The United Kingdom’s maximum brutal race noticed athletes from far and wide the arena check their staying power alongside essentially the most iconic and important nationwide path in Britain
With record-breaking feats, one of the vital maximum punishing stipulations the race has ever observed and numerous tales of perseverance, the 2025 Montane Backbone Race has come to a detailed.
Spanning 268 miles from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm within the Scottish Borders, the race happened from January 11-19, checking out the staying power of 537 athletes from around the globe.
This 12 months, individuals confronted extraordinarily chilly, sub-zero temperatures and icy, treacherous terrain alongside the enduring Pennine Means. In general, 313 athletes crossed the end line.
The top match of the Montane Backbone Race, the Complete Backbone, commenced on January 12. Alongside the 268-mile direction, competition confronted now not most effective extraordinarily chilly but additionally a punishing general ascent of over 10,700 metres alongside the Pennine Means.
Kim Collison (Will Roberts)
Kim Collison claimed the entire victory in a time of 82:46:32, the third-fastest time in race historical past. Having prompt at 8am on Sunday, he led from early on and held off his competitors as he crossed the road in a while sooner than 7pm on Wednesday.
Collison used to be the winner of the Swiss Peaks Path 360 closing 12 months and has additionally triumphed within the Northern Traverse and Arc of Attrition prior to now however his adventure from Edale to Kirk Yetholm has been longer than maximum. His triumphant win used to be the end result of 4 years of setbacks and DNFs in his earlier 3 Iciness Backbone makes an attempt.
Lucy Gossage gained the ladies’s race in 87:41:38, completing an impressive fourth total, with Staff Montane athlete Robyn Cassidy completing 2d within the girls’s race with a time of 94:31:43.
Lucy Gossage (David Picket)
Gossage has now not lengthy transitioned from duathlon and triathlon to extremely operating, the place she now has a primary and 1/3 position in back-to-back Iciness Backbone races.
The race additionally featured the Challenger South and Challenger North demanding situations, which examined individuals over 106 miles.
The Challenger South race kicked off on January 11 from Edale, with competition going through -9°C temperatures.
James Allen took victory as the boys’s champion with an excellent 34:39:43. Alice Kershaw gained the ladies’s race in 43:14:45, cementing her position as probably the most race’s most sensible performers.
Montane Backbone Race (Adam Jacobs)
On January 13, the Challenger North prompt from Hardaw because it offered but some other brutal check for the ultra-runners.
Paul Grundy claimed victory within the males’s race with an total time of 48:03:07, which integrated a 38-minute penalty because of a navigation error. Nicky Spinks triumphed within the girls’s race with a time of 56:49:55.
Montane Backbone Race (Adam Jacobs)
One of the vital unforgettable moments got here from Cleo Bishop-Bolt, who used to be the 1/3 girl within the Challenger North. Amidst the exhaustion of the race, Bishop-Bell discovered herself serving to a stray canine she encountered alongside the path and after crafting a makeshift lead, she escorted the canine to a far flung refugee hut.
In the meantime, the 46-mile Backbone Dash race, which additionally began on January 11, examined competition over a shorter however no much less gruelling direction.
Paul Brennan took the highest spot within the males’s race with a time of 9:26:48, whilst Hannah Bruce claimed first position within the girls’s race, completing in 12:53:40.
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