Anna Troup at the Kirk Yetholm finish. Photo: Jamie Rutherford

Endurance runner Anna Troup has set a new women’s record for running the length of the Pennine Way.

Troup arrived at Kirk Yetholm shortly after 12.45pm on Tuesday after running the 268-mile national trail from south to north.

Her time of 3 days 46mins 52secs beat the existing fastest female time, set by Sabrina Verjee in September 2020, by more than an hour and a half. It also bettered the record time Troup set when she took the women’s prize in this year’s Montane Summer Spine Race along the Pennine Way, which she ran in 3 days 8hrs 28mins.

Troup’s challenge was set by running the Pennine Way from Edale to Kirk Yetholm, whereas recent opinion among some ultrarunners deemed a north-to-south route produced the fastest times.

Before starting her challenge the athlete, who works in asset management and as a non-executive director in the financial sector, said: “I will be supported by friends I have met in my races so far and of course by Richard Staite and the unflappable Sharon Dyson.”

Organisers of the Summer Spine Race Organisers said her boundless positive energy made her extremely popular among the team behind the scenes.

The overall fastest time for running the Pennine Way, Britain’s first national trail, is held by John Kelly, who in May this year completed the route in 2 days 10hrs 4mins 53secs, 3hrs 30mins faster than that set by Damian Hall in 2020. It is also beat Kelly’s previous fastest time of 2 days 16hrs 46mins, set in July last year, only to be surpassed eight days later by Hall.