Montane Spine Challenger South 2026 Debrief: Sarah Page

This week on Trails, Tales & Fails, we’re joined by co-host Sarah Page, fresh off an incredible performance at the Montane Winter Spine Challenger South 2026.

In her first-ever Spine, Sarah claimed 1st female, 3rd overall, and ran the fastest women’s time ever recorded on the Challenger South, stopping the clock at 29:03 — nearly 40 minutes quicker than the previous best.

All of this came in truly brutal conditions. Storm Goretti dumped snow across the Pennine Way early on, followed by driving wind, rain, and ice through Saturday night and into Sunday. Classic Spine weather.

We break the race down in detail:

• The emotional build-up to her first Spine

• Snow, darkness, navigation, and the mental grind of the night section

• A pivotal 40-minute stop at Hebden Bridge

• Running deep into the race with Rich Bryars

• Picking off competitors and opening a decisive gap

• Diversions

• A tense podium battle in the icy final miles

Sarah reflects on the highs, lows, lessons learned, and what this race revealed about her as an athlete — and answers the big question:
👉 Does this performance tempt her toward Challenger North… or even the full Spine Race?

An honest, insightful deep dive into one of the standout performances of the winter ultra season.

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