Posts

The Bob Graham Round

-
Image
It seems common nowadays for those who have a love of running and the Lake District to be familiar with the Bob Graham Round. The 66 mile circuit of 42 seemingly random Lakeland fells is steeped in tradition and represents the pinnacle of running achievement to most of those who attempt it. As a runner living in the north of England, I’d be lying to say I’ve never thought the same. Recently though, I’ve been able to find a real sense of achievement and enjoyment in travelling solo over long distances and experiencing mountainous terrain on a personal level. I’ve learned a little more about food, pacing and my fitness with every long day out. The Tranter Round in the hills of Lochaber was a brilliant introduction; during the Type 2 Fun Run I realised I can probably still force myself to run a 60 minute 10k after 30 hours and after the Wainright Seven Summits earlier this year I was totally broken. I’m sure that tackling the Bob Graham Round with a team of friends would be a fantastic un...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Frog Graham Round

-
Image
A few years ago, I heard about a new Lake District based challenge that involved not only running over lots of hills but swimming across lots of lakes too. The Frog Graham Round is a 65ish km route over most of the northwestern fells with swims across Bassenthwaite, Crummock Water, Buttemere and Derwent Water thrown in to break it all up. At this point, I’d never heard of Swimrun events and had very little experience with open water swimming so my immediate thought was – I wonder if anyone’s ever done it in winter? After some real  Lake District open water swimming practice, this idea was ice-axed pretty quickly and instead, my personal swim coach (Victoria) and I opted to just go when the weather looked warmest. Surprisingly, all the kit fit in the tow floats! Leg 1: Keswick to Beck Wythop (14.6 km run / 973 m climb / 1km swim) The 31st July 2020 looked to be a reasonably hot day so we spontaneously booked the time off work. A 04:30 AM start from Keswick’s Moot Hall meant we were...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wainright Seven Summits

-
Image
After a long winter of training in the wet and the dark followed by the lockdown not long afterwards, it’s been a couple of months since I’ve tried to run something that has left me collapsed on the floor in a physical and mental heap. To rectify this, last weekend (30 th May 2020) I decided to go for an attempt at the Wainright Seven Summits in the Lake District. Starting the day up to Easedale Tarn The round starts in Ambleside and takes in the highest fells in each of the seven Wainright books: High Raise, Scafell Pike, Great Gable, Grasmoor, Skiddaw, Helvellyn and High Street. Unlike some of the well-known rounds (the Bob Graham) the W7S is characterised by big climbs and lengthy running sections through the Lakeland valleys. Although I've got my sights on a BG sometime in the future, for now, I wanted something more relaxed that has seen less footfall in recent years. Quick snap before setting off The majority of the route is probably more of a trail running r...
Post a Comment
Read more