For British ultra runner James Nobles, preparing for the 2024 Montane Winter Spine race required some major sacrifice. Not only was he training to run the 268-mile Pennine Way in the north of England in the middle of winter, but any time training in his trail running shoes had to be juggled with being a public health researcher by day and a dad to his young family.
When he set off at 8 a.m. on Sunday, January 13, he was just one of 11 runners daring enough to attempt the grueling race, and in an Instagram post that morning he alluded to the precariousness of such an undertaking, where even the burliest runners can run out of steam, get injured or fall foul to the winter conditions.
