For Sarah Porter, a human rights advocate and ultrarunner drawn to extreme physical and mental tests, participation in Britain’s 108-mile Montane Winter Spine Challenger South was a deliberate choice. She was captivated by the race’s reputation as the nation’s most brutal ultramarathon. However, her attempt to run this remote and punishing course along the Pennine Way was halted by a threat.

As reported by The Guardian, Porter was pulled from the race after organizers received specific death threats related to her humanitarian fundraising for women and girls in Afghanistan.

The decision came when she was approximately 30 miles into the race, near the Standedge checkpoint, and she has recalled the same.

“I set off on the race, everything seemed fine. 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 second checkpoint] Standedge, they said they were removing me from the course and that they’d consulted with my security team and everybody felt that that was the best solution.”

Despite the abrupt end to her race, Porter expressed no resentment toward the organizers.

“I can’t do anything but respect them for the way that they dealt with things. If anything, it’s just made me feel much more determined to carry on and continue doing [future races],” she clarified.

But her disappointment was quite visible.

“My immediate feeling was just one of shame, really. I was very emotional. Just born from the perspective that 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 conveyed.

This feeling stemmed from her deep, years-long commitment to the cause. As the founder of the InspiredMinds foundation, she advocated for an all-girl Afghan robotics team and was later involved in evacuating over 150 Afghan nationals, including team members and their families, during the fall of Kabul.

The race organizers even issued a statement on this incident.

The race organizers had to make that decision regarding Sarah Porter

Following the removal of Sarah Porter from the race, the Montane Winter Spine organizers commented, “On Saturday the 10th, we made the difficult decision to remove one of our participants from the race following a personal safety threat. We have been working with all the relevant authorities and believe there is no wider threat to other participants on the course.”

Furthermore, they said, “We understand that this is disappointing for the runner in question, but the safety of all our participants is always our primary concern.”

The 108-mile race challenge was cut short for the human rights advocate, but her GoFundMe page, Sarah Porter Spine Race 2026, is still live. Currently, out of £100,000 (~$133,900), £87,409 (~$117,040) has already been raised, and each donation will be towards the humanitarian cause that Porter has been engaged with.

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