Sébastien Raichon. Photo: Bob Smith Photography

Sébastien Raichon has won the Montane Spine Race at his first attempt.

The French ultrarunner reached the finish at Kirk Yetholm at 7.43 on Thursday morning, completing the Pennine Way course in just under four days.

Conditions were particularly brutal this year, with many of the fancied athletes dropping out. Long-time leader Eugeni Roselló Solé retired from the event at the first mountain refuge hut on the Cheviots after heading the runners for much of the race. He was suffering from extreme exhaustion after days pounding the national trail in very cold conditions.

The winner likened his victory to a tortoise and hare strategy. Race organisers said Sebastien ran a patient race, taking his time at the checkpoints and meticulously managing his kit.

Eugeni Roselló Solé led the race until dropping out. Photo: Bob Smith Photography

“A newcomer to the Pennine way, he learned as those more experienced dropped around him and put it all together with an excellent final push from [the final checkpoint] at Byrness.”

The women’s race is finely balanced, with Finnish runner Johanna Antila and Briton Anna Troup both at the Yearning Saddle mountain hut on the Cheviots at the time of writing.

James White is in second overall place, and is just a few kilometres from the finish, with James Hargreaves in third place.

Fiona Horsfield is the third-placed woman, arriving at the Byrness checkpoint at 10.31am on Thursday.

Raichon’s finish time was 3 days 23hrs 43mins 52secs.