The Challenge
THE CUMBRIAN
A 352 km race across fells, lakes and mountain passes in under 60 hours
Starting: 06:00 Friday 22nd July 2022
THE FROG
THE BOB
The Bob Graham Round is the classic Lake District mountain marathon. To complete the challenge participants must run 106 km, climbing 8230m over 42 designated peaks. The Challenge must be completed in under 24 hours.
THE FRED
The Fred Whitton is a mountain cycling challenge. Participants must ride the 182 km route over 5 of the highest mountain passes in the Lake District climbing a total of 3950m in less than 12 hours.
THE CUMBRIAN
The Cumbrian merges the Frog, the Bob and the Fred resulting in a 352 km run, swim, cycle challenge across fells, lakes and mountain passes and climbs 17,000m of vertical.
The Cumbrian Overview
Over the weekend of the 22-24 July 2022, Kirk Wadsworth and Tim Jenner will attempt to combine three of the classic Lakes challenges into one single epic journey by merging The Bob Graham Round, The Frog Graham Round and The Fred Whitton.
The ‘Bob’ starts and finishes at Moot Hall, Keswick, and involves running 106km around 42 of the highest Lake District Fells, in less than 24 hours. The ‘Frog’ follows a similar pattern but with a twist; the route, although shorter at 64km, crosses four lakes in between mountain tops and must be completed self-supported. The ‘Fred’ is reputed to be the hardest day bike ride in the UK. It’s 180km in length and takes in all of the high mountain passes including the infamous Hard Knott and Wrynose.
In total, Kirk and Tim will run 170km, swim 3.2km and cycle 180km. They will climb and descend the equivalent of Everest, twice, and plan to complete the challenges one after the other in less than 52 hours.
Kirk and Tim will start with the ‘Frog Graham Round’ first, leaving Moot Hall at 06:00 on Friday 22nd July. They aim to complete the Frog in under 16 hrs. After eating, changing and sleeping for an hour or so they will touch the door at Moot Hall for the third time and set off early Saturday morning to complete the ‘Bob Graham Round’. They need to be back at Moot Hall in under 24 hrs. Over half of those who set out don’t make it back in time. After running for nearly two days and climbing Everest one a half times, they will return back to Moot hall and transition for the final round. Now comes the cycling phase. Kirk and Tim will follow the Fred Whitton route, starting at 04:00 hrs and aiming to be back at Moot Hall for the final time at Moot Hall before 16:00 on Sunday. They have named the route which combines the Frog, Bob and Fred – The Cumbrian.
Why?
There are 3 reasons why Kirk and Tim will run, swim and cycle 352km around Lake District in under 60 hours. These are:
1. To be the first to attempt ‘The Cumbrian’, an ultra-endurance challenge that merges three existing ‘Rounds’ in and around the UK’s Lake District.
2. To raise a total of £10,000, to be split evenly between three local charities:i) Jigsaw – Cumbria’s Hospice for children and their families with life limiting illnesses.
ii) Keswick Mountain Rescue Team – a team of volunteers who risk their lives for others, day in, day out.
iii) The Brathay Trust – an Ambleside based charity who support disadvantaged children and adults through the outdoors.
3. To inspire and motivate others to push their own boundaries, dream big and take on a meaningful adventure.
