Ultra runner Nicky Spinks has become the first female to set a fastest known time (FKT) for the Scottish hills challenge, the Ring of Fire. The 57-year-old ran the 80km route to reach 30 hill summits – and with total ascent of 4500m – in the Galloway Hills, southern Scotland, in 18 hours and 29 minutes. She achieved the feat solo and supported only once by her husband Steve who met her with food.
Nicky, who lives near Newton Stewart, Dumfries & Galloway, says: “I am very chuffed to have completed this round. The biggest challenge was doing it solo and supported, except for that one stop for food supplied by Steve.
“I have never done a big round in the hills and mountains solo before so I was very happy to realise that I could do it.”
What is the Ring of Fire?
The history books reveal that Glyn Jones, a local crofter and former orienteer, came up with the idea for a sub 24-hour Ring of Fire challenge. He first completed it, apparently prompted by the onset of his 40th birthday, in 1990 in a time of 22 hours.
The Ring of Fire route, previously known as the Gallo Way, starts and finishes at Bruce’s Stone in Glen Trool, at the heart of the Galloway Forest, and challenges runners to complete 30 summits in less than 24 hours.
The hills included are the Corbetts, Corserine, Merrick and Shalloch on Minnoch; the Fionas/Grahams, Lamachan Hill and Millfore; and the Donalds, Cairnsgarroch, Carlin’s Cairn, Coran of Portmark, Corserine, Curlew, Kirriereoch Hill, Lamachan Hill, Larg Hill, Meaul, Meikle Millyea, Merrick, Milldown, Millfore, Shalloch on Minnoch and Tarfessock
The route takes in three main hill ranges, the Rhinns of Kells, the Range of The Awful Hand and the Minnigaff Hills. While the main ridges are runnable, the approaches, particularly on the Rhinns of Kells, are extremely rough and pathless. Much of the terrain is remote and arduous.
Glen also organised the first races over these hills and Nicky now organises her own fell race (for teams of four) called Bruce’s Crown, which encompasses many of these same fells. The event ran for the first time in April and entries are now open for April 5, 2025.
Ring of Fire FKTs
Previous FKTs have been set by men, including Glyn, who first recorded 14:44 in 1996. He also ran a fastest winter time of 17:24 in February 1997 and then beat his own time in January 2000 in 16:35. In July 2018, Jonny Muir finished in a new record time of 14:06 for a summer Ring of Fire FKT, which was then beaten by Andrew Reeve in April 2021 in a time of 13:47.
Nicky has found no records for this round set by other women.
Nicky’s Ring of Fire round 2024
Nicky started her Ring of Fire round on Tuesday December 10, 2024, at 22:08. She says: “I decided that with a 19-hour schedule, if I started at 10pm, I could hope to finish in daylight. The forecast had been good, with cold and dry conditions and no wind.
“In the event, I was not prepared for the clag. It was annoyingly claggy at night and this made navigation very hard. At times, I could hardly see ahead so trying to find the summits was very difficult.”
For anyone who knows or follows Nicky, it might be a surprise to discover this was her first solo and unsupported round.
She says: “Although I have done many rounds, they have all been completely supported and solo, self-supported was something I had been working up to. It felt very new and challenging to me and it seemed daunting to have to do everything for yourself without the support of others.
“I did decide to have my two dogs Flynn and Bruce with me, though. I had to cary food for the dogs, which made it more of a physical challenge, but it was great to have them at my side.
“I organised one re-supply stop thanks to Steve at half-way. This would mean I could eat but it also meant that if the dogs were struggling they could go with Steve.”
Some of Nicky’s rounds
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Nicky, a running coach, recounts her round. She says: “Starting at night and in thick clag made the first section over the Minnigaff Hills very tough. I cold hardly see 20 metres ahead at times so it was tricky to locate the summit trigs.
“Thankfully it was quite good underfoot on that section, although most of the Ring of Fire route is very rough with lots of vegetation and tussocks, plus boggy ground.
“During my round there were some benefits to frozen ground because the bog was more solid in places but it was also soggy at times and I had to stomp, rather than run, over semi-frozen ground.
“I went anti-clockwise and, after the first hills, I headed up on the the Rhinns of Kells. I wasted some time because I didn’t take a good line up on to Darrou. I kept thinking about sunrise and how good that would be because then I would have daylight.”
The sun finally started to rise on Corserine, which is the highest peak on the Rhinns of Kells ridge. Next, Nicky headed to Carlins Cairn.
She says: “During this section I made a few silly nav errors and there were stops for many dog wees. This meant I was going up and down on my schedule and that was hard mentally.
“When you have a schedule it can be dispiriting to feel like you are losing time but I was also happy to be on my own with these thoughts. I really enjoy supported rounds but sometimes I feel like I have to apologise for being grumpy because things don’t always go to plan.
“When you are on your own, you deal with your own moods.”
When daylight came, Nicky enjoyed a spell of clear and beautiful weather but then the clag returned. Between summit 19, Knockower, and 20, Black Craig, Nicky described some “inevitable floundering” before she descended to the valley and a “long six miles of forest road”.
Half way stop and refuel
Steve was waiting with their other dog Paddy at the half-way point and Nicky enjoyed soup and pizza. Flynn and Bruce were doing well and they continued with Nicky.
The final section was the Range of the Awful Hand, starting with Shiel Hill. Nicky says: “Finally, the clag cleared and I had a panoramic cloud inversion all the way to Merrick, the highest summit in the round. It was so beautiful above the clouds and seeing the sun.
“The views, above the clouds, were wonderful and a real highlight of this round.
“I knew I needed to push hard to complete in sub 19 hours so I headed off Merrick and over to Bennyallery and on to the final summit, Bennan, as fast as I could. Then came the last descent to reach Bruce’s Stone at 4.37pm.
“I was really chuffed to finish and felt very and happy at the achievement.”
Nicky, who works with Girls on Hills, can provide 16-week customised coaching plans. The fee is £160. See Girls on Hills coaching.