Tom Hollins on his way to victory in The Spine Challenger

Ultrarunner Tom Hollins has won a gruelling race along the Pennine Way after contending with heavy rain, freezing temperatures and overnight snow.

Hollins took the Montane Spine Challenger title after arriving at the finish in Hawes, North Yorkshire early this afternoon.

His time of 29hrs 25mins was 28 minutes faster than that set by 2015 event winner Ed Catmur.

Less than an hour behind Hollins, Beth Pascall and Matt Bennett took joint second place, arriving at the Yorkshire Dales finish after running for 30hrs 18mins. Pascall’s time smashed the women’s record by almost 12 hours.

The runners in The Spine Challenger set off from Edale at 7am on Saturday, heading north for 174km (108 miles) along the Pennine Way. As the runners approached Yorkshire at nightfall, heavy rain lashed the competitors, and with dropping temperatures, the rain turned to snow as the night progressed.

Shane Mooney negotiates Blackstone Edge as night falls

Leading runner in the Mountain Rescue Challenge is Tim Budd of Glossop MRT who, at the time of posting, was skirting Dodd Fell.

The Mountain Rescue Challenge is open to members of UK mountain rescue teams and follows the same route as the Montane Spine Challenger.

Matt Bennett and Beth Pascall finished together to take joint second place

Budd has recently been overtaken by Spanish runner Eugeni Roselló Sole, Irishman Eoin Keith and Czech Pavel Paloncy, the lead trio in the full Montane Spine Race, which covers the full 431km (268 miles) length of the Pennine Way. Paloncy and Keith were winner and runner-up respectively in last year’s race

Leading woman in The Spine Race is Anna Buckingham, who is currently approaching Lothersdale in North Yorkshire.

Second-placed runner in the Mountain Rescue Challenge is Joe Farnell of Edale MRT.