Damian Hall Wins the Winter Spine Race

Vegan ultrarunner Damian Hall has won the Montane Winter Spine Race, the 268-mile non-stop race along the full length of the Pennine Way, in 84 hours 36 minutes and 24 seconds.

Hall crossed the finish line together with Jack Scott, the pair miles clear of the rest of the field. But Scott had picked up a 48-minute time penalty for a navigation error overnight, which handed Hall the outright win (UKClimbing).

The race had been billed as a rematch between Hall and Kim Collison after both withdrew last year. This time Collison was forced out at Tan Hill. The course climbs about 13,000 meters, more than the height of Everest, and runners carry all their own kit (Great Vegan Athletes). Hall started steadily and it paid off. He posted that conditions were "feisty enough for goggles early on and a bit spicy on the Cam High Road too".

It is a long way from 2014, when Hall finished fourth in his first Spine Race in a little under five days.

Hall went vegan a few years ago, mainly for environmental reasons, as part of a wider push to cut his own climate footprint. He no longer flies to races, and he told Green Sports Blog that he "rarely drink[s] alcohol, eat[s] a vegan diet" and sleeps eight hours a night. He makes a point of doing his records without animal products:

For each of those records I did them without animal products fuelling me. Also without creating any plastic waste, which is much more difficult actually.

Hall knows the Pennine Way better than almost anyone. In 2020 he smashed the Pennine Way record in 61.5 hours, and in 2021 he broke a 30-year-old coast-to-coast record. Fellow plant-based ultrarunner Harvey Lewis won Big's Backyard Ultra with a world record 85 laps.

268 miles, powered by plants.