Yes, well done. You were certainly lucky with the weather. Saturday was a lovely day. I was on Gable but didn't see you !
You should recover in time to come and do the Three Rings of Shap - a breeze after the BG!!

Congratulations Paul, an excellent result and good time. You deserve a beer, or two !! Matt.

My round also seems like yesterday (he lied). In fact it was 2 days ago. I set off from Moot Hall on Friday evening (30th May) and finished 22 hours 46 minutes later on Saturday afternoon.

The weather was perfect, my support crew was fantastic, and all my training paid off. I felt that my best sections were the last 2 and I was still running strongly at the end.

However, several hours later I couldn't walk down stairs without clinging onto the banisters as my quads refused to work properly.

Feeling better today and also feeling rather pleased with myself after realising an ambition that was hatched 13 years ago.

Paul

Good luck Paul (or Carole). I did my round in 1979 though it just seems like yesterday (he lied).
If I can be of any assistance (apart from running with you!) please get in touch - my details are in Strider or on our website.

One of the guys from my running club (Tattenhall Runners) completed the BGR last year in 23 Hrs 22 min, but his time was tempered by bad weather. A strong runner to start with, he dedicated himself to 6 months hard training and it obviously paid off.

The mantra for the BGR is not so much in mileage (although a few long days are needed) but trying to average 10,000ft of ascent per week. This can be a bit difficult during the winter months if you have to work every day and your long runs are limited to weekends.

Three others from the club, myself included, are attempting the BGR in May this year. One going on 17th May, and myself and one other having 2 separate attempts on 30th May.

In my opinion, the hardest part about the BGR is not the distance or the climbing but having the pressure of the 24hr time limit always in the back of your mind. You have to try and keep to a schedule - most would work to a 23hr schedule to allow for an hour of lost time. Even in that schedule there are some quite daunting efforts. For example, to get from the summit of Dollywagon Pike to the summit of Fairfield (which involves nearly 1000ft of climb) you are allowed 38 minutes, and in my case this will be at night.

There's still a lot of hard work to do between now and then, and if I keep free of injury and have good weather then hopefully I'll stand a good chance of success.

I would be interested to hear of any other LDWA members who have tackled the BGR.

Matt / All,

A long time ago we walked it over 3 days starting at Dunmail :-
1st day over Central fells / Scafell to Wasdale stopped at Wast Water YHA,
2nd over Pillar, Gable, Honister, Dale Head and Robinson to Keswick YHA,
3rd back over Skiddaw, Blencathra and Dodds / Helvellyn leg to car.

Each day about 20 odd miles, obviously hilly but do-able at walking pace. Not camping so no need to carry much, just food and spare clothing really.

I don't think many walk it, there are probably more 'attractive' walks to be had (circular route, less climb, more amenities en route, more options for breaking the days up etc) and after all the basic challenge is to beat 24 hr.

The Paddy Buckley is 'slightly' shorter, about the same climb but generally much rougher / boggier underfoot, so slower - about 1 hr for the whole round. It better suits being split into 4 days, with quite a few options for stopovers (Begggelert / Llanberis / Capel Curig / Ffestiniog etc.) even if you're not camping. The Clayton / Turnbull book is worth a read.

Again though, the route is a bit contrived, and there are probably better routes to be chosen if you just want a long walk in Snowdonia.

I dug out my BG statistics from nearly 30 years ago! They told me that the Round is/was around 70 miles and 26,000 ft ascent/descent. I imagine Paddy’s round is similar.
Assuming a modicum of rest over the 24 hours the rate of travel needs to be significantly more than 3 mph over difficult mountainous terrain including a night period. I cannot imagine that many can WALK at this pace throughout especially when a jog/trot on the descents helps the average so much.
My feeling (possibly mistaken) is that to complete the Round successfully would be equivalent to doing a Hundred in around 24 hours - and there aren’t that many folks who can do that even when running!
As you say nothing about Billy was average. From personal experience his walking pace on the fells was significantly faster than most peoples ‘running’ speed. By the way he has held the BG record since 1982 run in an amazing 13 hours 53 mins – my hero!

Interesting that Sue. Though I thought a few more walkers would have attempted these challenges and had something to say - perhaps they don't like hills!
Lot of different training regimes and advice to fell runners attempting the challenges, so was intrigued to see what the walkers approach would be - but it appears to be don't bother.

I've walked the route over two 12 hour days, but with a good night's rest in between (and it was still very hard!) There's info. about BG training for walkers at http://www.aqvi55.dsl.pipex.com/run/bgr_train_walk.htm

I've walked the route over two 12 hour days, but with a good night's rest in between (and it was still [i]very[i] hard!) There's info. about BG training for walkers at [url]http://www.aqvi55.dsl.pipex.com/run/bgr_train_walk.htm[url]

I wondered if any members had walked either of these rounds (straight through) and what sort of times you managed ? Have any of you actually walked them inside the 24 hours as opposed to treating them as a runner would. I know Billy Bland walked a sub 24 BGR - but he hardly counted as an 'avarage walker'! Matt.