Running the Pennine Way in Winter: Mel Sykes on the Spine Race

In this episode of Notes from Big Trails, Rob speaks with Mel Sykes about completing the winter Spine Race — a 268-mile, non-stop race along the Pennine Way in January.Mel talks about:What makes the winter Spine fundamentally different from long summer ultrasMoving for days in darkness and learning to manage sleep deprivationHallucinations, emotional swings, and the strange logic of extreme fatigueThe Pennine Way as a place — hostile, boring, beautiful, and absorbingSmall acts of kindness that land differently when you’re exhaustedWhy reaching Hadrian’s Wall and Cross Fell mattered so muchThe reality of finishing: relief, exhaustion, and delayed prideWhat events like this teach you — and what they’re often misunderstood to be aboutThis is a conversation about endurance, attention, and keeping going.Read more about Mel's Spine Race here:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gz2e12387ohttps://www.baldhiker.com/the-spine-race-adventures/Plan your own recce with Big Trail Adventures.