Gruelling event in the North of England kicks off our UK-wide endurance racing round-up
Chris Cope beat more than 100 racers to claim victory in the Montane Summer Spine race – a 268-mile event that started in Edale, Derbyshire, on June 15.
Cope crossed the finish line in Kirk Yetholm with a time of 79:10:14 to round off what was a dominant performance from start to finish.
The Montane Summer Spine returned for 2024 with its largest ever field of participations for the main event, all hoping to emulate last year’s winner, Dave Phillips, in claiming the coveted crown.
As runners lined up at the start line in Edale, they were faced with the prospect of travelling 268 miles within 156 hours across the Pennine Way, overcoming gruelling terrain, sleep deprivation, and battling through bad weather.
The course required runners to traverse three national parks, 287 gates, 249 timber stiles, 183 stone stiles, and 204 bridges, which together equated to the equivalent of 1.5 Everests of ascent, and all while battling knee-deep bogs, blazing sun, biting wind, torrential rain and even hail.
The race started with a frontrunning trio of Jon Shield, Cope, and Sam Moppett pulling ahead of the rest of the pack despite changeable weather conditions, while Irene Kinnegan took an early lead in the women’s race, tracking faster than Anna Troup’s course record pace which was set in 2022, with Rachel Price behind in second.
Montane Summer Spine race (Will Roberts)
Unfortunately for Shield and Moppett, they were forced to retire on day two, propelling Cope into a race of his own – now ahead of the newly-second-placed Bjarte Wetteland.
Wetteland would end up facing the same fate as that of Shield and Moppett in being forced to retire, which pushed Jacob Hayes in second place, ahead of Kinnegim in third, who continued to dominate the women’s race as weather conditions began to pick up and offer some respite.
As Cope continued to pull away from the chasing field, he opted to take a breather after 35 hours of racing, freshening up at Low Way. It proved to be a wise decision, as he decided to manage his effort and energy levels with over half of the famously unforgiving course still to be conquered.
Over the next couple of days, both Cope and Kinnegim continued to assert their dominance over the rest of the contenders, although their fates would later travel in opposite directions.
It was jubilation for Cope as he rounded off his relentless race by sprinting across the…
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