'On top of the moon!' Kim Collison crowned winner of 2025 Montane Spine Race
Last updated 16th Jan 2025
He failed to finish in each of his previous three attempts to complete what's billed as one of Britain's most brutal endurance races.
But, after more than three days and nights of non-stop running along the 268-mile Pennine Way, Penrith-based ultra runner Kim Collison has been crowned winner of this year's Montane Spine Race.
The 44-year-old crossed the finish line in Kirk Yetholm shortly before 7pm on Wednesday, in a time of 82 hours, 46 minutes, and 32 seconds - making him the third fastest person to ever complete the event.
And he revealed he did it with only around three-and-a-half hours sleep.
WATCH: Click on the link below to view our exclusive interview with this year's winner...
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio at the finish line, Collison, who punched the air in delight, said: "I'm ecstatic right now - like on top of the moon!
"I'm just really enjoying the sunset, and running down the hill, knowing what I've achieved. After four years of trying and trying and trying, and coming back and finally succeeding."
Having set off from Edale in Derbyshire in freezing conditions alongside more than 150 other hardy souls at 8am on Sunday, Collison arrived to a much warmer welcome in the Scottish Borders.
When asked what kept him coming back, he replied: "It's just an enormous, enormous challenge - it's just so tough and the competition is so high... I love that sort of challenge.
"And failure and not succeeding gets to me," he added. "So I just have to keep coming until I succeed. And now I'm one and done."
Collison opened up a commanding lead on the last leg of the gruelling race, with Dave Phillips, Tiaan Erwee, John Kelly, and ladies leader Lucy Gossage, all within range on the Cheviot Hills.
He touched the wall of the Border Hotel just ahead of the previous record time set by Midlothian mum Jasmin Paris in 2019.
When asked where he got to sleep, he said: "Most of it was at Langdon Beck (checkpoint) - I took a long break; I needed to recover my legs and get a good sleep.
"A few trail naps on Hadrian's Wall; half hour snooze in Hawes; and then, from there on, I've just pushed it."
Elsewhere, the treacherous underfoot conditions has seen Border Search and Rescue's Damon Rodwell withdraw from the 160-mile Challenger event, while colleague Gavin Kippen soldiered on, after a fall on ice left him with a broken nose.
Competitors have until 8am on Sunday to complete the course.
Praising Collison's mental resilience, a spokesperson for the Spine Race said: "Kim Collison is a hugely respected runner who has represented Great Britain on the world stage and previously held the winter Bob Graham record, but the #SpineRace finish line has eluded him until now.
"At each previous attempt in 2022, 23 and 24 he has been right at the sharp end of the race, pushing with maximum effort, when one of the many variable in this race has caused him to pull up short.
"The mental fortitude required to pick himself up a 4th time, and run what looked from the outside to be a perfect race, is exceptional and everyone here at the Spine Race is incredibly pleased to see him reach his goal at last."
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