Lakes 24 hour record - part1

The Lake District 24 hour record is probably the ultimate mountain endurance running record. Bob Graham started it in 1932 with 42 Lakeland peaks in 24 hours. Since then this has been beaten by quite a few of the legendary runners including Jos Naylor. The current record of 77 peaks was achieved by Mark Hartell in 1997. So I am going to have a go at breaking the record this year. The question I keep asking myself is ‘Can I do it?’. The answer is that I do not know but the only way to find out is to try it.
Over the last 4 year I have completed the Bob Graham, Paddy Buckley and Charlie Ramsay rounds in fast times. I also easily won the Lakes 100 mile race last year in just under 24 hours. So I have the experience now it is just a matter of getting everything right on the day. You need the following to go right
1) Good support
2) Good weather
3) Getting the eating and drinking right
4) No navigation mistakes
5) Feeling good on the day
6) Being fit enough
Apart from the weather most of the rest is controllable but a bad weather day can wreck any attempt however prepared you are. So I decided to go for 23rd May. This has 3 main advantages. Firstly, the weather over the last few years has been much drier and more settled than June. Secondly, this is less likelihood of a very hot day which is one of my biggest fears. Thirdly, the bracken should still be quite low, which helps at a few points in the round. Going for 23rd of May as opposed to the end of June goes give me an hour or so less daylight but I guess that only makes 5 minutes or so difference.

The question is how far is the round? Mark puts it down as 109 miles with 39,900 feet. However, he just added the extra peak to the previous record. Using mapping software it appears that it is more like 87 miles and around 40,000. Still a long way but much more manageable. Any attempt on the record needs to consist of the same peaks as the previous record plus additional ones. I intend to keep it simple and try to add Fleetwith Pike which was another one that Mark was thinking adding but did not make. I also intend to start at Braithwaite and follow the same schedule as Mark did.

As I now live near Threlkeld I have every chance to get out and recce the route. That is what I have been doing for the last couple of months. It has been an interesting experience and I am certainly now good at running through snow. I am also good at cutting my route short as I have been making such slow progress through the snow. But I feel much more confident about all the sections that are an extension of the Bob Graham round (and I am pretty confident about the BG route). I have also found one section where I have saved 10 minutes on Mark’s route. But more of that next time I write. There are also some other methods intend to use to give me more of a chance.

The one thing I do not like about doing this round is asking for support. So if there is anyone out there is would actually like to help me then let me know.

Steve