A day out in the Fells. Fi’s Lake District 24 hour Fell Record.
The Challenge
The aim of Lake District 24 hour record is to climb the greatest number of fells and return to the start point in 24 hours. To progress the record, one must climb every fell the current record holder did and either return to the start in a shorter time or add an extra fell. The criteria for what is considered an acceptable fell to add has changed over the years. The men’s and women’s records were of course different when the criteria changed so some fells now included in the men’s record are not allowed to be added to the women’s. This has meant that the routes have progressed separately.
The women’s record was first set by Jean Dawes in 1977 who ran the 42 peaks of the now famous Bob Graham round. In 1979 Anne-Marie Grindley added a massive 16 fells to create the majority of the current route. More recently, Nicky Spinks added 2 fells in 2011, held the title for 9 years before Carol Morgan added Grisedale Pike in 2020. Nicky reclaimed her title in 2021 by beating Carol’s time.
The idea
I first came across this challenge while training for a Bob Graham round in 2021. I didn’t think much about it at the time and just marvelled at how Nicky Spinks and Carol Morgan could do so much more than a BGR in 24 hours. On finishing my BGR in just less than 20 hours, my sister suggested I give it a go, I thought she was joking, it seemed comically unachievable, this was something that proper fell runners do, not southern pretenders. I was lucky enough to support Nicky on her successful 24 hour record in 2021 and was blown away by her knowledge of the fells, her drive and especially her climbing. I have a clear memory of having a rice pudding in one hand, a baked beans pot in the other and her poles under my arm, trying and failing to keeping up with her relentless pace going up Bow Fell and thinking ‘there’s no way I could maintain this speed.’
Clearly something changed. I’ve always loved running but never took training seriously until taking on the Bob Graham round. My training for this was disorganised and sporadic but I enjoyed at least trying to train seriously. In summer of 2021 I started being coached by Martin Cox, an incredible coach who has been behind some major achievements in fell and mountain running. He seemed confident that the lakes 24 record was a possibility so it became the challenge for the year.
The preparation
Martin suggested I do some racing over the winter to practice race conditions and have some short-term goals. I wanted to practice in the fells as much as possible so I did a couple of the fantastic NAV4 races and scraped a record for the George Fisher’s Tea Round. This was an awesome day out in the north west fells with terrible visibility and howling wind and rain, everything you want from a winter round! It is (normally) a stunning route and a perfect rehearsal for a longer fell round like the BGR or lakes 24 hour record. In spring I ran in the iconic Fellsman, another must-do British ultra, and took first female which was a big boost. These runs gave me confidence on difficult terrain and prepared me for the feeling of pushing hard for a long time. I hadn’t realised how within my comfort zone I had been in races before these!
My training for the round consisted of lots of easy running alongside some sessions and long runs. The sessions included some moderate work on flattish terrain and some hill reps to improve running economy. The longer runs involved trying to find as much vertical as possible in Somerset to mimic the conditions in the lakes. I used poles for these runs as I’d be using them for the round. Perhaps more importantly, I did Pilates at least twice per week, this has always been my base and my barrier to injury. The combination of muscular balance, mobility and strength work compliments running training perfectly, if I lapse for a couple of weeks, niggles start to appear so I dread to think what state my body would be in without it! I also do some upper and lower body strength work, some high intensity interval training and some specific arm and shoulder strength training for using poles. I introduced some cycling to my training in the few months running up to the round.
The planning
Then there were the recces. As anyone who has done a big round with know, this is the fun part. Heading up to the lakes for 2 or 3 day running holidays, getting to know the fells in every condition, learning the route so well that you dream about splits and finishing the weekend blissfully worn out and, in our case, munching on a bucket of crisps (yes they come in buckets at Booths!) on the M6. Luckily for me there were a few of us southerners training for rounds in lakes so we had a group at the campsite and I would often do my recces with my husband Matt and our dog Dibble. I did do a couple of night recces in biblical conditions leaving Matt and Dibble curled up together in the van. In fact, the majority of my recces were in classic lakes conditions where visibility was non-existent and hypothermia was looming. I’m not complaining, there is something magical about being inside a whirling cloud, covering ground against the wind and the odds, and getting back to the car after a 5 hour battle with the elements.
