 115hrs 07mins. Just five hours behind was Laura in 120hrs 16mins, who achieved a second Spine Race finish having previously done so in 2022.

Both Sarah and Laura battled the worst of the conditions, sleep deprivation, utter exhaustion and much more in bravely pushing their bodies to the finish line.

Sarah Perry on The Spine Race 2025 / Photo: ericmurphy.co

Sarah said: “The Spine experience was amazing in so many ways. The conditions were challenging but I loved working through them – this was exactly what I had signed up for. I was also blown away by the support on the course – so many people were out to cheer us, and that encouragement drove us forward.

“I really enjoyed experiencing a lot of the course on my own and loved the solitude. It was an amazing year to do the Spine with so many friends either on course or in the media team.

“When I signed up, I was adamant that I was ticking off a bucket list race that I would only need to do once. Disappointingly, I picked up a virus a couple of days before the start of the race. After having a really difficult time on course, and having learnt lots about the race, I'd love to go back and give it another try and have a race I’d feel content with.”

As for her favourite and worst moments, Sarah added: “I have so many special memories, but I'll never forget getting to Gregg's Hut after an awful night stumbling around on Cross Fell in poor visibility and falling numerous times on the ice.

"The back room of the hut felt so cosy – they had the fire going, candles everywhere and they wrapped me in a foil blanket, gave me a hot water bottle and John Bamber made me some of his infamous noodles and a pint of tea. We chatted like old friends and I didn't feel like I'd ever leave. When I finally did, I felt reinvigorated.

“The worst part was dealing with sleep deprivation. I made some bad choices in terms of sleep and this caught up with me. By the last couple of nights, I had a couple of instances where I woke up on the floor confused and cold, not really remembering where I was, what I was doing or how I'd got there.”

Sarah Perry on The Spine Race 2025 / Photo: ericmurphy.co

Laura said: “It was absolutely magical and brutal in equal measure but has left me with a deep and long-awaited feeling of contentment. The conditions were pretty extreme but I managed myself better than ever. I was composed and never doubted my ability to reach Kirk Yetholm. I ate well, looked after my feet, my body, and dealt with the sleep deprivation. And I feel so happy with the result.

“My best moment was sunshine and a cloud inversion on the top of Cross Fell and the worst was being so sleep deprived that I curled up in a ball in the rain on the side of the trail. I woke 10 minutes later not knowing where I was or why I was there. I got up and ran, freezing cold from sleeping in the rain, only to bump into another runner who asked why I was going the wrong way back to checkpoint!”

Unfortunately for Hannah, it was not the result that she had hoped for. Her race ended at the 90-mile mark when she retired. The two-time Spine Race runner-up said: “I wasn’t hurt, wasn’t cold, wasn’t sick. My body was ready to go to Kirk Yetholm, but my brain wasn’t.”

The women’s race was won by 14 times Ironman champion Lucy Gossage, who overhauled Robyn Cassidy and stormed to the finish line in 87hrs 41mins. Robyn clocked 94hrs 31mins, with Nikki Arthur 3rd in 103hrs 36mins.

The men’s race was brilliantly won by Kim Collison in 82hrs 46mins - the third fastest time in event history. INOV8 athlete Jack Scott’s course record from 2024 of 72hrs 55mins still stands. Dave Phillips (85hrs 58mins) was 2nd and Tiaan Erwee (86hrs 05mins) 3rd.

Laura Swanton-Rouvelin on The Spine Race 2025 / Photo: ericmurphy.co

Meanwhile, INOV8 athlete Nicky Spinks added another superb win to her illustrious roll of honour with victory in the women’s Spine Challenger North - a 'shorter' race run over 160 miles from Hawes to Kirk Yetholm.

The ultrarunning legend led for most of the race and clocked a time of 56hrs 49mins.

Nicky said: “It was a dream race - it went so well and I'm so happy.

“I was determined to manage myself better than when I did the full Spine last year and it worked. I didn't waste time faffing, I made sure I kept eating and tried not to slow down. I made myself a 60-hour schedule and was on top of any issues throughout.

“The last section over The Cheviot Hills was in the daylight and we even saw some sun. It felt like a reward for all the hell we'd been put through earlier in the race with such tough conditions.”

All our athletes wore new TRAILTALON shoes, designed with incredible versatility to tackle all off-road terrains. Sarah said: “The TRAILTALON were amazing. I used one pair from start to finish, combined with INOV8 MERINO SOCKS and a pair of waterproof socks. They were good in a range of conditions, comfortable throughout, and I finished with blister-free feet.”

Laura added: “Oh my goodness, what a shoe! The TRAILTALON was so comfortable and performed really well on rock, snow and in the bogs. I have no blisters at all and am so happy with the shoes.”

Nicky Spinks at the Spine Race 2025 finish line

Nicky Spinks, winner of the 2025 Spine Challenger North at the finish line / Photo: Spine Race - @fellsidephotography

WINTER SPINE RACE 2025 - WHAT IS IT?

First staged in 2012, the Spine Race is one of the world's toughest ultramarathon endurance events and dubbed 'Britain's most brutal race.' Following the gruelling 268-mile Pennine Way trail, it includes a mammoth 37,000ft of remote mountainous ascent – the equivalent of eight times Ben Nevis – and is staged in midwinter.

Navigating themselves north along the trail to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders, ultra runners must battle wild conditions, energy-sapping underfoot terrain, sleep deprivation and much more. With only eight hours of light each day, a lot of the race is run in darkness and is as much of a mental challenge as a physical one.

This 2025 Spine Race has a lot to live up to. History was made at the last year’s event when Jack Scott smashed the course record by over 10 hours in a mind-boggling time of 72hrs 55mins.

