Attempt Date: Friday/Saturday 6th/7th June 2025
For a good few years now, the BGR has been on my radar. It’s one of the 3 big rounds in the UK: the others being the Paddy Buckley (Wales) and the Charlie Ramsay (Scotland). Whilst the other two have their own appeal to many, there’s something about the Bob that trumps the others for me. Maybe it’s because I’ve been involved in a couple of supporting roles on other people’s BGRs and I’ve never so much as set foot on the other two courses. Who knows?
It was whilst supporting Ben Clithero 2 years ago that the idea of doing a Bob well and truly flourished, and I just knew I had to (at some point) give it a go.
Eventually, around April 2024, I made the conscious decision it would happen the following year. Even then, I still didn’t have the confidence to shout about it. This was a huge challenge, and I felt like a fraud for even thinking I could take it on. This negative thought was strengthened by how sick I felt when I finished Old County Tops in May 2024. How could I take on something over twice the size when I struggled to finish that? It took a few more weeks of training and a trip to The Lakes for my birthday, where we did The Montane Tea Round, before I felt it was a possibility. It was then that I began to sound people out for my support.
Months of training then ensued…Win Hill Reps, Kinder Repeats (dragged round by Simon Bayliss), 1.5 Kinder Dozens & half a dozen trips to the Lakes for recces – basically increasing the mileage & weekly ascent. There were a few blips on the way that made me ease off and, again, allowed negative thoughts to creep in, but I battled on with training as I knew that without it I would undoubtedly fail.
Thankfully, on the run up to the Bob, I was lucky enough to make some new friends who were also training for a 2025 Bob, and surrounding myself with these people was extremely positive. Thank you to Liam Turner, Daniel Abbott & Jason Brannan for all their positive advice.
The big day was registered on the BGR website as 6/6/25, and I then booked accommodation through a friend, Emily Chaplais, for my support to stay at. For me, this was as much about a fun weekend for my friends & family as it was about my challenge. On previous supporting roles, when we’d camped, we had been reminded many times by the campsite owner that the alcohol we were consuming was making us loud! I didn’t want this for my support, so I booked a house for us all to chill in after.
The day arrived, and I proceeded to Moot Hall on Keswick High Street to meet my leg 1 support runners & all those who had turned up to see me off. My knee had been taped up the day before by Sally Fawcett to try and alleviate a niggle that had been bugging me for a few weeks. The lifting of the knee had created excess skin, possibly an age thing, which amused everyone on my arrival and was the butt of many jokes prior to me setting off. My knee was, for the duration of the weekend, referred to as Voldemort (see pics)! We counted down the seconds to 7p.m. and then I, Jon West, Best West, Clare McKeown (21hr BG – Leg 1 Legend) & Richard Ellwood (21hr BG) set off on leg 1 of our 23.5 hour scheduled BGR.
Leg 1, as expected, is the leg where I felt most fresh both in body & mind and is the leg that I can actually remember most about. I remember chatting quite a bit in the first 1hr 25min before hitting the summit of Skiddaw. The weather was perfect and Clare & Richard, who both live locally, commented on how rare it was that the summit was visible and not sitting in a vale of clag! Maybe the forecast for imminent rain was incorrect and, actually, this was going to be our night for a dry round.
Throughout Leg 1, we hit all the summits to within minutes of our schedule and this continued throughout
Leg 2. This was probably the leg I had recce’d the most and was the one I was looking forward to the most as you soon chalk off a lot of the summits in quick succession. Joined by Jason Brannan (Jason attempts his on 20/06) Jim Rangeley, Sam Pemberton & Darren Greasley (all of whom I think will be attempting next year). We set off from Threlkeld 5 mins late after a stern, ‘Will you finish your Pot Noodle & f*~* off!’ from Scott Blanks. After a brisk trot past the STW and over the bridge, we soon hit the start of the first climb, Clough Head. With our headtorches on and heads down we plodded up this and the next 12 summits on schedule. Halfway through, we were accompanied by the rain that had been forecast, which was persistent but (thankfully) not that heavy. It did, however, make the descents more difficult and a near fall coming down Seat Sandal was a bit of a wake up call.
The changeovers now took slightly longer than the allocated 10 minutes. The increase in the rain resulted in a full change of clothes at Dunmail Raise which took at least an extra 5 minutes. The feeling of dry clothes was worth it though, as we set off on Leg 3. This is where it starts to get a little hazy…. I’d been on my feet for just under 9 hours and it had gone 3 a.m. – way past my bedtime! Food wasn’t going down as well as it should have been, and I’d only managed a few mouthfuls of the last Pot Noodle at Dunmail. The rain was getting heavier, and I can remember climbing Steel Fell and thinking just how different it felt to all the recces I’d done. A path weaved through bracken that hadn’t been there a couple of months ago. I started to question if we’d somehow gone wrong, and strange thoughts started to creep in. I started to have conversations inside my own head, and I vividly remember just how many beatles I kept seeing in my head torch. Everything just felt a bit dreamy, from that point on, I resigned myself to just getting my head down and very much being a passenger on this leg. Throughout the whole of the leg I felt like i was just plodding. That said, we were still hitting all the summits within minutes of the allocated times.
