Running News Daily

New documentary on Nicky Spinks at the Barkley Marathons

The doc follows the British ultrarunner on her quest to become the first woman to finish the infamously difficult race.

Back in March, the British runner Nicky Spinks, 52, was considered the most likely of the seven women registered for the Barkley Marathons to become the first-ever female in the race’s 33-year history to finish. Along with Canadian Stephanie Case (a Barkley veteran who had attempted the race in 2018), Spinks had to bail on the second of five 20-mile loops. Her sponsor, the British gear company Inov-8, in partnership with Summit Media, has produced a documentary on her attempt, entitled Last Women Standing: The Barkley Marathons 2019. 

Spinks is the first person ever to complete doubles of all three classic British fell-running rounds, which link numerous peaks in a circuit (the Paddy Buckley Round, the Ramsay Round and the Bob Graham Round), among many impressive accomplishments in her fell-running career. She crewed Damian Hall to a fifth-place finish at UTMB in 2018.

(11/24/2019) Views: 1,493 ⚡AMP

Nicky Spinks will lead the way at Trail Skills for Ultrarunners

Scotland-based women’s guided trail running company, Girls on Hills Ltd, have just announced that they will be hosting a ‘Trail Skills for Ultrarunners’ course in Glencoe October 11-13, with the legendary ultrarunner Nicky Spinks the star tutor.

Spinks will be sharing her experiences and coaching women in the essential skills of ultrarunning, including training advice and running with poles. She will be joining an otherwise all-Scottish line-up of other providers, with experts covering areas such as yoga, nutrition, foot-care and self-massage. 

For female ultrarunners, there can be no better teacher than Spinks. The inspirational Inov-8 athlete just became the first person to complete double rounds of Britain’s three classic 24-hour mountain running challenges: the Bob Graham Round in England; the Charlie Ramsay Round in Scotland; and now the Paddy Buckley Round in Wales. 

On her two laps of the Paddy Buckley Round circuit last month, Spinks ran 94 peaks and 56,000ft of height gain (almost two times Mount Everest), in 57hrs 27mins to complete the ‘doubles’ and make fell-running history. 

Girls on Hills Ddirector Keri Wallace told runABC Scotland online: “Nicky is an incredible woman and an inspiration to so many people, runners and non-runners alike. As a 51-year old, a woman, a farmer and a cancer-survivor, she breaks so many trail-running stereotypes! Who better to join us at Girls on Hills and help coach women in the skills they need to get outside and explore their limits through ultrarunning!”

As a company, Girls on Hills Ltd, who are sponsored by Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports and are partnered with Inov-8 clothing, seeks to address the gender gap in participation that exists in trail, fell and skyrunning by increasing the accessibility of off-road running disciplines. 

“There are no actual barriers stopping women from running long distances in remote places or exploring the mountains – there are only perceived barriers. We welcome women of all ages and from all walks of life, and surprise them with how much they can achieve!”  

(06/03/2019) Views: 2,022 ⚡AMP

Nicky Spinks is hoping to be the first woman to finish the Barkley marathons

The Barkley Marathons, which is “rumoured” to take place this weekend, is surrounded by folklore about prison escapes and encounters with wild boar. If you’ve never been to Frozen Head, you might think of it as a mysterious, forbidding place whose only reason for existence is as the site of Laz Lake’sinfamous 100-miler.

But Jamil Coury who is returning to the Barkley for the fifth time this year, you’ll see that it’s just a state park like any other, with trails and campgrounds where families go to relax a little later in the season, just like they do in state, national and provincial parks across North America.

Coury and another Barkley veteran, Guillaume Calmettes of France, spent a few days together last month, running the trails in Frozen Head to get in shape for this year’s race. They make Frozen Head look positively benign.

Last year there were no finishers, thanks largely to terrible weather. Spring weather can be unpredictable anywhere, and last year Frozen Head got walloped with a massive rainstorm, dense fog and cold temperatures on race weekend.

Running five 20-mile loops in 60 hours with no course markings and no organized aid stations is hard enough–add bad weather to the mix, and any hopes of finishing were dashed for most people after a loop or two. Gary Robbins completed a “fun run,” three loops in under 40 hours.

This year could be a different story. The forecast for Frozen Head is for temperatures of between 50 F (10 C) and 68 F (20 C), with thunderstorms possible on Saturday.

We’ve also just learned that Nicky Spinks is among the starters. The British ultrarunner ran a double Ramsay Round last year, has also run a double Bob Graham Round, and crewed for Damian Hall at UTMB last year.

Let’s hope the will be some finishers this year.  

(03/29/2019) Views: 1,976 ⚡AMP

Nicky Spinks pushed the barriers of human endurace by running 116 Miles over Peaks in under 56 Hours

At the age of 51, a little-known Yorkshire (UK) farmer has completed an extraordinary mountain challenge. Nicky Spinks, a long-distance fell runner and breast cancer survivor, pushed the barriers of human endurance by twice running a brutal circuit of Scottish highland peaks that makes a marathon seem like a walk in the park. The first-ever ‘double Ramsay Round’ involved running 116 miles over the summit of 48 peaks in 55 hours and 56 minutes. Battling heat exhaustion, dehydration and sleep deprivation, she took just seven breaks of no more than a few minutes, running through two days and nights around the hills and mountains above Fort William. The ‘superwoman’ athlete had hoped to complete the run within 48 hours and admitted being ‘disappointed’ that she failed to achieve her target time. But the record-breaking run made in soaring heatwave temperatures is just the latest mind-blowing achievement of this remarkable married middle-aged beef farmer from Huddersfield. Two years ago Miss Spinks celebrated ten years of surviving breast cancer by running twice around the Bob Graham round in the Lake District. (07/13/2018) Views: 1,876 ⚡AMP