The Ice Ultra is over for another year. It’s a double-edged sword whenever this event comes to a close. A mix of massive relief in that the runners will no longer have to go out into the immensely difficult conditions that the arctic presents for runners, but also of regret at being removed from this incredibly beautiful wilderness.

Today we had runners on the podium for the first time, grabbing stage wins which might well have seemed impossible to these runners when they were flying out here.

We had young runners finding something in themselves that they hadn’t known was there when their journey began 150 miles and 5 days ago.

We had runners who had been forced to drop out earlier in the race resurrect themselves and grab one more chance at adventure.

And we had an overall winner in Simon Dicks who has been the very picture of humility, kindness and joyous immersion in the challenge throughout.

Elsewhere, our winning woman Holly Saunders took four stage wins in a row early in the race and looked dominant and indomitable across every kilometre of arctic trail as she raced to a commanding win and to a sizeable donation to the Princes Trust.

The runners are enjoying warm showers, hot food and clean clothes just now as they prepare for the celebration tonight. Invariably this meal is a chance for each of them to trade stories about what they saw out on the trail and there is no doubt that each and every one of them will have had a different experience of this event.

A full race blog attempting to sum up this race will follow in the coming days, but for now, it suffices to say thank you. Thank you to our runners for their tenacity and positive attitudes, to our team of amazing Exile Medics for their tireless commitment to caring for these adventurers, and to our seemingly indestructible Sami Race Team whose knowledge, skills, and incredible work ethic keeps this race on the move.

Finally, we’d like to thank the friends, family, and fans back in their homes around the world who have followed the race for the last five days. It means the world to the runners in their loneliest and lowest moments out on the trail to know that they are being watched over. It means as much to our team too to know that there are so many people out there who care about these events as much as we do. Thanks for taking the journey with us. We look forward to doing it all again.

Below you’ll find the results for today’s stage as well as the overall leaderboard.