A female ultramarathon runner was forced to abandon one of Britain's toughest endurance races after receiving death threats connected to her humanitarian work supporting women and girls in Afghanistan.
Race Safety Overrides Ambition
Sarah Porter was competing in the 108-mile Montane Winter Spine Challenger South race when organisers made the "difficult decision" to withdraw her on Saturday 10th January. The decision followed specific threats to her life, which were related to the foundation she runs. Police were contacted regarding the threats.
Porter, an amateur runner, was approximately a third of the way through the gruelling course along the Pennine Way, which stretches from Edale in Derbyshire to Hawes in North Yorkshire. The event is renowned as one of the UK's most brutal ultramarathons, taking place in remote, mountainous terrain in winter.
Pre-Race Precautions and Sudden Escalation
Speaking to the Guardian, Porter revealed that a risk assessment had been conducted before the race with her coach, Jon Shield, security experts, and the organisers. Given the remote nature of the race, where runners can be alone for hours, participants are tracked via a device visible on the race website. Initially, it was deemed safe for her to run.
"I set off on the race, everything seemed fine," Porter said. However, the situation changed dramatically. "I then received notification from the Spine Race team that the situation had changed. They disabled my tracking device and when I then got to [the checkpoint at] Standedge, they said they were removing me from the course."
She expressed deep disappointment and a sense of shame, feeling she had let down the Afghan girls she was running for. "I really felt like I’d let down the girls that I was running for and I’d really kind of got this narrative in my head and psyched myself up that what I was doing was just so insignificant in comparison to what they’re enduring," she said.
A Pattern of Hostility for Humanitarian Work
Porter asked for specific details of the latest threats not to be published. She explained that her InspiredMinds! foundation, which finds humanitarian uses for AI, often attracts hostility. "We’re also seeing a huge and very scary regression of women’s rights for the first time in our history," she stated. "So this is not exceptional, we were aware this was a possibility."
Despite the setback, Porter bears no ill-will towards the race organisers. "I can’t do anything but respect them for the way that they dealt with things," she said. "If anything it’s just made me feel much more determined to carry on." Her GoFundMe page remains open for donations.
The organisers of the Montane Spine Race issued a statement confirming their action: "We made the difficult decision to remove one of our participants from the race following a personal safety threat... The safety of all our participants is always our primary concern." They confirmed they were working with authorities and believed there was no wider threat to other runners.
The full 268-mile Montane Winter Spine race, which continues to the Scottish borders, is ongoing. The first finisher was expected on Wednesday after a challenging start due to freezing temperatures and severe winds from Storm Goretti.
