A highlight of 2022 was, without a shadow of a doubt, striding into Keswick with Mike and the rest of his leg 5 crew at the successful completion of his Bob Graham Round... the tears began to roll down my cheeks as the Moot Hall came into view and there was nothing I could do to hold back the emotion. That hallowed ground, that place where so many hopes and dreams begin and end... Mike had made it and we celebrated loudly but it was clear another crew were there. They were agitated and anxious, checking phones and watches... eagerly awaiting the arrival of their runner... and arrive she did, to shouts and cheers and clapping from us all but she was exhausted and distraught... collapsing in front of the Moot Hall she let out a deep wail of sorrow, a sound I will never forget... it echoed around the surrounding buildings as she lay sobbing on the floor... she had missed the 24 hour cut off by four minutes. She had made it home but all for naught.
The Bob Graham Round is beautiful and brutal... in equal measures.
Finishing work on Friday evening, and with the car already packed, I set off for Dunmail Raise to pick up a different Mike who was stashing his car overnight. I arrived early so took a walk up towards Seat Sandal on the path we'd be running down in 12 hours time... the light breeze in the valley was warm and it was dry: the calm before the storm as the weather report for the weekend assured us we'd be getting wet and blown sideways through the night.
Turning around to admire the view, I saw Mike pulling in... he looked confused to see my little car abandoned but he soon located me making my way back down the path. We shuffled some gear around between cars and made our way to basecamp: a superb place Andrew had rented in Scales opposite the White Horse Inn and Bunkhouse.
Familiar and unfamiliar faces arrived, happy hugs and handshakes and exchanges about the weather forecast flowed freely. It was exciting but calm. We rested until it was time for the big moment... dispersing into cars for the short journey to Keswick and the Moot Hall. After rallying the troops in The Round (it seemed fitting to gather before and after Andrew's round in The Round), at the stroke of 10:30pm, we cheered as Andrew, his pacer, his mule and his nav set off on their merry way... regarding navigation, clearly quite which of the many alleyways to take through to Bell Close car park hadn't been discussed... this way? Yes, no... Yes! Sweet Temptations it is! Those looking on rolled eyes...
Mike and I were on the graveyard shift with old friend Oli from Mike's 2022 round: Mike was muling and I was pacing Andrew on leg 2, scheduled to leave Threlkeld at 02:30am, arriving at Dunmail Raise at 06:48am so it was back to basecamp for several hours of restless rest before the even shorter car journey to Threlkeld Cricket Club in time to see the lights come dancing down Halls Fell Ridge.
Andrew arrived in good spirits and after a very smooth and efficient handover, we were soon on our way. A couple of weeks earlier, I had recce'd leg 2 with Mike and Will to get the pacing nailed down and had, on that occasion, arrived at Clough Head eighteen minutes up on schedule! I didn't want to repeat the same mistake so we took it really easy on the climb. I can't remember exactly when the rain started but start it did and stop it didn't... by the time we crested the final steep climb to Clough Head, we were being blown sideways as predicted and pelted with heavy rain... BUT AT LEAST WE WERE ON SCHEDULE! Tom lost a glove in the complete whiteout, I struggled to record the time. My glasses steamed up and remained that way till I reached Dunmail Raise.
We were soon on Great Dodd and then Watson's Dodd but with visibility so poor (check out this short video that Mike managed to capture), we lost a good few minutes struggling to locate the summit of Stybarrow Dodd... we were circling and at risk of losing each other in the clag before we finally agreed that we were bang on the coordinates, I struggled to remove a glove and get the Sharpie working only to look up and find myself utterly alone.
I tried glasses off, glasses on, hood up, hood down... whatever I tried, I couldn't see my feet or the ground. It was very unsettling and impossible to move with any confidence even though the terrain really isn't technical on leg 2, I feared kicking a rock and falling at every moment.
I caught up with the crew before Raise, still finding the lack of visibility extremely difficult to deal with, as were others.
Somewhere between Nethermost Pike and Dollywagon Pike, another Chris (our nav) and Andrew pushed on leaving the rest of us to make our way to the foot of the main path up Fairfield where we waited until Chris and Andrew came back into view on their way down. It felt like we dispatched the short, punchy climb up Seat Sandal in minutes and were soon hopping our way down to Dunmail Raise where the first class services of Pam in her very fine camper van were in full swing with choices of both hot food and drink to be had.
The very same Mike who I'd run into Keswick with in 2022 was supporting Andrew on leg 3, it was extra lovely to spend a few minutes with him before cheering Andrew and his crew off up Steel Fell.
