Bob Graham Round

The development of progressively lengthier and more competitive rounds of the Lakeland fells is chronicled in the Bob Graham Club's Story of the Bob Graham Round,[1] and in the fell-walking section of M. J. B. Baddeley's Lakeland guidebook:,[2] and most recently in Chapter 15 of Steve Chilton's It's a hill, get over it: fell running's history and characters [3]

Some of the more notable rounds:

• 1864: the Reverend J.M. Elliott of Cambridge traversed the summits around the head of Wasdale in 8.5 hours
• 1870: Thomas Watson of Darlington covered 48 miles (77 km) with over 10,000 feet (3,000 m) of ascent in 20 hours
• 1902: S.B. Johnson of Carlisle completed a 70-mile (110 km), 18,000-foot (5,500 m) round in 22.5 hours
• 1905: Dr Wakefield of Keswick completed the same round in 22h7m (recorded in The Sedberghian)
• 1920: Eustace Thomas, at age 54, covered the same round in 21h25m

It was Dr Wakefield who codified the essentials of the challenge: "To traverse on foot as many tops over 2000ft and return to the starting point within 24 hours". Wakefield was Keswick-based so specified the start/finish point as that town's Moot Hall.

On 12–13 June 1932 Bob Graham extended the 24-hour Lakeland peak bagging record to a total of 42 peaks in a time of 23 hours 39 minutes. Even though this was recognised as the new record several of the tops claimed did not reach 2,000-foot (610 m) in altitude. The approximate distance of the new record (determined using current technology) was 66-mile (106 km) with 26,900 feet (8,200 m) of ascent. At the time the distance was claimed, not by Graham, to be in excess of 130 miles (210 km) though the given amount of ascent was reasonably close to the currently accepted figure. Several 20th Century sources (including the 42 Peaks booklet[1]) erroneously state the distance to be 72 miles (116 km).

It has long been thought that Bob Graham chose 42 peaks to match his age at the time of the attempt but his birth certificate shows that he was born on 1st March 1889 and therefore 43 at the time of his Round. It's possible that this was the original reasoning for his attempt the previous year.

The date of the successful round is sometimes given as 13–14 June 1932. However this date would be Monday-Tuesday which is unlikely given that both he and his pacers would have had to take the Monday off work.

The record came under immediate scrutiny, possibly because Graham wasn't from the higher social classes who up until that time had been the only ones with the free time to spend long periods on the fells but more likely due to the large reported distance.

The first attempt at beating the record came from Freddie Spencer Chapman who managed the round in 25 hours. As far as is known, this was the only attempt until after the Second World War. The next attempts were not until the 1950s with some coming close to success.

In the early 1960s, at a time when the veteran walker Dr Barbara Moore was gaining publicity for doing the John o'Groats to Land's End walk, the Lakeland writer Harry Griffin noted that "You didn't need fitness for such walks, you could get fit whilst undertaking the challenge. The Lakeland 24 hour record on the other hand." This piqued the interest of several runners: Maurice Collett and Paul Stewart made an attempt starting from Langdale but experiencing rough weather they completed the round in 27 hours 20 minutes. Also interested were the Heaton brothers from Lancashire who systematically set about attempting the record.

After several attempts Alan Heaton finally broke the record in 1960, completing the circuit in 22 hours 18 minutes.

Bob Graham's original round included four tops that are not in what is now called the Bob Graham Round. These were:

• High White Stones (an area just to the north of High Raise)
• Hanging Knotts (a subsidiary summit of Bowfell)
• Looking Stead (a prominence on the ridge between Pillar and Black Sail Pass)
• High Snab Bank (a minor prominence on the ridge to the north of Robinson)

Alan Heaton replaced these with:

• White Side
• Helvellyn Lower Man
• Ill Crag
• Broad Crag

Graham must have passed over the first two as they lie on the main path along the Helvellyn ridge.

It is these along with the other 38 tops that is now called the "Bob Graham Round" and are listed below.

Heaton's new record began a flurry of activity to add extra tops with the intent of extending the 24-hour record. It was soon discovered that the route of Bob Graham's round was not optimal for attempts on the absolute fell record so the two began to be regarded as separate challenges and have slightly different rules. The 24-hour record has now been extended to 78 tops. Bob Graham's round was left as a challenge in its own right.

The Bob Graham Round is now a standard fell-runner's test-piece having been successfully completed by 2468 people up to the end of 2019. Solo rounds have been accomplished but most contenders are accompanied by at least one runner in support, a requirement for acceptance of membership of the Bob Graham Club. The vast majority of attempts are undertaken close to mid summer to make use of maximum daylight. Nonetheless, as of January 2020, forty six individuals have successfully completed a winter round of the standard circuit.

A double round is two rounds (132 miles and 54,000 feet of climbing) on consecutive days. This has been achieved four times, twice within 48 hours, with the record held by Nicky Spinks:

• 1977: Boyd Millen - 52:30
• 1979: Roger Baumeister - 46:34
• 1995: Eric Draper - 50:35
• 14 and 15 May 2016: Nicky Spinks - 45:30

Baumeister[13] and Spinks[14] both started at Keswick, ran clockwise to Yewbarrow (peak 31 on a clockwise Round), reversed and ran back to Keswick, then continued anticlockwise to Yewbarrow (now peak 12 on an anticlockwise Round), before reversing again and completing the double traverse of all 42 peaks, once clockwise and once anticlockwise, at Keswick.