Bob Graham Round: Route, Maps and Training Guide

Key takeaways

• The Bob Graham Round is a 24-hour circuit of 42 Lake District peaks covering 66 miles with around 27,000 feet of ascent, starting and finishing at Keswick's Moot Hall.
• The route splits into legs ending at road crossings (Threlkeld, Dunmail Raise, Wasdale), and most aspirants recce each leg separately before a continuous attempt.
• The full route needs three OS Landranger sheets (89, 90, 96) or Explorer sheets OL5, OL6 and OL7 at 1:25,000 scale.
• Train for duration and terrain, not distance: build an aerobic base for two months, add big weekend days, then spend the final two months recceing every leg in daylight and darkness.
• Ratification by the Bob Graham 24 Hour Club requires a witness card signed at every summit; incomplete witness cards are the most common reason a round is rejected.

The Bob Graham Round is a 66-mile circuit of 42 Lake District peaks, starting and finishing at Keswick's Moot Hall, that must be completed inside 24 hours with around 27,000 feet of ascent. This guide breaks the route down leg by leg, with elevation, OS maps, and a training plan for your attempt.

What is the Bob Graham Round and how far is it?

The Bob Graham Round is a 24-hour fell running challenge covering 42 Lake District peaks, roughly 66 miles (106 km) and about 27,000 feet (8,200 m) of ascent, starting and finishing at Keswick's Moot Hall. The challenge is described in detail on the Bob Graham Round Wikipedia page, and a round only counts if you complete all 42 summits within 24 hours, on foot, in one continuous journey.

How far is the Bob Graham Round in miles and kilometres?

Count on 66 miles (106 km) of ground and around 8,200 m of ascent, roughly equivalent to climbing Everest from sea level and then some. The route is traditionally split into five legs, radiating from Keswick via Threlkeld, Dunmail Raise, Wasdale, Honister, and Newlands back to the Moot Hall clock.

Who was Bob Graham?

Bob Graham, a Keswick guesthouse owner and former Lakeland guide, set the original 42-peak round in June 1932 at age 41. The record stood until 1960, and the challenge has since become a rite of passage for hill-baggers and endurance athletes alike.

What are the three legs of the Bob Graham Round route?

The Bob Graham Round breaks into three legs, each starting and finishing at a road crossing where support can meet you. The standard convention runs anti-clockwise from Keswick: leg 1 ends at Dunmail Raise, leg 2 at Wasdale Head, and leg 3 back at Moot Hall. Each leg has a distinct character, and most aspirants recce them separately long before a single continuous attempt.

Leg	Start	Finish	Peaks	Key summits
1	Keswick (Moot Hall)	Dunmail Raise	9	Skiddaw, Great Calva, Blencathra
2	Dunmail Raise	Wasdale Head	11	Steel Fell, High Raise, Scafell Pike, Lingmell
3	Wasdale Head	Keswick (Moot Hall)	22	Yewbarrow, Red Pike, Kirk Fell, Great Gable, Robinson

Bob Graham Round leg 1: Keswick to Threlkeld

Leg 1 is the section most aspirants undertrain for. It starts with a pre-dawn climb of Skiddaw via Jenkin Hill, drops to the Skiddaw House track, crosses Great Calva, then descends into the marshy ground of the Roughton Gill area, often the slowest terrain of the whole round. Blencathra follows, usually via Halls Fell, before a steep descent to the A66 and a road crossing near Threlkeld. Although it holds only nine summits, the ground between Great Calva and Blencathra eats time, and a slow leg 1 puts pressure on everything after Dunmail Raise.

Leg 2: Dunmail Raise to Wasdale

Leg 2 climbs Steel Fell first, then threads the high ground over High Raise and Rossett Pike to Bowfell. From there the route takes Esk Pike, Great End, and the highest point of the round, Scafell Pike, before dropping to Lingmell and down into Wasdale. Many runners descend via the Corridor Route or Lords Rake depending on conditions and support.

Leg 3: Wasdale to Moot Hall

Leg 3 is the longest by peak count: 22 summits from Yewbarrow to Robinson. After the Wasdale crossing, the route links Yewbarrow, Red Pike, Kirk Fell, and Great Gable, then the long Green Gable to Honister stretch. Pillar, Haycock, and the Loweswater fells follow, finishing over Robinson to the Newlands valley and the final pull to Keswick. Most rounds are won or lost on whether you leave Wasdale still moving well.

What does the Bob Graham Round elevation profile look like?

The accepted figure for a Bob Graham Round is around 27,000 feet (8,200 m) of ascent across 42 Lakeland peaks in 24 hours. That total matters more than the distance: 66 miles of walking is manageable, but 27,000 feet of climbing in a day is what breaks most schedules.

The climbs are not evenly spread. The steepest sustained work sits in the first half: Skiddaw and Great Calva early, then the Blencathra to Threlkeld leg, and the long pull up Helvellyn before Dollywagon Pike. The second half trades height for rough ground, with Scafell Pike and the descent to Wasdale and Yewbarrow taxing legs that are already tired.

Read the profile as a pacing tool, not a route map. If your plan has you climbing slower than 2,000 feet per hour including stops, the 24-hour target is gone by Leg 3. Log each training ascent with its elevation gain so your estimate comes from your own numbers, not averages.

Which OS maps do you need for the Bob Graham Round?

