From Andrew Merrick…

66 miles, 42 peaks, 27,000 ft of ascent

A Bob Graham attempt had been in my mind for a few years, if I was going to take on one of the rounds, this was the logical and only possibly achievable one to have a go at. A number of running and non-running friends have occasionally nagged encouraged me to have a go, and it seemed to fit in with this summer’s UTMB training…… I eventually recognised that a fear of failure and of rocky, slightly technical terrain had been the principal reason I hadn’t got myself organised. Fortunately when I finally decided to take the plunge, Jann Smith and Paul Carman had one remaining gap in their July support schedule, and a plan was created… Ben Sheppard said he was up for the first two legs, and Kate said she would do anything I needed. I couldn’t believe my luck when Paul said his preference was to do legs 3 and 4 – the rockiest and toughest of the legs. So I had a date, and a running support crew, joined subsequently for legs one and two by Ritchie (there is only one Ritchie!). Jann was kind enough to do road support at either end of Paul’s two legs and Lis filled in the gaps, driving me to Keswick, picking up Ben and Ritchie on the way.

I had given some thought to the start time, and asked others for their views before eventually deciding that 6:30pm (Thursday evening) had two key things going for it: firstly it allowed us to get down Hall’s Fell Ridge in the light, leaving, in my view, the most easy running leg (2) to be done in the dark. Secondly, it gave me about 28 hours to get back to Keswick on Friday evening before the pubs shut, not an unimportant consideration in my world!

Paul and Jann were kind enough to see the three of us from Moot Hall in the centre of Keswick; it might be described as a somewhat inauspicious start since the three of us realised that none of us knew the quickest way out of Keswick…. Fortunately Jann came to our rescue and showed us the definitive route and off we set. Ben had kindly sent me a 23 ½ hour schedule which I used as the basis of my short form “route card” giving me 2-3 time check points per leg. The schedule was of course designed on what I needed to do as opposed to what I thought I might be able to do… I hadn’t done any recce leg quicker than the required time hence the previously referenced fear of failure….

Happily we were a few minutes ahead of schedule after the first climb up Skiddaw, and the route to the next peak (Great Calva) was a more visible trog than it had been a few years ago, when I first reccied it. And then it was time for leg scraping bracken bashing as we made our way down to the river (erosion made it more challenging to enter) and the never pleasant climb up Blencathra. On the way up I learnt that Ben had only done Hall’s Fell Ridge once, and Ritchie never, so I had to go into fully focused mode to both find the right route, and stay upright. It would be fair to say that Ritchie didn’t particularly enjoy the journey down, however we were still on track when we reached Threlkeld, having as planned got down HFR in the light, and our first refuelling stop. It didn’t take long on the long climb up Clough Head for Ben to regret his choice of two sandwiches. I was in slightly better shape for the tea and porridge pot option, and we continued at a steady pace on relatively runnable terrain in the dark and low cloud/drizzle. We finally got to the very recognisable peak of Helvellyn, knowing we had one more messy climb to go before the descent into our second stop. The steep drop down to Grisedale tarn required full concentration on wet grass, and I was grateful at this point for my (Old County Tops) fell running masterclass from Alison Weston. Upright at the bottom we steeled ourselves for the climb up and down Fairfield – there is something mentally tougher about an out and back – with just a small final leg two climb up Seat Sandal before the relatively long descent into Dunmail Raise. 

