Stef's Bob Graham success

This weekend Stef and I spent a wonderful 24 hours (well 23 hours and 35 minutes in Stef's case) surrounded by club-mates, "strangers off the internet", friends of friends and dare I say, one or two living legends

Stef set off at midnight on Friday from the Moot Hall in Keswick on her third attempt at the Bob Graham Round and just after half past eleven on Saturday night she'd completed it. 42 Lakeland peaks, around 66 miles of running and walking, and one Mt Everest's worth, give or take, of vertical climb

I watched Stef start and then after a nap in the car saw her through all the rest-stops / road crossings. She was a little behind schedule at the first and I was concerned she wasn't going well. At the second she was ahead of schedule and then my concern was she was going too quickly. At the third in Wasdale these concerns melted away as I watched her climb Yewbarrow, and at the fourth at Honister in the slate mine quarry car park I picked up my ruck-sack, laced up my fell shoes, and set off on the final 10 miles or so with her and a couple of pals to help her get the job done

Three club-mates who had little experience of the round or the mechanisms of getting someone to complete it ,pulled out all the stops, mashing gallons of tea, making umpteen bacon sandwiches, cutting cake and driving around the district from one obscure lay-by to another. They were fantastic 

Around a dozen or 15 folk came along to encourage Stef, carry her cagoule, tells stories, wipe the sweat from her eyes and at times not far off force-feed her with gels, Kendal mint cake, cold boiled potatoes and litre after litre of water and Nuuns. They did what they love doing

These people are our friends; our community; and we're both very proud to be able to say that