LEGENDS OF THE FELLS

As you walk around the Lake District, stopping to linger at every gorgeous view, or picnic on a sunny summit, do spare a thought for the fellrunners who whistle along at record-breaking speeds. Billy Bland ran the fastest ever Bob Graham Round in a staggering 13 hours and 53 minutes – a time that’s remained unbroken for 36 years now. He also described the 24-hour challenge as ‘just a walk’ and proved it by hiking the 66-mile route in 21 hours. Ironically, it was the only time he got injured, tearing knee ligaments while braking on the descents, instead of leaping down hell-for-leather.

Being born and bred in these mountains may help make you a record breaker – plus dedication of course (as Roy Castle liked to tell us). Bland was born and still lives in Borrowdale, and two more fellrunning greats hail from the Lake District. There’s Joss

‘Iron Man’ Naylor, the shepherd of Wasdale, who became aware of fellrunning after he saw a Mountain Trial sprint past the family farm in 1955, and went on to win countless races and complete an extended 100-mile, 72-summit Bob Graham Round in 23 hours and 20 minutes. And then there’s Kenny Stuart, a gardener from Threlkeld who became the first World Mountain Running Champion in 1985, and whose record times for running up and down Skiddaw, Snowdon and Ben Nevis still stand. Anyone who has slogged and wheezed up the Nevis Pony Track (as we have) will find his time of 1:25:34 utterly mind-boggling.