The INOV8 athlete’s incredible achievement made mainstream headlines and is regarded by many as one of the greatest-ever ultramarathon performances by a British runner. The previous record had famously been set by Jasmin Paris in 2019.

In total, 91 runners reached the finish line last year within the 168-hour time limit. Unfortunately, 72 did not. Yes, it’s that tough. And while Jack is not tackling this year’s Spine Race, he offered this advice to those who are: “My top tip for this absolutely glorious but extremely difficult journey would be patience. Show patience and look at the clock as opportunity, not additional weight on your shoulders.”

INOV8 athletes Hannah Rickman, Laura Swanton-Rouvelin and Sarah Perry

INOV8 ATHLETE PRE-RACE Q&A

We caught up with the INOV8 athletes taking part in this year’s edition of the Spine Race – Hannah Rickman, Laura Swanton-Rouvelin and Sarah Perry – to get their pre-race thoughts and expectations.

Give us a quick intro...

Hannah: My name is Hannah Rickman, I’m a doctor – but currently working in research finishing off my PhD.

Laura: I'm Laura Swanton-Rouvelin – (I married a French man – hence the long name). I am an Advanced Practice Radiographer in breast care.

Sarah: Sarah Perry, I am a teacher.

Favourite running achievement?

Hannah: One of my favourite running adventures was a border-to-border run across Malawi with friends, through rural villages, and including a 20-mile paddleboard across Lake Malawi. This was about five times further than any of us had ever paddled before. We were totally winging it. It was brilliant.

Laura: Probably finishing the Summer Spine (in 109 hours) with feet that looked like they had a grater on them!

Sarah: Completing the South West Coastal Path!

Have you done the Spine Race before?

Hannah: I'm a serial offender. I did the Challenger North in Winter 2022, and the full Winter Spine in both 2023 and 2024. I've been very consistent and finished in 2nd place every time. I've also volunteered at the last three summer races, and won the 46-mile Summer "Sprint" in 2023.

Laura: I did the Winter Spine in 2022 and then attempted it again in 2023. The weight of the pack in 2022 hurt my back so much I had to hike from 100 miles to the end and wanted to go back to achieve a better time but unfortunately my back was even worse in 2023, and I had to stop after about 80 miles. I was gutted and entered the Summer Spine that same year (lighter pack) which is when I came second, and my feet fermented!

Sarah: Nope, I'm a Spine newbie!

Typical conditions on The Spine Race / Photo: Steve Ashworth

What are you most looking forward to?

Hannah: Catching up with the amazing community around the race. I have so many friends running or involved in the race, and the support from volunteers, locals and other runners is second to none. The Pennine Way feels like coming home.

Laura: I am so looking forward to being amongst the Spine family again – such a special community. But mostly I just can’t wait to get out into that wild open space and experience the adventure of that beautiful route. It’s such a privilege to think of nothing else but moving forwards, experiencing the lowest lows, pulling yourself out of them and experiencing the highest highs – there’s nothing quite like it!

Sarah: I'm looking forward to the adventure. Although I've done the distance before, I haven't done anything like the Spine. I think it'll be really challenging and I'm looking forward to diving into the unknown.

What are you least looking forward to?

Hannah: Sleep deprivation. The silver lining is that over the years it's given me some fun hallucinated nighttime friends, including sunglass-wearing tigers, herds of vampire geese, and the Pope riding a bicycle. But it does make me feel terrible. Hoping to manage it a bit better this year.

Laura: The sleep deprivation! And trying to eat in the first 100 miles - this is not my strong point!

Sarah: The sleep deprivation is probably what I'm least looking forward to.

What advice you’ve been given about the race will you’ll definitely use?

Hannah: I did a webinar recently with Paul Tierney, and he gave some great advice: "It's 100% NOT going to go to plan. You have to accept and almost welcome the **** hitting the fan, and if you're not willing to do that then you've signed up for the wrong event." It's easy to feel overwhelmed when the problems start stacking up, so it helps to remember that I signed up for a problem-solving race.

Laura: Don’t look too far ahead – it can be too overwhelming – one checkpoint at a time; one foot in front of the other, keep moving forwards.

Sarah: Have a checklist for the checkpoints to ensure you leave with everything ticked off your list.

Any sentimental/motivational items in your pack to keep you going?

Hannah: I have a crocheted "Positive Potato" mascot from my friend Sam, which lives in my dropbag to remind me of the importance of 1) a positive mindset and 2) complex carbohydrates.

Laura: There’s no more space in my pack for these!! But I have photos of my children and husband on my phone and my family set up a WhatsApp group to all message each other on my progress whilst I am away. If I have a low, I can look at this and it uplifts me. My children follow my progress with their friends, which always spurs me on.

Sarah: Every gram counts so no space for anything sentimental in my pack. I'll be keeping myself motivated with a steady stream of chocolate.

Our athletes shoe of choice to tackle the Pennine Way

What shoes will you be wearing for the race?

Hannah: TRAILTALON. The Pennine Way has the whole mix of terrain, from hard flagstones to biblical bog (and hopefully some snow), and the TRAILTALON are magically grippy and comfortable on all of them.

Laura: The TRAILTALON. I love this shoe. To me, they have the comfort of the TRAILFLY with the grip of the MUDTALON. They are springy, light and cushioned, but you have such good grip on the mud – I have used them in training, and they are perfect for this route.

Sarah: The TRAILTALON - they offer the perfect mix between grip and comfort. I love them!

In three words, sum up how you’re feeling ahead of the Spine Race.

Hannah: Only one word needed: Excited.

Laura: Excited, nervous, grateful!

Sarah: Nervous, sick, EXCITED!