I recced and planned for the option to add 5 tops. Nicky had initially planned to add Bowscale Fell and Knott in the Northern fells on her round in 2021. Though she didn’t end up adding them, she had nailed the route and, legend that she is, came down to show me the best lines. This turned out to be invaluable since there was very little in the way of trods or dry terrain. I thought about adding St. Sunday crag (before Fairfield) and Ullscarf (before High Raise), both would add an extra 30 minutes to the round. These were in my final schedule but were always question marks because adding them would be a somewhat blind gamble being so early in the route. The last potential top to add was High Spy, again about a 30 minute detour. Both the men’s and women’s rounds have started at Braithwaite in recent years but this isn’t a requirement. I decided to start at Newlands pass instead, partly because I found the north west fell leg easier in the dark but mainly so that High Spy would be close to the end, the idea being that I would have a good idea of whether adding it was doable by the time I had to make the decision.
The round
On the 15th July 2022, with support cars loaded full with spring energy gels, Mountain fuel, coke and potatoes, with a forecast for hot, clear weather and with my amazing family and friends looking after me, I headed up to Newlands pass. I was scared. I’d had a fall a few weeks before and hurt my hand and knee. I was sure my knee would give in after the first hour and if not, my hand would fall off on broad stand. I had pre-guilt about quitting having asked all these amazing people, some of whom I had never met, to give up their day to support me. It turns out I just needed to get going and get out of my head.
Leg 1. Scar crags, Causey Pike, Sail, Eel Crag, Wandope, Whiteless Pike, Grasmoor, Sand Hill, Grisdale Pike.
Support: Matt Bennett my ever suffering brother-in-law and Ollie Hemstock who had been roped in by Matt.
We set off at 10pm still in the light and headed up the first climb to Scar crags. While the majority of the round follows the BGR route with a few diversions, this leg is totally separate. The north west fells might be my favourite, we had a beautiful long sunset, the terrain was perfect and I jogged along happily listening to Matt and Ollie chat about kit and engineering (or something!). I had allowed three hours for this leg but had done it faster in training and wanted to start strong, so I went out a little fast. The clag came along with the dark and but Matt and Ollie were controlling me like a video game character saying “right a bit.. left a bit.. sharp turn coming up” etc and we kept a good pace even in the thick clag. We reached Braithwaite 15 minutes early where Beth, my sister and very over qualified road crew met us with potatoes, coke and leg 2 support.
Leg 2. Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw Little Man, Skiddaw, Sail How, Great Calva, Knott, Bowscale Fell, Blencathra.
Support: Keswick local and very long ultra specialist Kirsty Hewitson, and southern training buddies Gwilym Rivett and Angus Bentley.
This was perhaps the leg I was most worried about, I’d given myself 4h20m for it but it had taken me 5 hours on a bad weather recce. It was also the leg with the hardest terrain (in my opinion). We set off at a good pace along an empty A66 then started the battle against bracken up Lonscale fell. There is no easy line up here but Angus went ahead to guide me while Gwil and Kirsty listened kindly to my complaints about my stomach. I didn’t have any real stomach issues, just a bit of discomfort that comes with the body asking what the hell it is doing climbing a fell rather than going to sleep. On Lonscale the clag came in again and the team performed text book support with one of them going ahead to guide and the other 2 staying with me or, coming off Skiddaw, cutting a corner and waiting as a beacon on the route down. My splits were almost exactly as scheduled so there was no question of skipping Bowscale fell and Knott. Even with the line Nicky had showed me, these were sapping miles in those strange small hours before the body accepts that sleep isn’t going to happen. This was of course true for my support as much as for me, it’s a massive ask for a friend to get up at midnight and run with you, but for them to carry your kit, stay at your pace and keep your morale high is heroic. After a somewhat stressful but, as it turns out, pretty quick descent down Blencathra’s parachute, we arrived at Threlkeld 10 minutes up on my schedule. Here we met my parents Emma and Charlie who have done their fair share of waiting in Threlkeld for their children over the years but were perky as ever as they filled me up with coke and took muddled instructions about changes to the schedule.
At this point, I decided to skip St Sunday Crag and Ullscarth. Kirsty is a total pro when it comes to long rounds and she persuaded me that taking risks this early was a bad idea. If I had gained time on leg 2 it would have been a different storey but I hadn’t been reining myself in and had still lost about 5 minutes. I am not an experienced fell and ultra runner, I had never run more than 100km, so I didn’t know what was going to happen in the latter part of the round. Along with this, the aim was to break the 24 hour record, 70 tops in 24 hours 1 min would be a failure, and far more frustrating than 68 tops in 23 hours.
Leg 3. Clough Head, Calfhow Pike, Great Dodd, Watson Dodd, Stybarrow Dodd, Raise, Whiteside, Helvellyn Lower Man, Catsycam, Helvellyn, Nethermost Pike, Dollywagon Pike, Fairfield, Seat Sandal.
Support: My local running club hero Ben Davidson who came all the way from Somerset, and Chris Andrade, another super runner who I’d met on one of the wilder recce’s and roped in to support.
