EverUltra

Originally from Scotland and now based in the Isle of Man, Nikki Arthur began ultrarunning in 2020, following the lockdown and subsequent shutting down of all the gyms. Driven by her need for a new challenge, she set her sights on running the island’s circumference via its coastal paths. 

Spanning 100 miles, Nikki completed this challenge and fell into the world of long-distance running, booking onto races with the likes of GB Ultras. However, after meeting her partner Orran Smith, an ultrarunner with successes in his own right, she was inspired by his 2023 completion of the Montane Winter Spine and endeavoured to complete it herself. 

“I kind of got spine fever, as most people do when they watch it, and I got inspired by all the other runners.”

However, this wasn’t Nikki’s first excursion onto the course, as she was the Montane Winter Challenger North female winner iand overall third in 2024, coming in at 52:17:19. Following this, she was accepted onto the full Spine Race in 2025 and jumped at the opportunity. 

“I love the Challenger North, even though it’s super hard. You’re just on such a high when you finish, and throughout, there’s just so much like pulling you along. It’s just an amazing community, and I’ve only been in it two years, and I know people come back time and time and time again, and I’m not surprised.”

The Montane Winter Spine Race is a 268-mile adventure up the Pennine Way. Known as ‘Britain’s Most Brutal, ’ it covers over 10,000m of elevation and travels through the Peak District and Lake District to the Scottish Borders. 

Nikki explained, however, that she had been recovering from a short illness the week before the race and had only recently stopped taking antibiotics. Still determined to race, she continued on. However, her first two days were challenging, and she “suffered” through them. 

Already feeling fatigued in the first day, she experienced weakness and lightheadedness despite keeping up with her nutrition strategy and drinking regularly. She admitted with a grin that she didn’t spend enough time in the first checkpoint (Hebden Hey) and “should have taken more time to rest, recover and eat, considering it’s such a big slog to Hawes. 

“When I finally got to Hawes to eat something, I was like, oh my god, this is not staying in my stomach. I got up to go to the toilet to get rid of whatever it was; I just fainted at the checkpoint.”

The medics declared her fit to continue if she wanted to, and she managed to get to Hawes in 33:53:23, her body demanding sleep. However, still unable to keep anything down, her partner Orran urged her to leave the checkpoint and see how she felt further along the course.

“This has happened to me before in races, so I know that I can rally. By the time I got to the next checkpoint, I was hungry, which was good. So they looked after me, and I got soup, bread, tea, and coffee: all the things!” 

“So many people had offered me so much support; I just felt it. All these people were willing to help me reach the finish line. I want to do that for them and be proud of myself for having managed to get the finish, too.”

Grateful for the food in her stomach, she caught on to a group including Simon Dicks and Chris Brookman who travelled together over Hadrian’s Wall: “ I had like a strong sort of two days after that.”

“I really enjoyed running in the day, but oh my god, the sleep deprivation and in the evenings was, was really, really difficult. And, and, uh, but it’s amazing how much sleep actually makes you feel like 100 times better as well.”

“Everybody’s in the same boat, everybody’s struggling, everybody’s finding it hard. And you all just sort of rally and use that, so great, great race, really, really, really big rollercoaster of physical and emotional turmoil, but you get through it, you get to the end.”

Reaching the Cheviots, with about a marathon to go, Nikki recalled how much emotion began to overwhelm her, pouring from her body. 

“It was such a gorgeous morning, and it was really windy, but sunny the whole day, and It’s just like, I moved quicker over the Cheviots that time than I did in the Challenger North, which is an extra 108 miles and way less sleep.”

“I was, like, a long time after Robyn [Cassidy] and Lucy [Gossage], but, I couldn’t have run any more than what I did.”

Nikki also strategised her race and nutrition. Despite battling illness during the initial stages of the race, she explained that eating small amounts frequently was crucial to her success. 

“I’m a big believer in Turkish delight. I have nuts and chocolate, a mixture of sweet and savoury because you get really bored.”

Calculating her watch to remind her every 45 minutes, Nikki’s little and often method included high-carb gels from Precision Fuel to keep her carb intake high: “They’ve got a little screw top. So when I only wanted to sip a little bit when I was still feeling a bit woozy, Like it was good to stick in my pocket, and then I’d take it out 10 minutes later and try again.”

“Like I was coming into one of the huts on the Cheviots, and I was starving, guys. I’m starving! Like, whose ginger nut biscuits are they? Please, can I steal one?”

Moving into that final 10km, Nikki was aware she was in the third female position after seeing Sarah Perry multiple times throughout the Montane Winter Spine Race. 

“I’d struggled so much in the first two days. I just wanted to get that finish. When I felt strong, I pushed to get the best time possible.”

However, the podium was an aspirational goal of hers, with finishing being her primary goal: “ The level of the girl this year, like when I saw the sort of block startup, I was like, my God, like these girls, like these are my inspiration.”

“I’m so proud to be able to say that I’m in the same race as them. So to finish in the top three when the competition standard is high is special.”

Nikki Arthur finished at Kirk Yetholm at 103:36:59. 

“My calf was super tight the next day on the Friday, but what I struggled with was quite extreme foot pain. They were very, very swollen.”

In the meantime, recovery has floated well, with slight shoulder pain. After a few days of doing nothing and intermittent phases of sleep, Nikki has already begun thinking about the rest of the race season and what she will do. 

Her previous races has meant she has qualified for the UTMB in August, which is her primary aspiration for the year following the Winter Spine Race.