It’s been an exciting summer for the trail running community- F.K.T.’s (Fastest Known Times) are being shattered left and right and elite runners show no intentions of slowing down.
Just this week, British ultra-runner, Beth Pascall broke the women’s record on the famous Bob Graham Round located in England’s Lake District. This run is no-joke; 66 miles of traversing rugged peaks (42 to be exact), and a whopping total of 28,000 vertical feet is enough to compel even the best of runners to call it quits. The run starts and finishes in the town Keswick and may be completed either clockwise or counterclockwise.
Pascall didn’t just break the record, she smashed it. Her time of 14 hours and 34 minutes beat the previous record by almost an hour. The previous FKT was held by Jasmin Paris with a time of 15 hours and 24 minutes. Pascall’s speedy time makes her the fastest woman and 5th fastest overall to complete the Bob Graham Round.
This brutal 66-mile loop is steeped in trail running history. In June 1932, Bob Graham set-off to become the first person to ever attempt this round. Not only did Graham complete the loop, but he did so in under 24 hours. Graham’s record of 23 hours and 39 minutes stood for 28 years until it was finally broken by Alan Heaton in 1960. Since then, the Bob Graham Round has seen over 2000 attempts. A select handful of runners have even finished the double round- a completion of the full loop, twice, in under 48 hours. The current all-time FKT for a single lap of the Bob Graham is held by Kilian Jornet with a blazing time of 12 hours and 52 minutes.
Huge shout-out to Beth Pascall for her incredible accomplishment and cementing her name in the history books of the fabled Bob Graham Round. Way to go!
Very cool! Thanks for the article!