The Bob Graham is a fell running round in the Lake District, UK. The round takes in 42 summits over approximately 66 miles with 8000m of climbing. On Friday 24th July I completed the round in 14 hours 34 minutes, setting a new female record.
It was back in March that I decided I’d do a Bob Graham round. As soon as it became apparent that there’d be no racing for the foreseeable future it was the obvious thing to do. I’d had several conversations with my coach, Martin Cox, in the past regarding chasing records and FKTs. Martin made in clear that he wasn’t really interested in it and would prefer to coach athletes who wanted to race. These conversations were pre-COVID, yet he’d always add – ‘with the exception of the Bob Graham record’. Perhaps this stuck in my mind. There wasn’t anything else that was meaningful and prestigious enough to motivate me to train whilst the rest of the world turned upside down. I admit that during the lockdown months when I was chasing vert through doing 1km loops of my local woods, my enthusiasm for the challenge did dwindle slightly, but as soon as the fells were open again I put in a lot of hard work. My running-work-life balance tipped further in favour of running than perhaps it ever has before. I was working longer hours in the hospital, but training even harder. It was a 3 month period that seemed a little risky, and perhaps unsustainable, but I knew that to get fitter than I ever have before I have to take some risks. In terms of volume and consistency, it was probably the best training block of my life. The absence of races getting in the way certainly played a part here. I ran leg 4 back in March pre-lockdown and I remember feeling like a complete amateur on the fells. This was after a few months of trail and road running. But by July I felt like a completely different runner.
My pacers and a few other friends were aware of my ambitions to have a crack at Jasmin’s record. I didn’t make it public as I thought I’d get laughed at. I had run all the legs at (or faster) than record pace in training, with tired legs, a pack and in bad conditions. This was a maximum of two legs consecutively though. It did give me some confidence, but I still would have bet against myself for breaking the record.
Final preparations in Keswick. Credit: Sam Bénard
A had fantastic group of support runners lined up for a Saturday attempt. The weather Gods had other ideas. The forecast was pretty ropey for the Sunday too, and the following weekend. The only dry day that all the weather forecasts agreed on was Friday. I put out some feelers to my team early in the week and about a third were available on the Friday. The next 48hours were fairly stressful trying to rally enough people together – I was very grateful to several others for helping me with this job. It was only on the Thursday morning that I was confident it was going to happen, and I finally got around to registering my attempt. The last minute changes also meant that I’d have to trust my parents with road support at Dunmail & Wasdale (whilst Matt went up Broad Stand), something I was somewhat apprehensive about!
5am at Moot Hall. Credit: Sam Bénard
Leg 1
Pacers: Rhys Findley Robinson, Josh Bakker-Dyos
We topped out on Skiddaw after 58 minutes. The climb had been relaxed, chatting all the way up, so I was genuinely surprised. Ricky Lightfoot was out for his pre-work run and met us at the summit – ‘Beth, are you trying to break Jasmin’s record or Kilian’s?’. Although meant as a joke I was mildly concerned. I think I underestimated how much a difference it makes not carrying a pack. I did take note and did my best to temper my effort up Great Calva and Blencathra. It was unseasonably wet underfoot for the time of year, but I had run the leg a couple of weeks previously so it was what I was expecting. Neil Talbot met us on Blencathra and led us down Parachute drop, as he had done for Jasmin 4 years previously. I was fairly confident with the line, but it is always faster to follow. Whether the Parachute is faster than Hall’s Fell ridge remains up for debate. Many are still adamant that’s Hall’s Fell is faster but I depends the person and the type of terrain they move well on. I was happy with my decision and chasing Neil off the parachute was exhilarating. I found out later that some of my pacer’s had doubts that Beth ‘the trail runner’ could run on rough terrain, but this was the point they realised I could. We crossed the A66 18 minutes later.
The usual views from the summit of Skiddaw. Credit: Joe Farnell
The bottom of Parachute. Credit: Sam Bénard
Approaching Threlkeld. Credit: Sam Bénard
Leg 2
Pacers: Jacob Adkin, Chris Richards
Setting off up Clough Head I was amused that Jacob asked if I normally ran all of the climb. I would certainly be hiking; I didn’t imagine that anyone ran up Clough Head, but clearly he normally does! We chipped away at the splits on every summit although the pace still felt comfortable. I’m sure the boys didn’t break a sweat. We were 22 minutes up on record pace at Dunmail. I had no idea whether this was stupidity or whether I should trust my body; after 6 years of running ultra’s I ought to know what a sustainable pace felt like. Had this been a race, or had I not been wearing a watch, this was the speed I’d be running at. But still I felt doubt.
