The Frog Graham Round

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 on the way up Skiddaw as the sun was rising. Starting out there were a few nerves in the air and not much conversation. On the way down, we took some wrong turns through the heather and the wind definitely wasn’t as warm as we had hoped. Arriving at Bassenthwaite Church we weren’t exactly brimming with confidence. The week before, we’d debated swimming in skins if it was looking hot enough but had ultimately decided on wetsuits. Sat on the shady shore of Bassenthwaite Lake with the wind whipping up a wavy crossing we figured this was a good choice. The crossing was rough and at the other side, we felt relieved to be done. Only three to go.

Setting off with the sunrise

Leg 2: Beck Wythop to Low Ling Crag (20.6 km run / 1578 m climb / 800m swim)

I stood in my banana and faffed around quite a bit during the exit transition but this didn’t really matter – we had survived the swim battering and were onto familiar (reccied) ground for Leg 2. On the way up to Barf we washed the wetsuits, ridding them of any algae that could invade the pristine waters of Buttermere or Crummock Water. Unlike the recci (when we got lost multiple times) we managed to hit the top of Ullister Hill easily before cruising down to Whinlatter car park. The climb up Grisdale Pike didn’t feel as hard as expected and soon enough we were up and over the scrambly section of Eel crag. I got a bit carried away with the sunny running and clear views descending from Wandope and managed to navigate off the wrong ridgeline towards Whiteless Peak meaning we had a bit of a traverse to get back on track. By the time we got to Rannerdale Knotts, the heat was becoming overwhelming and we were in need of a nice cool swim. Luckily, we had one planned. We wriggled into the wetsuits, bundled the gear into our tow floats (not exactly made for carrying so much kit but hey-ho) and got the shoes back on before wading in.

Roasting hot but glorious day

Leg 3: (10 km run / 1060 m climb / 600 m swim)

The Crummock Water crossing was a bit choppy but less of an epic than Bassenthwaite. As a result, we were refreshed and in better spirits starting the climb up Melbreak. Good thing too because the steep, pathless ascent turned out to be one of the hardest. We meandered our way through the crags in a general upward direction eating bilberries as we struggled. After a lot of of effort and far too many false summits, we hit the top.

From the summit of Melbreak

On the climb up Red Pike, we were feeling a bit baked and the day’s work was starting to sink in. So far, we had been feeling good & eating reasonably well however we slowed on the path up then stumbled down the awkward descent from High Crag, eager to reach the emerald water of Buttermere below. Although adding an extra sport to the already demanding discipline of fell running sounded like a big ask, I’d come to look forward to each swim on the route. The cool, refreshing water was a welcome break for the legs and the wetsuit faff allowed for at least a few minutes sitting down at either end. All this extra rest must have left Victoria with far too much pent up energy – she managed to tear apart her swimcap trying to get it over her head. Opting for a breaststroke across to avoid brainfreeze, we emerged out the other side considerably colder and slightly on edge about the prospect of the last long swim across Derwent Water.

Leg 4: (18.5 km run / 1189 m climb / 300 m + 1700 m swim)

Before starting the final leg, we had a short stop in the sun to munch some snacks before setting off over the road for the notorious climb up Robinson. In reality, the long hike from the valley wasn’t that bad. I find I can usually psych myself up before tackling the sections of route that I expect to find the hardest. In the end, they are often tackled with relative ease and it’s the parts that I thought would be simple that turn out to trip me up. I’d been telling myself all day that Robinson would be difficult but from there it’s just a stroll over the remaining hills plus a gentle swim across Derwent Water.

With the anticipation of finishing, I can’t really remember much from the run along to Dale Head and Cat Bells. Maybe the Lakeland views in the evening sun made it all fly by, or maybe we were too preoccupied with thinking how to navigate the final swim, sans Victoria’s swim cap. Finally, with the hard running done, we slumped at the edge of Derwent Water surveying the 3 islands we needed to cross before reaching the other side. Cloud was now flowing down from the Borrowdale Valley and the wind had picked up considerably. Our solution to the swim cap issue, was to tape a sandwich bag to Victoria’s head before setting out to brave the wind, rain and waves.

A sandwich bag and some tape later...

The swim was grim. Each island crossing requires your entire body to be out of the water and my (rubbish) wetsuit emptied and refilled with cold water at each stop. We did a quick – stand up on the shoreline – for the first two islands but decided to minimise the amount of time spent swimming and opted for a full crossing of the final one. At the opposite shore of Derwent Water, we pushed through the reeds and both felt glad to be done. Surprisingly, the sandwich bag swim cap had worked a treat but Victoria was still very white and very cold. Slightly traumatised by the experience, we switched to run gear for the final run back to Keswick. We finished on the steps of Moot Hall in HH:MM feeling thoroughly proud of ourselves. We even got some applause from a slightly drunken crowd. If only they knew the journey we’d been on.

The finish!