Britain’s toughest woman
Breast cancer survivor runs 116 miles and conquers 48 peaks in just 56 hours
At the age of 51, a little-known Yorkshire farmer has completed an extraordinary mountain challenge worthy of an Olympic gold medal.
Nicky Spinks, a long distance runner and breast cancer survivor, pushed the barriers of human endurance by twice running a brutal circuit of Highland peaks that makes a marathon seem like a walk in the park.
the first-ever double ‘Ramsay Round’ involved running 116 miles over the summit of 48 peaks in 55 hours and 56 minutes. Battling heat exhaustion, dehydration and sleep deprivation, she took just seven breaks of no more than a few minutes, running through two days and nights around the hills and mountains above Fort William.
the ‘superwoman’ athlete had hoped to complete the run within 48 hours and admitted being ‘disappointed’ that she failed to achieve her target time.
But the record-breaking run made in heatwave temperatures is just the latest mind-blowing achievement of the remarkable married middle-aged beef farmer from Huddersfield.
two years ago, Miss Spinks celebrated ten years of surviving breast cancer by twice running the Bob Graham round in the Lake District. this equally nightmarish fell run involved 132 miles of similar non-stop running, which she managed in 45 hours and 30 minutes.
Each of the Herculean tasks was carefully planned, with a team of supporters carrying supplies and rations, needed to keep her energy levels up, for her on the hills.
A single Ramsay Round was first completed by Charlie Ramsay in 1978. But Miss Spinks decided to do it and then turn around and retrace her steps for the double.
‘It was incredibly tough. the terrain was really rough and there were hardly any paths and I really couldn’t run that fast because of the heat. I’m not very fast anyway but at times I was going very slowly,’ she said.
‘I tried to sleep twice but it was not happening and I just lay there for a few minutes.’
She set out at midnight on a Friday earlier this month and started, well fuelled by caramel wafer bars, rice pudding and fruit salad.
However, the ‘relentless’ 27C heat on the Sunday took its toll and Miss Spinks admitted she began to struggle. As well as the heat she suffered from blisters, swollen feet, aching muscles and after the high day-time temperatures, cold and foggy conditions in the night made navigation ‘tricky’.
She also said she cut her hand in a fall but soldiered on. Writing on her blog, she said she felt ‘a bit zonked for a day or two’ but added: ‘I could go again tomorrow!’
Yesterday, she said her watch indicated a total climb of 50,000ft during the astonishing mountain run. Miss Spinks, who has a degree in business studies, has helped her husband Steve Burgess run the family farm in Yorkshire for most of her adult life. they have no children.
As well as battling breast cancer and having a mastectomy, she also had a hysterectomy in 2012. She has raised thousands of pounds for a cancer charity through her running and earlier this year was awarded the British Empire Medal for her services to sport and charity.
As for the secret to her success, she puts that down to ‘mental strength’, adding modestly: ‘Anyone can do what I do with my training and background.’
‘I could go again tomorrow’