Fifth-placed Joel Jaile Casademont, left, earlier in the race

Czech ultrarunner Pavel Paloncy is just a few miles from victory in one of Britain’s most gruelling races.

The runner was this evening within sniffing distance of smashing the record in The Montane Spine, the challenge dubbed the ‘most brutal’, covering the full 431km (268-mile) length of the Pennine Way.

Paloncy has passed the Auchope refuge hut high in the Cheviots and is climbing The Schil, less than 8km (5 miles) from the finish at Kirk Yetholm.

If he continues at his present pace, he should hit the finishing line in under 4 days 14 hours, easily beating the existing record of 5 days 4hrs 52mins set by Eugeni Roselló Sole in Arctic conditions last year.

In its first year of running, 2012, only three men finished the course.

Second-place man Matt Davis of Britain has cleared the Byrness checkpoint and is heading into the Cheviots, about eight hours behind the leader. Another Brit, Steve Holyoak is currently in third place, about an hour distant from Davis.

Paloncy has led the race since the end of the first day as runners headed from the South Pennines into the Yorkshire Dales.

More details are on The Montane Spine website.

• Update: Pavel Paloncy won The Spine in a time of 4 days 14hrs 44mins, arriving at Kirk Yetholm at 11.11pm on Wednesday.