Elite French runner Sebastien Raichon has won the 2026 Men’s Montane Winter Spine Race in a time of 95hrs 43mins.
He said: “I ran a patient race, the parable of the tortoise and the hare was in my mind the whole way and I wanted to make sure that I was the tortoise. Eugeni is a young runner, I had to be patient.
“I was expecting smaller hills, and the trail was more beautiful and brutal than I had imagine.”
Sebastien took his time at the checkpoints and meticulously managing his kit. A newcomer to the Pennine way, he learned as those more experienced dropped around him and put it all together with an excellent final push from CP 5.5 at Byrness.
With big results in Europe, particularly his recent Tour Des Glaciers win, he was always going to be a formidable competitor, but this week he’s really shown his class as an athlete, adapting to unfamiliar ground and storming to victory on Thursday morning.
The women’s race is still underway with Anna Troup (Lake District) and Johanna Antila (Finland) currently leading the pack.