Those of us coming off leg 2 returned to basecamp, I took a welcome hot shower and then headed straight out to Newlands with Mike to watch the start of the Newlands Memorial Fell race. Katie and Emma, along with quite a few other runners from Bowland Fell Runners were taking on the race... it had been my very first fell race the year before and whilst I would have loved to have run it again this year, I knew that after a night out on leg 2, I probably wouldn't have it in me to complete the 12 mile, 3,800ft elevation gain course but it was great to cheer on Katie, Emma and all the other runners.
Those of us not running walked back to where we were camping that evening and waited patiently before heading back to the finish line to cheer everyone in. Both Newlands Memorial and Teenager with Altitude runners were soon streaming in to the finish pen. It was great to see all the runners in the orange and green shirts of Bowland finishing so strongly. I hope to be back for Newlands Memorial next year!
Throughout the morning, I occasionally brought up the tracker on my phone to see Andrew making great progress and as afternoon turned to early evening, Pam, Emma, Katie, Declan and Mike headed over to Honister Pass to see Andrew... Katie would be joining the crew to support Andrew on leg 5. As time passed, and I drifted in and out of sleep, I was toying with the idea of heading up Robinson to meet Andrew. I decided not to. Then 30 minutes later decided I would! The dreadful overnight weather had given way to an okay morning, had given way to a beautiful afternoon, had given way to a glorious evening and I couldn't resist... besides, I was hungry for that "running into Keswick" feeling again!
I didn't see a single soul on my run from Newlands to Robinson until I saw Andrew and the crew just coming off that wonderful, very last summit of the clockwise Bob Graham Round... I noisily greeted everyone but immediately lowered my voice as I realised Andrew was in a lot of pain... it was his knee, he was moving but the pain was etched on his face. He asked for more paracetamol. I turned and decided to move my phone from the arse pocket in my shorts to the side pocket of my brand new OMM Kamleika jacket, thinking being that it would fair better there if I slipped on my arse during the down climbs.
Among Andrew's leg 5 crew, in addition to the fabulous Katie, was the fabulous Alasdair, who I had run with on leg 4 and leg 5 of Mike's round back in 2022: it was fantastic to see him again and to catch up as we trotted down off Robinson, through Little Town, through Newlands, through Swinside, through Portinscale and finally into view of the Moot Hall at 22:14, where Andrew slapped his hands on the door, 23 hours and 44 minutes after we last saw him there. And yes, you know it... something got right in my eyes again.
Congratulations to Andrew and to everyone who made his round possible... to his parents, to Natalie and Jack (the road support was second to none and incredible at every turn).
After a good amount of gentle back slapping, we retired to the back room of The Round to sit and marvel at the achievements of the day... I reached for my phone but before I'd even unzipped the pocket, I realised, by the weight of it, something was wrong. On closer inspection, I discovered the pocket was faulty: the seam at the bottom and side of the pocket was completely unsealed! As I had popped my phone into that pocket on the jackets first outing, it had simply dropped straight to the floor without I or anyone else noticing. I imagined my poor wife checking in on me, seeing my location just off the summit of Robinson, or worse, on the down climbs, seeing it stationary for several hours, calling it, not getting an answer and finally alerting mountain rescue.
After a fitful night's sleep, listening out for approaching mountain rescue vehicles zooming to my rescue, I woke early the following morning. I waited several hours until I felt it wasn't so extremely rude to start my car, thereby waking everyone in the field, then drove up to Little Town where I parked and had a wonderful climb up Robinson for the second time in 12 hours!
Fortunately there was no sign of mountain rescue as I made my way up trying to remember the exact lines I had taken the previous evening because after all, I couldn't be sure if it had dropped straight to the floor or had perhaps had got hung up in my clothing somehow and had dropped out further down? I was thankful that I always wrap my phone in a waterproof bag when running, this time I had used a purple one and so it was that I finally spotted it, laying perfectly unscathed on a small patch of soft ground just off the summit and none the worse for spending a night out on the fells. I shed a few tears of joy and relief: there's some charge left, there's a signal, I called my wife... and can report that she, completely oblivious to my woes, was absolutely thrilled to hear from me so early on a Sunday morning!
So, the big question...
Am I tempted by the Bob Graham Round?
You betcha!
One thing's for sure... there'll definitely be tears at Moot Hall! And perhaps at Robinson, too. And at Yewbarrow. Maybe at Scafell Pike and possibly even Bowfell...
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