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INTERVIEW: In pursuit of purity: going solo on the Winter Bob Graham Round

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What does it take to run a Bob Graham Round in winter, alone? How has the experience changed over the decades? And what do we even mean by the terms winter, and solo? Keri Wallace speaks to the only two people to have pulled off a solo, unsupported winter BGR, Martin Stone and Shane Ohly.



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 Paul Figg 26 Feb 2021
In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

Fantastic achievement both physically and mentally, also puts into perspective how good Martin Stones time was all those years ago with by todays standards fairly crap gear.

 Henry Iddon 28 Feb 2021
In reply to Paul Figg:

Running round the Lakes solo in winter in a pandemic, lightly clad,  while hallucinating. Everyone says awesome. Yet if that had been anyone else ( ie not a well known runner and event organiser)  they'd have been slated big style. I dunno what to make of it.

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 Michael Hood 01 Mar 2021
In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

I thought Bob Graham rounds had to be accompanied, in which case a solo BG is effectively an oxymoron.

And yes I know what it means, covering the BG route, and it is an impressive achievement although rather irresponsibly stupid during Covid.

Post edited at 06:58
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 ablackett 01 Mar 2021
In reply to Michael Hood:

> I thought Bob Graham rounds had to be accompanied, in which case a solo BG is effectively an oxymoron.

That’s not right. Membership of the BG club requires verification at each summit.

A Bob Graham Round requires an individual to visit all 42 tops, starting and finishing at The Moot Hall within 24 hours.

Shane didn’t break any rules, I take my hat off to him.

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 Luke90 01 Mar 2021
In reply to Henry Iddon:

> Running round the Lakes solo in winter in a pandemic, lightly clad,  while hallucinating. Everyone says awesome. Yet if that had been anyone else ( ie not a well known runner and event organiser)  they'd have been slated big style. I dunno what to make of it.

Yes, it's almost as if skill and experience are important considerations.

(Where did "hallucinating" come from? I didn't see it mentioned in the interview, was it from another report?)

 DaveHK 01 Mar 2021
In reply to Michael Hood:

> I thought Bob Graham rounds had to be accompanied, in which case a solo BG is effectively an oxymoron.

Only if you want your name on the list, I'm quite content that I've done the BG despite not appearing on the list which isn't something that matters to me.

> And yes I know what it means, covering the BG route, and it is an impressive achievement although rather irresponsibly stupid during Covid.

I don't know Shane personally but I expect it will have been very carefully planned and organised and therefore not irresponsible or stupid. It was also in December when we weren't locked down.

 greg_may_ 01 Mar 2021
In reply to Michael Hood:

> I thought Bob Graham rounds had to be accompanied, in which case a solo BG is effectively an oxymoron.

Not if one has already done a witnessed round.

 Rick Graham 01 Mar 2021
In reply to ablackett:

Probably worth pointing out that most BG completors come from an athletics and fell running background . Their ethos is different. Applying climbing and alpine standards and ethics  is a bit confusing for them. Unless you have a running and climbing background.

 TobyA 01 Mar 2021
In reply to Rick Graham:

> Unless you have a running and climbing background.

Which Shane does. I remember when he was in the magazines month after month, I guess as a really young guy, repeating many of the hardest trad routes in the SW and putting up his own very hard new routes. Didn't he climb some of those slightly mysterious Cornish E9s and even E10s?

 Henry Iddon 01 Mar 2021
In reply to Luke90:

> Yes, it's almost as if skill and experience are important considerations.

> (Where did "hallucinating" come from? I didn't see it mentioned in the interview, was it from another report?)

From a piece on the run by Fiona Russel

He also hallucinates, “with all kinds of different animals and creatures appearing on the fringe of my headtorch light”. 

https://www.fionaoutdoors.co.uk/2021/02/shane-ohly-sets-solo-unsupported-wi...

Quoting Shane's blog

"the fringe of my headtorch light. As soon as one beast merges back into a hedge or tree, another appears just ahead. “Oh shit, I really am on the verge of a massive bonk”. My sugar starved brain is giving me one final warning as I find myself involuntarily walking again. “Come on, keep running”. Or rather, keep shuffling.

I know that Heather is planning to welcome me back to Moot Hall, and I hope Phil will be there as well. As I run past the Derwentwater Hotel, I see my first imaginary people. They are talking to each other in a conspiratorial manner in the shadows by the side of the road, and I move to the opposite side to give them a wide berth. They too morph back into the undergrowth just as I pass. "

https://www.shaneohly.com/blog/winter-bob-graham-round-2020

 petemeads 02 Mar 2021
In reply to Henry Iddon:

Hallucinating on the road back to Keswick does not sound too dangerous,  just a sign of pushing really hard to finish in the best possible time. An indication of how well Shane had done to complete the BG that day was that John Kelly (Spine race winner, pennine way record holder, briefly) did not get round on his attempt, citing lack of water (tarns frozen) as the reason he decided to take the safe option and not attempt the last leg.

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 GrahamD 02 Mar 2021
In reply to petemeads:

> Hallucinating on the road back to Keswick does not sound too dangerous,  just a sign of pushing really hard ..

On that scale nothing short of a nuclear strike "sounds dangerous ".

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 Henry Iddon 02 Mar 2021
In reply to petemeads:

So if a 'tourist' was walking down Borrowdale  'off their head' and exhausted  in the dark in the middle of a pandemic that would also be ok ?

I'll take your word for it. 

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