The plan for the weekend, on paper, was simple. I would complete the classic fell running challenge known as the Bob Graham Round – and make it back in time for work on Monday.
In 1932, a seemingly equally time-pressed hotelier from Cumbria gave himself just 24 hours to tick as many mountain tops as possible, starting and finishing in Keswick High Street. Bob Graham left the mark at 42 peaks, including England’s highest, Scafell Pike. Since then, his ‘Round’ has become infamous in fell running circles, with aspirants vying to find ever-faster and often off-piste lines between the peaks, running approximately 66 miles and climbing the equivalent of 3,000 flights of stairs along the way.
In the modern era, on dry summer weekends around midnight, headtorches and short-shorts mingle with crowds outside The Round pub on the hallowed steps of Keswick’s Moot Hall. Only 3,000-odd runners have officially ever managed to make it back by last orders the next day – to claim their free pint and join the Bob Graham 24 Hour Club. Membership comes with an invitation to a biennial dinner. I waged that – lacking the fitness or familiarity with
