Get in touch with Ultrarunning Sam here ⬅️

In this episode of the podcast I speak to rising ultra star Sam Skinner!

Sam shot to fame in 2023 when he took 2nd place at the Centurion Winter Downs 200. Since then he's steadily made a name for himself as one of the nicest guys in ultramarathon. But don't let that fool you....Sam is one determined cookie!

We talk about his route into ultras, which involved some serious life adjustments. From a stalled career in football, then as a boxer, Sam was a sportsman in every sense except one.....he was addicted to binge drinking!

Sam put all of this behind him to not only quit drinking, but also to restart his life as an athlete. Focusing his 'all or nothing' drive into training for long ultras and at the same time building a community of runners with his George and Falcon Trail Running Group. A community designed for likeminded trail runners to come together through the love of the trails.

Sam's journey led him to this years Spine Race which is obviously where our paths crossed!
Sam spent much of the race at the sharp end, running with the leaders for the majority of the race until he found his pacing stride with Robyn Cassidy who he stayed with until reaching Kirk Yetholm.
Sam ran the Spine in aid of a cancer charity that is close to his heart.

Please follow the below link to donate and also look up the George and Falcon running group.

https://www.justgiving.com/page/samuel-skinner-1732141833668?
utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL

URS

Get in touch with Ultrarunning Sam here ⬅️

In this episode I speak to long time podcast listener and friend of the show, Alice Kershaw!

Alice could possibly be a bigger fan of the Spine Race than even I am, which is saying something obviously!
Alice loves the race so much that she's ran nearly all of the (now) 4 races in the summer and the winter editions. With podiums places in the Sprint, South and full Summer Spine Race! So it's safe to say that she's a fully paid up member of the Spine Family!

In this interview we dive into Alice's training and laid back, sometimes fun approach to racing. We talk about her best and worst bits of this years race and her opinion on the coverage that the women's race got.

Alice is an infectious joyful person that I challenge anyone to meet and not feel cheered up afterwards!
💯 we will be speaking to Alice again in the future, possibly after she takes on the full winter race in the near future!

URS

Get in touch with Ultrarunning Sam here ⬅️

In this episode of the podcast we speak to Tiaan Erwee who took 3rd place at this years Winter Spine Race.

Tiaan had unfinished business at the winter edition of the race after suffering 2 DNFs. He then came back to smash the overall summer Spine record, knocking 7 hours off the previous course record!

So coming back to do what he knew could be done at the race was his goal for this year. As we know the leading pack shifted back and forth, but Tiaan was always near the front and in contention for the podium!

Tiaan is a super humble guy and a pleasure to interview, I'm sure he will be back in 2026 to have another go at Britain's Most Brutal race!

URS

Get in touch with Ultrarunning Sam here ⬅️

Welcome to the last episode of the podcast in residence at the Spine Race!

In this episode we round up the week of racing and we get final thoughts from Allie Bailey and Phil Hayday-Brown.

We talk to James Thurlow about Open Tracking and the growing sport of dot watching!

The interviews will continue in the next few weeks as we resume a normal podcasting schedule!

URS

Get in touch with Ultrarunning Sam here ⬅️

Welcome back to the resident podcast for the 2025 Montane Winter Spine Races!

In this episode we see the winners of the full Spine and Challenger North races. Lucy Gossage wins the women's race and Kim Collison makes it 4th time lucky to finish and simultaneously win the Montane Winter Spine Race!
Nicky Spinks and Paul Grundy win the women's and mens Challenger North races in super quick style!

The last episode of the podcast residency lands in the next few days as the race draws to a close sadly!
In episode 6 we recap all the action and have some behind the scenes interviews for any of the dot watching nerds out there.

Stay locked in!

URS

Get in touch with Ultrarunning Sam here ⬅️

Welcome back to the resident podcast for the 2025 Montane Winter Spine Races!

In this episode we speak to the women of the race!
We have trail interviews with Lucy Gossage, Robyn Cassidy, Nicki Arthur, Sarah Perry and Laura Swanton Rouvelin.

We talk to checkpoint staff about their observations on how the women are doing and how they personally draw inspiration from them battling against the weather and the terrain of Britain's Most Brutal Race!

Nicki Lygo - Checkpoint Lead, tells us about the history of the women's race and how performances like Jasmin Paris's overall course record that stood for 5 years, has shaped the way that the Spine Race has celebrated the outstanding performances of its women over the years.

To finish we talk to resident author and presenter Allie Bailey, who is at the race to present and bring extra focus to the women's race. Allie as always gives us frank thoughts on what the sport is doing wrong and what we as men can do to help women's running now and in the future!

Tune in for more to come this week at the Spine!

URS

Get in touch with Ultrarunning Sam here ⬅️

Welcome back to the resident podcast for the 2025 Montane Winter Spine Races!

In this episode we speak to the women's and men's podium for Challenger South and North.
We talk to Nicki Spinks and Samantha Lissauer about Challenger North and Jon Shield gives us a lesson in gluing his Leki poles back together! (as well as his thoughts on the race, obviously)

We also catch Kim Collison briefly at CP2 Hawes, where he was leading the race ahead of Eugenie and the following pack.

Tune in for more to come this week at the Spine!

URS

Get in touch with Ultrarunning Sam here ⬅️

This is not a traditional podcast episode but......this is the audio from the start line interviews during the extended Instagram LIVE.

If you're a SPINE nerd you will appreciate this....if not then please don't come at me in the comments!

Featured are Laura Swanton Rouvelin, Hannah Rickman, Allie Bailey, Sarah Perry, Simon Roberts and a host of off the cuff interviews.

Maybe you recognise a voice and can tell me who I spoke to?
Send me a message!

URS