'I wasn't sporty but I've won a 268-mile race'


Lucy Gossage, a 14-time Ironman champion and oncologist, has won the women’s Montane Winter Spine Race, a 268-mile ultramarathon between Derbyshire and Scotland. The event tests competitors’ abilities to endure brutal and unforgiving conditions. Gossage crossed the finish line in Kirk Yetholm after 87 hours, 41 minutes and 38 seconds, having rested for just three hours and 40 minutes over the three and a half days of running. The race began in stormy weather amid freezing temperatures.

Prior to becoming a professional triathlete in 2014, Gossage was researching kidney cancer in Cambridge laboratories, working towards a PhD. Her compulsion to embrace big challenges brought her to the race, which takes competitors to places “you’d never normally go in normal life”, as Gossage stated. The winners must be self-sufficient and carry everything with them along the trail. Half of the participants dropped out midway through this race.

Impressively, despite being subject to harsh conditions and inadequate sleep, Gossage overtook early leader Robyn Cassidy and approached the finish line first. Despite the significant accomplishment, Gossage says she has no plans to take on this race again, though she may have her eyes on “other challenges” in the future. 

Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More