The clag disappeared, the sun came out and we set off up Clough Head in high spirits overlooking a stunning cloud inversion. This leg, similar to leg 2 of the BGR, is the most runnable, which for me meant having to keep pushing to maintain a good pace. Having Chris and Ben, who are both incredible runners, bounding along next to me chatting away and making the whole thing look easy was exactly what I needed. I was feeling OK for most of this leg, still fairly comfortable and the legs were working. Heading up Fairfield I started to feel hot and was breathing hard. Here I think my inexperience played against me. I worried that it was too early to be feeling hot and that I wouldn’t be able to maintain this intensity for another 14 hours. I understood that fatigue never goes in a straight line, but it seems I needed at least one more reminder of this. Either way, descending to Dunmail raise my confidence was waning and the enormity of what was still ahead of me was playing on my mind. However, I was now about 30 minutes up on my schedule after missing St Sunday Crag, a welcome cushion for my nervous mind.
Leg 4. Steal Fell, Calf Crag, Sergeant Man, High Raise, Thunacar Knott, Pavey Arc, Harrison Stickle, Loft Crag, Pike O’ Stickle, Rosset Pike, Bowfell, Esk Pike, Great End, Ill Crag, Broad Crag, Scafell Pike, Scafell, Lingmell.
Support: Local and national fell legends Joe Farnell, Damian Hall and Casper Kaars Sijpesteijn.
After a whirlwind checkpoint of Beth smearing suncream onto me and stuffing me with coke and potatoes (the latter somewhat against my will), we set off up Steel Fell. I Generally like this climb because it looks brutal but is actually fairly short. Today was no exception, a new burst of energy and riveting chat about Agas (Damien) meant the climb flew by. Once we started running however, I started to feel a bit bloated, hot and low on energy. I felt I was breathing too hard on the climbs and while I was eating well, my food was sitting in my stomach. It turns out having a coach, a mountain rescue volunteer and an experienced fell and ultra runner supporting you is pretty useful. Joe took control of the navigation and Damien and Casper did some trouble shooting. I took an extra salt tablet had some chewy sweets rather than gels but thought the issue was more stress related than physical. They gently persuaded me that being tired is understandable and expected, not something to panic about, and that I’d given myself a cushion by skipping 2 fells, so it’s okay to use that cushion. We took the pressure off, eased off up the climbs and everything else began to settle down. After that it was hot, it was a big old leg but the enjoyment was back. I was losing a 30 seconds or a minute on most of the splits but that was OK, I had time in the bank and if I had to skip High Spy at the end, so be it.
I had voiced concerns that my parents, who I’d asked to meet us at Esk Hause, would be late or wonder off and miss us. While my dad’s love of chatting to strangers and losing track of time has got him in trouble before, today my lack of trust was unwarranted. They were there with extra hydration and a psychological boost up Great End. A not so well rested Matt and Oli (leg 1 support) met us at Broad stand with a dangling harness. I’d only practiced the climb and route up Scafell once before. It’s a fairly easy climb but I had been worried that my hand, which I’d injured a few weeks before, wouldn’t have the strength to pull me up. As we learn many times over in this sport, the body is often more capable than we give it credit for. Everything went OK, Matt directed me up the tricky bit and Joe and I toddled up to scafell with no major issues. My hand throbbed for a while after but I did me proud when I needed it. A fun scree run down lord’s rake, and final climb and descent of Lingmell, and we hit the heat of Wasdale Head 40 minutes up on the schedule. I had gained time by skipping Ullscarf but had lost time on almost every split. I still had a cushion but I didn’t have time to relax, now began the 7 hour sprint finish.
Leg 5. Yewbarrow, Stirrup Crag, Red Pike, Haycock, Steeple, Scoat Fell, Pillar, Looking Stead, Kirkfell West, Kirkfell East, Great Gable, Green Gable, Brandreth, Grey Knotts, Fleetwith Pike.
Support: My husband Matt Milsom, Runar Saether, another super strong ultra-runner who was roped in by Martin, and Dibble, who is great for route finding and morale, not so good for carrying food.
Wasdale head was another whirlwind of having water poured on me, shoes changed for me, potatoes being gently encouraged and of course, more coke. I felt overwhelmingly fortunate having all these incredible people who have their own busy lives to live, rushing around to help me in this self-indulgent goal. It was a real boost and while it was hot and Yewbarrow was looming, I set off with replenished determination as well as dry feet.
