Gavin Dale has broken the winter record for the Bob Graham Round, beating Finlay Wild's previous time by nearly 40 minutes to run a new fastest time of 14hr 57min 45 secs.

Just three months after moving to the Lakes in 2022, Gavin completed his first (non-winter) Bob Graham in a very respectable time of 16:37.

"At the time I was totally new to the area" he tells us.

"I'd heard so much about the Bob Graham Round that I really wanted to give it a try. I supported a couple of other runners beforehand, and was lucky enough to get involved in Jack Kuenzle's incredible record [summer- 12:23], running legs 4&5 with him.

"I had an amazing day out on my first BG, but since then I've progressed a lot as a runner. I also know the route much much better than I did before! So there was always a part of me that wanted to return and try it again with a new level of experience and confidence. The winter element was a fun way to add a new challenge and was something that excited me." 

A big round at this time of year is of a course an entirely different ball game to a summer one, with the likelihood of more challenging weather, a high chance of difficult ground conditions, and the certainty of long dark nights.

"Winter ground conditions can be a blessing or a curse: I got a bit of both" he says.

"On some sections we got frozen ground, but not the solid frozen that's like running on tarmac - just nice and firm with a bit of spring, perfect for smooth descending. But that also meant that the scree chute we took off Blencathra was frozen and very treacherous. On Leg 3 the rock was covered in a layer of frost / ice, and we had to stick close together as we were all slipping and sliding over the rocks.

"I think weather and ground conditions play a huge part in a winter round. If you can get frozen bogs (we didn't) but dry rock (we didn't), conditions could be incredible. But, it's winter. Part of the challenge is the weather, and that's how it should be." 

Where big hill records are concerned, what constitutes 'winter' is a vexed topic. Since ground conditions and weather are endlessly variable, and will make an immense difference on the day, no two attempts are ever likely to be done in identical conditions. Given the impracticality of mandating for snow and ice (or the absence of it) the general consensus is that a winter round must take place during meteorological winter, between 1st December and the end of February.

While conditions can come and go, one constant in winter is short daylight - particularly around solstice. For his 'Dark Bob' in January 2024 Finlay Wild leaned into this, with the aim of fully completing a round between sunset and sunrise on the longest night of the year, 21st December - which at that latitude would have given him a window of darkness of around 16 hours 45 minutes. Running solo and unsupported, and with no GPS navigation, he sensibly bailed out in very challenging weather. A second try on 6th January 2024 proved a success, and he completed the round in a time of 15h35m47s to set a then winter record.

Gavin chose instead to run it in a more conventional timeframe, starting at 9pm on Monday 2nd December and finishing around mid day on Tuesday. Of course that still meant a substantial part of the round was done in darkness.

He ran with support, with pacers on all legs to carry gear and nutrition, and to monitor splits.

"Meanwhile Andy & Lisa were on road support, which is a hugely demanding and challenging role - they had to get all the pacers to the right places and back again, whilst monitoring my progress and driving huge loops around the Lake District" he says.

"There's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes when you have this many people involved. Everyone was wonderful in their flexibility and commitment, which took a lot of stress out of the planning process."

We caught up with Gavin to find out more:

UKH: What does the Bob Graham mean to you?

Gavin: Community. The BG is a stunning route that takes you over some amazing peaks, but at its heart this route is about people. I've met so many amazing and inspiring folks through the Bob Graham, and I count myself lucky to have many of them as friends. The level of support I got from so many people for this attempt was overwhelming. I had some top-tier runners out there who gave up their day / night to spend hours out in the fells with me without a second thought. And we are all out there because we love it. We love the fells, the people around us, the joy of moving through the landscape. To share that with others is something magical.

How much reccying did the winter round require?

I've lived in the Lakes for the last two and a half years, so I'm able to get out in the fells for most of my training. A lot of the ground is familiar to me now, and I went back out over each leg whilst training to get comfortable with the route and the target pace for each leg. I still relied on pacers for some of the navigation (particularly on leg 3) but I knew every section of the round pretty well.

How did the weather treat you?

Classic Cumbrian - a bit of everything! I'd spent two weeks agonising over the weather. The original plan was a 4am start on Sunday 1st December, to maximise time in daylight. The long range forecast looked good and everything seemed like it was going to plan. Then the weather shifted and Sunday turned to rain and strong winds, making it a no-go for a fast round. We shifted to Tuesday 4am. The weather forecast predicted rain from midday Tuesday. We changed again... and again. Eventually, the best weather window looked to be overnight Monday into Tuesday morning, hence the 9pm start. The trade-off was a lot more running in the dark than originally intended.

Despite assurances of no precipitation for the entirety of my schedule, it started snowing about 90 minutes after we started and continued for another four hours. Most of leg 2 was fairly poor visibility. But the clouds cleared as we started leg 3, and although the underfoot conditions were tricky, we had perfect visibility (as much as you can in the dark without a moon!). Legs 4&5 were perfect, with a stunning sunrise as we turned back off Steeple.

Ironically, the forecast rain at midday Tuesday never came.

Sub 15 really is quite some achievement: did you set out with that in mind?

When I first decided to go for a Winter Bob earlier this year, I was hoping to beat the existing time of 15hr35m. That time was a very different style though - Finlay Wild ran it in full darkness, solo and unsupported. His achievement is staggering and I don't know if anyone can top that. So for me, the exciting challenge was to see if I could run something very different - fully supported, but pushing for a faster time. When I registered my attempt, Bob Wightman (Membership Secretary of the BG Club) pointed out that sub-15 would get close to the top-10 overall finishes. So a couple of weeks out, I changed the schedule to 15hrs. It was scary, and felt bold but exciting - which is how it should be.

Did you feel strong and positive the whole way, or were there moments of doubt at any stage?

There are inevitably moments where you doubt yourself on something like this. After the more challenging conditions in Leg 3, we were 9 minutes down on the schedule after leaving Wasdale. That's not a lot, but it also had the potential to escalate very quickly if things deteriorated further. Luckily, I was surrounded by positivity and camaraderie for 15 hours (as well as before and after), so I never felt any huge lows or moments of despair. In the middle of leg 2, with the wind blowing snow sideways onto us and pretty limited visibility, Josh Wade loudly declared 'this is awesome!'. And he's right - it was! 

In a video filmed at the end you still look full of beans: did you finish with energy to spare, and might you even be able to improve on your time (in theory – we're not suggesting you do…)?

Full of beans is maybe a bit generous - I only had about 2 beans left. By the end of Leg 4 we were just 5 minutes behind the 15hr schedule and I knew we could make that time back with a final effort on Leg 5. We hit the road in good time and I knew that if I could just keep a consistent pace to the end, we'd get under 15 hours. For the final 30 minutes I didn't really speak, I was just focussed on ticking the final kms off. There is so much potential to make up time at the end of a BG, so it was always my intention to finish as strongly as possible. Is there time to be made? With better conditions, maybe a bit less night-time running, arguably yes. But for now, I'm content! 

Gavin Dale is sponsored by: Petzl, La Sportiva, Voom Nutrition and CurraNZ