Grisedale Tarn. Credit: Sam Bénard
Seat Sandal. Credit: Sam Bénard
Leg 3
Pacers: Shane Ohly, Gary House
Broad Stand: Matt Bennett, Joe Farnell
If I had to single out a low point for the round, I’d have say it was the first 3 summits of leg 3. For the first time I was only just hitting the splits, then I was down by 2 minutes on Sergeant Man. Physically I wasn’t feeling quite as fresh as I did up until Dunmail, but it was more the numbers I was worried about. I had been quite meticulous with writing my schedule; I used the data from my record pace training runs to tweak Jasmin’s schedule. The result I thought would be quite accurate. Although I had told myself it was just a guide, there is actually very little else to think or get worried about during the round. So when, for the first time, I was struggling to hit the splits I did get worried, although in hindsight it was more a blip in my schedule. Thereafter we kept moving up again. Matt & Joe did a fantastic job at rigging up Broad Stand for us. Matt and I had done the route a couple of weekends before and I admit that I found it surprisingly tricky. I can climb, but I wouldn’t describe myself as a climber, and I was a little nervous about it. I was roped into a harness plus had a fixed rope to pull up, but it was still hard work with 40 miles of running in my legs. After the climb Shane and I both developed copycat cramps in our quads which I’m certain was due to the strain of the climb. I’ve not had cramp before (in the context of running a long way) but the occasional crunched up electrolyte tablet kept it at bay. The descent to Wasdale was probably the most joyful section of the round. I love the scree on this downhill and I had started to relax a bit more by this point.
Broad Stand. Credit: Joe Farnell
Leg 4
Pacers: Neil Talbot, Rich McGrath
With three legs done, if I was running too fast it was too late to do anything about it. The climb up Yewbarrow isn’t something anyone relishes, even with fresh legs. In a way it was the defining point of the round. I didn’t know all my splits off by heart but there were around 20 numbers my brain had labelled as ‘important’ and had stuck in my mind. If I could get up Yewbarrow in 37 minutes or less the record (baring disasters) was mine. If my splits were slipping at this point then I was in trouble. I was still a little anxious about the cramp in my quads and kept the effort measured but despite this we were at the summit in 35 minutes. I was moving well and it was another really enjoyable leg. Neil and Rich showed me a couple of great lines that I hadn’t taken in training, something I was very grateful for. The photographer and friend of my sister, Sam Bénard, who had been roped in last minute at Salomon’s request to create some content for the day, had hiked up to Great Gable from Wasdale with my brother-in-law. As non-fell runners, I had given them a gpx trace of the route which they had used to position themselves and various cameras on the mountain. Having not realised they were there we took a different line to the summit which as good as ruined their opportunity to get some footage. I felt pretty guilty about that!
I’d only stopped very briefly at the road crossings thus far, but arriving into Honister I seemed to have lost my sense of urgency and had to prompted to leave again.
Leg 5
Pacers: Kim Collison, George Foster
I’ve done plenty of races where the final stages are plain miserable and I’m counting down the miles until I can stop. This wasn’t like that. I’m not saying I was fresh and would have run further, but I wasn’t in pain or feeling so exhausted I couldn’t hold a conversation. Climbing dale head Kim & George updated me with Damian Hall’s progress on the Pennine Way. I was delighted to hear that Damian was on track to break the record and this fired me up even more. Even the road section at the end was enjoyable. After all, there wasn’t anything to not be happy about. Running towards Moot Hall was surprisingly emotional. Despite my attempts to keep it under the radar, a fair few people must have got wind of my round and came out to cheer me in. It was a truly heart-warming moment. I had to fight back the tears standing on top of the steps.
An emotional run back into Keswick. Credit: Sam Bénard
It had been a good day. The weather had been kind, I had nailed my nutrition (thanks Spring Energy) and I couldn’t have asked for better support. I doubt anyone finishes a BGR and doesn’t think they could have shaved a minute off here and there, but I’m perfectly content with what I did. I certainly didn’t have the dry underfoot conditions that Kilian did in 2018, but in terms of the physical shape I was in I couldn’t have asked for much more. I do think a faster round is to be had, but I certainly won’t be repeating it any time soon.
I’m ashamed to say I didn’t manage to finish that pint. Credit: Sam Bénard