Having run so far in the VJ Irocks, which are unrivalled on wet rock and great for soft ground but have very little cushioning, I switched to the Scarpa Spin Infinities for extra comfort and bounce on this dry, rocky leg. I knew the climb up Yewbarrow would be tough, but Matt nipped off to the stream to dunk my vest and hat a few times which was a massive help, and the climb went quicker than expected. I still lost 2 minutes up Yewbarrow and while I tried to rationalise that it was OK and I could always skip High Spy, but 68 tops sounded a lot better than 67 at that point and I wanted to keep pushing.
The splits I had used for my schedule were from day 4 of a 5 day recce of the whole round; I had set off from Honister, headed over Moses trod to Wasdale, climbed Lingmell and on the descent, had tripped on a boulder field and landed like a pancake. This is the fall that injured my knee and hand, I also broke a water bottle and grazed my shin and stomach. All from one silly lapse of concentration! The upshot of this was for the rest of this recce, which took me over leg 5, my descending was slow. Today my climbing was slow and painful, I was hot and my legs felt heavy. My descending however, was pretty solid, I wasn’t suffering from that clumsy stumbling that comes with beat up quads because I was still smashing the carbs and hydration. Through this leg I was losing a minute or so on the splits that had more ascent than descent, but maintaining on those with more descent. The descents were fun, but there were some dark moments on this leg. I couldn’t believe how hard I was breathing, my throat was sore from the heat and even my gels seemed hard to get down, not because of the taste but because of the second or so it took to swallow them between breaths. I’d put Matt on this leg because I knew it would be hard and I wanted someone I could be horrible to without judgement. I don’t think I was too rude but there was definitely some groans, growls and “THERE’S STILL SUCH A LONG WAY TO GO!”s. It’s difficult to know what to do when you’re supporting a runner going through a low. Runar and Matt nailed the balance of gentle encouragement, matter of fact fuelling and split updates and chatting in way that didn’t require me to respond.
Coming down into Honister we discussed the next leg. I was still 25 minutes up on my schedule which included High Spy. My schedule had me arriving at the finish 23 hours 50 minutes after starting so there was another 10 minute cushion. I had 2h33m to complete a 1h54m leg. This should be easy…
Leg 6 aka party run. High Spy, Dale Head, Hindscarth, Robinson.
Support: Seb Le Barth and Christian James my London cheerleaders. Return appearances from Matt M, Angus, Chris and Dibble, and Emma, Charlie and Beth joined for the first 2 tops before driving to the finish.
Matt went ahead to Honister to convey that 1. I wouldn’t be stopping 2. All I wanted to eat was awesome sauce (apple flavoured spring gel) and 3. High Spy was on.
This leg should have been a celebration. I had plenty of time, I had all my friends and family around me, and I only had four tops to reach. I wanted to enjoy it I really did, but I couldn’t relax, I felt like I was moving so slowly that a 30 minute cushion seemed like nothing. The climb up High Spy, usually a joy, was brutal and took, I thought, a year and a half? My descending was still okay, but the first step I took uphill again had me gasping for breath and groaning again. Luckily there are some lovely long descents and only 2 big climbs. Seb and Christian looked after me well, I just needed to gasp “green” and an open awesome sauce was in my hand, or “yellow” and I had tropical mountain fuel in my mouth. Reaching Robinson at 2111 I finally conceded to what everyone had been telling me since Honister, it was in the bag. My massive support team spread out in a long line coming off Robinson. Every rock and tussock was pointed out and the small scramble down Newlands pass, sometimes tricky to find, was marked by human sign posts. I ran down the final path to applause from everyone who had come out to help and touched the start/finish signpost 23 hours 26 minutes after leaving it.
Reflections.
I was incredibly happy with this result. In theory, I could have added an extra top and still finished in time but there’s no way I would have taken the risk. If I added St. Sunday crag and reached Honister 30 minutes later I would have skipped High Spy.
I trained my muscles, I trained my gut and I studied my route. But, as I hope this account makes clear, in the end I was just a body, being carried around the fells by people who love the sport and invested, for whatever reason, in a shared goal.
My advice to anyone looking to complete a round in the fells would be 1. Get out and support someone else, this is how you learn and feed the addiction. I first supported a Paddy Buckley round in 2017, with no idea what it was. The community feel of this seemingly individual sport was infectious, the infection clearly spread. 2. Enjoy the process, getting out and learning about the history of the round, every inch of the route, and the charming unpredictability of the fells is as important and gratifying as the round itself. 3. Find support you can rely on. Granted, not everyone can have the BGR record holder as their road crew, but having a team around you that you trust and enjoy spending time with is vital.
I’d like to end by saying that my record is by no means unbeatable. Training, recceing and planning for the round was a wonderful process and I couldn’t recommend it more highly. I would love my record to be beaten, it would mean the progression of the tradition and women’s fell running in general. I look forward to supporting the next woman to take on the challenge.