Necton runner 'didn't expect to win Britain's most brutal race'
A man who started ultrarunning during the pandemic said he was in "disbelief" after winning a 268-mile race.Shane Morgan, from Necton, near Swaffham, Norfolk, finished first in the Montane Summer Spine men's race across the Pennine Way, in 91 hours and 45 minutes.The endurance race from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm on the Scottish Borders has been nicknamed "Britain's most brutal race" by runners.Mr Morgan, 37, said: "I can't really believe what happened... I aimed for a decent finish but I didn't think there was a chance I'd get the top spot."
On the women's leaderboard, London-based Anna Troup came first with a time of 84 hours and 56 minutes.Although the race is unassisted, there are five checkpoints where competitors can get a hot meal and rest.During nearly four days in the race, Mr Morgan said he slept for just an hour. "I'm terrible at sleeping, so it was just as and when," he said."It's weird – you can be so tired that you can barely keep your eyes open but then you lay down and you're buzzing and want to be out there... Mostly it's just a case of keeping moving."
The Summer Spine is known for its mountainous route, with a total ascent of more than 35,000ft (about 11km).Due to Norfolk's famously flat geography, Mr Morgan had to train for the uphill landscape on a treadmill."I've done a few 200-mile plus races, but this was definitely a lot harder because of the elevation," he said. "I find downhill much harder... You can train your muscles, but you can't train for the technical terrain."
'Disbelief and pressure'
Mr Morgan said there were "quite a few really low points" during the race."Your mind goes, and you realise you don't want to be there or you can't remember why you're there," he said."I had my wife on the end of the phone, so I'd give her a call and she'd coach me through it and tell me to keep going."Mr Morgan said he kept a track of his position in the race, and felt "disbelief and pressure" when he took the lead."It's one of those things where I wasn't expecting to win," he said.
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