Nicky Spinks
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Born |
22 April 1967 London, England |
| Residence | Yorkshire, England |
| Occupation | Farmer |
| Website |
www |
| Sport | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sport | Running |
| Club | Dark Peak Fell Runners |
| Updated on 27 November 2016. | |
Nicola "Nicky" Spinks (born 22 April 1967)[1] is a British long distance runner, specialising in fell running, who set women's records for the major fell running challenges the Ramsay Round, the Paddy Buckley Round and the Bob Graham Round. She is the holder of the overall record for the double Bob Graham Round.
Born in London, she moved to the Peak District while still a child. She is now a farmer in Yorkshire.
Early life
Nicky Spinks was born in London. She moved to Glossop in the Peak District while still a child.[2]
Running career
Spinks began running competitively in 2001 in a 4-mile fell race.[2] Ten years later, in 2011, she set a new women's record of 64 for the number of Lakeland peaks climbed in 24 hours. The old record of 62 peaks was achieved by Anne Johnson in 1994.[3] Spinks also held the women's fastest times for each of the three most famous 24-hour British mountain courses, having set the record for the Bob Graham Round in 2012 at 18:12; 19:02 for the Paddy Buckley Round in 2013; and in 2014, the Ramsay Round in 19:39.[4] She was for some time the only person to have completed each challenge in under 20 hours[4] and held the women's record for each[5] until 2016 when Jasmin Paris broke Spinks's records for the individual rounds and set an overall best combined time of 50:10.[6]
In 2015, aged 47, Spinks attempted to beat Chris Near's overall record for the combined times in the three challenges, when she attempted the Bob Graham in 2015. She needed to complete the circuit in 17:21 or faster, which she was unable to attain but still managed to set a new women's record of 18:06, despite sickness and injury.[7]
On 15 May 2016, Spinks completed a double Bob Graham Round in 45 hours 30 minutes, beating the previous record set by Roger Baumeister in 1979 by more than an hour.[8]
Spinks has won the Fellsman four times[9] and in 2013 she won the Borrowdale Fell Race.[10]
She is sponsored by RaceKit and Inov-8.[2][5]
Personal life
In 2005, Spinks was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a hysterectomy in 2012.[5] She is a farmer in Yorkshire.[7]
References
- ↑ Inov-8 on YouTube: Run Forever: The Film of Nicky Spinks & The Double Bob Graham.
- 1 2 3 "Nicky Spinks". shaff.co.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ↑ "Updated: Nicky Spinks hits 64 Lakeland peaks". mudsweatandtears.co.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- 1 2 "UKH". ukhillwalking.com. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- 1 2 3 Allerhand, Rhalou (7 April 2015). "Fell runner Nicky Spinks sets new Bob Graham women's record". Runner's World. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ↑ Inov-8: Jasmin Paris Rewrites the Mountain Running Record Books.
- 1 2 "Fell runner Nicky Spinks sets new women's record for 66-mile Bob Graham Round – Women's Running". Women's Running. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ↑ http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/news/nicky-spinks-completes-double-bob-graham-round-in-record-time/14918.html
- ↑ Fellsman: Results.
- ↑ Lakeland Classics Trophy: Borrowdale 2013 Results.