The tea, second porridge pot and camper van seat were waiting for me when I arrived, still slightly ahead of schedule, and I was carefully supervised eating it all before Ritchie, Ben and I said our goodbyes, and Paul took on the challenge. I was happy with my progress up Steel Fell – the start of every leg is a tough climb – and we were rewarded with a beautiful sunrise as we summited, looking down on the cloud in every valley. With Paul’s skilful route finding we continued to make steady progress, on what is my least favourite leg, due to length, general rockiness and the joy of the climb up Bowfell and the challenge that is Lord’s Rake. I had made a late decision on the last part of leg two to sacrifice more Inov8 grip for more Hoka comfort. Happily this option didn’t cause me a problem on the drop into Lord’s Rake (partly because we went a different way than intended!) or the climb up. However, I was conscious on every climb after Steel Fell on leg three that I wasn’t moving as quickly or comfortably as I had been on the first two legs, so despite Paul’s continued encouragement, I was pretty sure I was losing too much time to make the planned schedule. However I kept on keeping on, and having extracted ourselves from the previously referenced Lord’s Rake without incident (we had earlier been the only two people in beautiful sunshine at Scafell Pike), it was just a long, initially rocky, then scree, and then steep descent onto the track into Wasdale Head. Handy hint: if you are going to attempt a bum slide down a steep wet grassy slope, do think through your braking strategy before you take the plunge….. Nevertheless we arrived into Wasdale Head, Paul having run ahead to place my meal order (tea, pot noodle and coke, with a banana to go), both in one piece and to my significant surprise only a few minutes behind schedule. Having convinced myself by that stage that there was no chance of getting the full round done in sub 24 hours, the possibility reappeared as feasible and gave me encouragement for the climb ahead. My plan was always to finish, however long it took, I had (deliberately) told too many people I was doing it, not to, however I shifted at Wasdale into a “don’t waste the opportunity” mode. 

The climb up Yewbarrow was the expected mental and physical battle, but I stuck with my climb rule of not stopping however slowly that meant I had to go. The top of Yewbarrow was the first point I actually looked at my “route card” and found we had made up the few minutes we had been behind, and we were to the minute at Steeple, despite the surprisingly long climb after Yewbarrow to Red Pike (renamed Red Mist in my vocabulary, which I believe works both in English and German). Paul helpfully reminded me that if we stayed on schedule as far as Honister, the 23 ½ schedule meant that we would have an extra 30 minutes to spend on leg five. I appreciate this was very obvious but my tired brain received it as a significant gift and it kept me motivated for the messy and very red climb up the chimney to Kirk Fell (we took a moment to feel sorry for someone trying to come down that way). I knew Great Gable was going to be a challenge too and for the first time all day I found myself briefly in front of Paul, a situation which he quickly resolved with some refuelling. And by the time we were heading down into Honister he was helpfully disappearing into the distance to place my refreshment order. We had previously made a no faff plan at Honister so Kate was ready to set off as soon as I had gulped down a glass of coke (I did apologise for the ensuing burp), and sipped some tea. Jann had decided to join us, so it was a slightly merry band who set off for Keswick at about 2:45pm, which even my tired brain realised meant I had 3 ¾ left to complete the final leg. 

At this point, I wasn’t about to stuff it up now, so I continued at the same steady pace that I seemed to have been able to sustain from leg 3 onwards, determined to give myself some leeway for any potential comedy fall or other semi disaster. Happily there was only one fall on the small amount of remaining slightly technical part of the leg, and no damage sustained, so by the time we reached a gentle grassy rock free slope downwards to the final road section, I was in a good place. With some gentle (if regular) encouragement from Jann, we kept jogging along the downhill parts of the route into Keswick and relatively soon found ourselves on the outskirts. With some prompting I managed a final run to the finish back at Moot Hall, just over 23 hours from our departure the previous evening. The barman at the nearby The Round pub wasted no time in coming out to offer me a free beer, which it would have been rude to decline.

A massive thank you to Paul and Jann who are seasoned support professionals – I couldn’t have been in better hands; to Ben and Ritchie, who were hugely supportive in a calm relaxed way; to Kate, who also kindly gave me a lift home, as well as being completely flexible as to which leg she ran; and to Lis who selflessly filled in the gaps in the road crew schedule. 

I found taking on a (for me tough) timebound ultra challenge materially harder both physically and mentally than my usual ultras. Equally, the support provided by the people mentioned above who were willing to give up their valuable time to be there for me was a massive positive. Relays aside, running doesn’t often feel like a team sport. It certainly did last week. My intention is to do fewer events and more support next year, so do please feel free to ask!

Finally I feel I should mention that by Saturday morning, I was a fully signed up member of Steve Newell’s bungalow appreciation society…. Stairs are still not my friend!