It is the longest leg on the round and for the 6.5 hours, I think there were only around 20 – 30 mins where I didn’t feel sick. My support ( Ben Clithero, Andrew Ellwood, Jon Pemberton & Darren Greasley) were great and were constantly reminding me to try and eat. I think I had one of Ben Clithero’s Fridge Raiders in my hand for about 30 minutes, and I still only managed to nibble half of it. Thankfully, the sweeter stuff was going down better. I was conscious that we’d lost a bit of time on this leg but it was Andrew that reminded me of his BG last year when he ran with Oliver Harrison and, as he pointed out, they were 40 minutes down on leg 3. This gave me the boost I needed.
Wasdale was the next pit stop and I’d really been looking forward to it. My wife, Rachel, & her pal Claire Haycock were at this one, and I’d sent Jon Pemberton on ahead with food instructions (soup, not Pot Noodle, and black coffee) and medical instructions (my toenails were coming off and needed taping down.) I was at my lowest point when I sat down at Wasdale, and I must admit that I questioned if this thing was too big for me. All the prep talks I had given myself about it being plain sailing after Wasdale had gone out of the window. Thankfully, Rachel was having none of it and gave me a talking to. That, coupled with what I’ve called a ‘Round Saving Soup,’ made for a game changer…
Leg 4 – new support in the style of BG Legend Nick Burns, road support now running support, Paul Griffiths & comedian, Mark Doyle. Leg 4 was probably my best leg. They do say you can make time up on this leg, and we managed to claw back the time I’d lost on leg 3, plus the extra I’d taken at the changeovers. It started with a momentous climb up Yewbarrow, better know as ‘YewBastard’, followed by the next major climb on this leg, Red Pike. Once these were in the bag, I started to think more positively and the mood arriving into Honister was so much better. Although I was still struggling to eat, the prospect of finishing was now more of a reality than ever before which was a great feeling to carry into.
Leg 5 literally has 3 main climbs – Dalehead, Hindscarth & Robinson, and by comparison they’re all a lot easier than some of what has gone before. The knowledge of this and my new sense of self-belief (plus the fact I’d just eaten and had a cuddle from my boys) I think is what got me through leg 5. I know from past recces that this leg is relatively easy, but it certainly didn’t feel that way. As I climbed up the first hill, with its two or three false summits, all I wanted to really do was sit down. I knew I couldn’t, and I knew my support crew, including new arrivals Matt Williams, Dean Young & Emily Chaplais, wouldn’t let me. Nick, Mark & Paul from leg 4 were there too, so in total I had 6 people on at me to eat and drink. After ticking off the first two and some quick descending, we hit the base of Robinson. It wasn’t too intimidating, and on fresh legs I’d have been inclined to have a go at jogging up it. We managed to slog it out for 25mins, 1 minute ahead of schedule. A photo opportunity as we crossed off the last of 42 summits and headed down into the Newlands Valley.
The last part of the descent off Robinson is an absolute ‘quad buster,’ and to finally hit the flat section at the bottom was such a relief. Once hitting the flat section, I decided to take off my knee tape and banish Voldemort forever ( I really didn’t want him on the finishing photos!) From here, we pretty much ran…and ran…and ran…all the way to the car park at Little Town, where quite often people change into road shoes for the last 7k of tarmac. I’d already decided I was happy with the Peregrines I was wearing and wouldn’t be doing this. I did, however, have to make a short stop to acknowledge Simon Bayliss, who had driven all the way up from Dronfield to see me finish. This put a proper lump in my throat, and I remember Nick Burns commenting on the fact that Royalty had turned out for me!
Nick Burns was at the front of the pack for what is pretty much all tarmac into Keswick. Occasionally, he turned around to establish if the incline we were going up constituted a non-runnable hill. Not many did, and we pressed on, smashing out between 8/9min miles. I’m not exactly sure where this energy came from, but I could sense the end was near and just kept pressing on. I could hear the others breathing heavier, and this emphasised that we were putting in a proper shift. As we ploughed on down the last trail and into Keswick, I could feel my emotions building up. I just hoped I could hold it together as we ran up the High Street. As we came off the trail and over the bridge, there was a roundabout, and one of my support crew stopped the oncoming traffic. I’m not sure who it was, but I’m glad they did, as all I could concentrate on was the approaching High Street. Turning onto the High Street, I was signalled by Jon Pemberton to keep to my right as the market stall holders were taking down and it was busy. I could hear my friends & family but found it hard to focus on any one person. My emotions were now bubbling over and, as I ran the final few metres up the high street and climbed the steps of the Moot Hall, I found it really hard to keep them in. I tapped the door, telling myself (as if I needed clarification) that I’d done it, and then I stopped my watch. I was then greeted by my two sons and wife, who repeatedly told me, ‘You’ve done it. You’ve done it’. I had dreamt about and thought about that moment so many times. To actually be on the steps of Moot Hall, having completed the BGR in 22h 50m and being held by my proud family, I couldn’t hold it in any longer and had to have a little cry.
The Bob has been the hardest thing I have ever done and also the most rewarding. To have my family be part of this journey, to make them proud, and to hopefully inspire my two young boys is priceless. The build-up to the day, including all the recces/making of new friends/strengthening of old ones, and the sharing of this challenge with so many of them is something I will treasure for the rest of my life.
What Nige hasn’t said is that he broke the Striders’ Bob Graham club record time of 23 hours, 18 minutes, previously held by Simon Bayliss since 2018
