Molly Browne ran her debut ultra race – and set a new Montane Summer Spine Sprint record this month. She ran a time of 8:30:29, which is 11 minutes faster than Hannah Rickman’s record over the 46-mile course.
Meanwhile, in the Spine Challenger South race Rupert Allison claimed victory in 22:31:02 and set his third consecutive Spine Race course record.
Montane Summer Spine 2024
It was a very wet start to the 2024 Montane Summer Spine race series on the Pennine Way. Some 100 runners assembled at the start line to take on the Sprint race from Edale to Hebden Bridge.
After six hours, Molly was in the lead with Lizzie Broughton and Debbie Martin-Consani following behind. Debbie took a podium place in the Spine Race 2020.
The finish line returned the same order of women, with Lizzie finishing more than an hour behind Molly in 9:31:21 and Debbie in 10.10.38.
Molly said: “It was so tough, but I got to halfway and caught a couple of the guys. They were a nice group to run with and the atmosphere along the course was great.
“This was my first ultra so I wanted to finish before midnight. It was a good day on the Pennine Way and some of the views were amazing.”
In the men’s race, Stephen Earle took an early lead, pulling away from Liam Hinshelwood and Paul Johnston, who finished joint second. Stephen’s time was 8:21:49, while Liam and Paul finished soon afterwards in 8:29.48.
Montane Summer Challenger South 2024
Rupert Allison took the win in the 108-mile Montane Summer Challenger South race, from Edale to Hardraw, in a time of 22:31:02. He broke Tim Pigott’s Challenger South course record by around half an hour.
The win is Rupert’s third Spine Race record in a row. Last year, he set a Summer Sprint record time and in January he claimed a record in the Winter Sprint race.
Read: Tips for completing the winter Spine Race
Runner up in the Summer Challenger 2024 race was James White in 25:11:58, while Jack Cooper was third in 26:54:34.
Ursula Sullivan triumphed in the women’s race in 31:05:00, with defending champion Mel Sykes having to settle for second place in 33:16:02 and Marie-Lou Alemany in third in 34:32:29.
Two other races in the summer series include the full distance 268-mile Montane Summer Spine race, along the length of the Pennine Way from Edale to Kirk Yethholm, which is underway, and the Summer Challenger North race of 160 miles from Hardraw to Kirk Yetholm.
What is The Spine Race?
Since the first event in 2012, the Spine Race has established itself as one of the world’s toughest endurance races. It began as a seven-day, non-stop ultramarathon along the 268-mile (431km) Pennine Way National Trail in winter. Since 2017, there has also been a summer edition.
There are now also multiple editions of the race at each event:
MONTANE Summer Spine Race is 430km/268 miles.
MONTANE Summer Spine Challenger North & MRT Challenge North: 257km/160 miles
MONTANE Summer Spine Challenger South & MRT Challenge South: 174km/108 miles
MONTANE Summer Spine Sprint: 74km/ 46 miles
You can see race updates via Montane Spine Facebook, Instagram, x, and YouTube. More information can be found here.