Jack Scott made history at the 2024 Spine Race, smashing the course record by over 10 hours. The Inov8 athlete completed the 268-mile winter race, widely regarded as one of the toughest endurance events in the world, in 72 hours and 55 minutes.
The 29-year-old ultrarunner crushed the previous record of 83 hours and 12 minutes, set by Jasmin Paris in 2019. Inov8 team member Damian Hall, last year’s winner, came second in 82 hours 25 minutes, also going under the old record.
Scott, who slept for less than an hour during the race, said: “This race meant everything to me, it was all I was focused on. I had a once-in-a-lifetime type of run, and I’m so happy. I felt like I had another gear almost the whole race, apart from the bit near Malham Tarn (80 miles in) when I felt bad due to the fast early pace and almost dropped out. After that, I slowed the pace, recharged, and pushed again when I felt better, chasing down those in front.”
The race, dubbed “‘Britain’s Most Brutal,”‘ started in Edale, Derbyshire, on Sunday morning amid good conditions. Following the Pennine Way, Britain’s oldest National Trail with 37,000 feet of wild mountainous ascent, Scott was never far from the front, racing against a stellar field of contenders.
Scott’s big move came on the section between Dufton and Alston, where the race crosses its highest point, Cross Fell, at 893m. Leaving behind Inov8 athlete Hall, he arrived in Alston alone with 175 miles of the course completed. With the weather deteriorating, Scott pushed on solo through flurries of heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures for a further 93 miles to the finish at Kirk Yetholm—a place in the history books.
Ultra-running veteran Hall, the co-founder of The Green Runners, came in second place this year, 47 minutes inside Jasmin’s previous record in a time that would have won him the race any other year.
Staffordshire-based Scott started running in his early 20s, using it to help him overcome a gambling addiction. Now five years clean, his results at ultramarathon races have elevated his status, as has his work to promote Gamstop, a platform that allows people to self-exclude themselves from online gambling.
Before this win, Scott’s two previous results at the Spine Race were a DNF in 2020 and a second-place finish in 2023.
Scott wore one pair of Inov8’s Trailfly G 270 V2 running shoes for the 268-mile race.
Images courtesy Inov8