The full route sits on three Ordnance Survey sheets. At 1:50,000 Landranger scale you need sheet 89 (Western Lakeland), sheet 90 (Penrith and the northern fells), and sheet 96 (Ambleside, Grasmere and the eastern fells). At 1:25,000, the Explorer OL5 (North Eastern Lakes), OL6 (English Lakes South Western) and OL7 (English Lakes South Eastern) sheets cover the legs in more detail, which matters on the pathless ground between Dollywagon Pike and Dunmail Raise.

Digital mapping and GPX files

Most aspirants run the route from a GPX file loaded into a phone app rather than carrying paper on the hills. Print or cache the relevant map tiles before you leave signal, since long stretches of the Fairfield and Skiddaw legs have no coverage. Paper still earns its place in the support van and as a backup for the leg handovers at Threlkeld, Dunmail Raise and Wasdale, where a misplaced leg change costs you minutes you trained months to save.

How do you train for a Bob Graham Round attempt?

Treat the round as three problems: aerobic base, sustained time on feet, and navigation you can do while wrecked. Most successful aspirants build over roughly six months, with the last eight weeks dedicated to leg reccees rather than fresh mileage.

A 6-month Bob Graham Round training plan outline

Months one and two are base building: five to eight hours a week of easy running and walking, with one longer session that grows steadily. Months three and four add a big weekend day, four to six hours on hilly terrain, plus hill repeats to make climbing honest. Month five is where the round-specific work starts: back-to-back long days on Saturday and Sunday, because the Bob Graham is won by moving well on day-zero fatigue, not by one heroic long run. Keep the easy days genuinely easy so the hard days count.

The principle worth quoting: a Bob Graham training block is not a marathon plan with hills bolted on. The round rewards the ability to climb steadily for 24 hours, eat and drink on the move, and make navigation decisions when your brain is mush. So swap volume for specificity in the final two months: recce every leg, practise continuous movement over rough ground, and rehearse your support-kit handoffs at each road crossing. If your longest run to date is 20 road miles, the gap you are training for is not distance, it is duration and terrain. A 20-mile road runner who has never spent ten hours on wet grass is further from a Bob Graham than a slower runner with twice the hours on similar ground. Build the block around that reality and the fitness follows.

Build your weekly schedule around three quality sessions and two easy ones, and treat sleep as training rather than recovery. Check a mountain weather forecast before every big weekend, because a storm can turn a recce into a wasted day or a dangerous one. Consistency across six modest months beats six heroic weeks followed by injury.

Recceing and night navigation

Recce each leg at least twice, once in daylight and once in the dark, because you will cross Leg 1 and part of Leg 3 at night. Practise bearing-and-pacing on featureless ground such as the approaches to Ill Crag or Scafell's summit plateau, and check your route choices against the 1:25,000 OS Explorer sheets for the Lakes (OL4, OL5, OL6, OL7 area) listed by Ordnance Survey. Log every recce like any other ascent; the record of which legs you know in the dark is the best predictor of how round day will actually go.

What is the Bob Graham Round Club and how do you get a round ratified?

The Bob Graham 24 Hour Club exists to ratify rounds and keep the official records. To qualify, you must complete the 42 peaks, 66 miles and roughly 27,000 feet of ascent within 24 hours, and have your round witnessed throughout. Witnesses sign a card at each summit; they should be independent club members or experienced fell runners who can confirm your arrival and departure times. The Club's rules, including the requirement that witnesses be named and their signatures collected leg by leg, are summarised on the Bob Graham Round Wikipedia page.

Once your card is complete, you submit it to the Club's recorder, who checks the timings and witness details before adding your round to the official list. Ratification is not automatic: incomplete witness cards are the most common reason a round is rejected, so brief your supporters beforehand. If you already log summits in a tool like Summit Log UK, your leg-by-leg ascent records can double as a personal audit trail when filling in the card.

What is the current Bob Graham Round record?

The fastest reported time is Kílian Jornet's run in 2018, widely reported at around 12 hours 52 minutes, which broke Billy Bland's long-standing 1982 mark of 13 hours 53 minutes. The fastest reported women's time is Jasmin Paris's 2019 round, reported at roughly 15 hours 39 minutes.

Treat these figures with care: times are only official once ratified by the Bob Graham Club, and unofficial or pending attempts circulate before verification. If you are chasing a time rather than a completion, check the Club's ratified records before setting your target.

FAQ

Can you walk the Bob Graham Round over more than 24 hours?

Yes, plenty of people complete the circuit over two or three days, but it stops being a Bob Graham Round in the official sense. Ratification by the Bob Graham Club requires all 42 summits within 24 hours as one continuous journey on foot from Moot Hall back to Moot Hall. Slower tours are still a fine way to learn the legs.

How many people have completed a sub-24-hour Bob Graham Round?

Over a thousand rounds have been ratified since 1932, with annual numbers far higher than in the early decades. The Bob Graham Club keeps the official list of ratified rounds, which is the only count worth quoting, since attempts only count once the witness card is checked. Completion rates on any given attempt day vary widely.

What support do you need for a Bob Graham attempt (pacers, road support)?

Nothing is mandatory except witnesses at the summits, but almost every successful attempt uses pacers on the hills and a support vehicle at road crossings such as Threlkeld, Dunmail Raise, Wasdale, and Honister. Pacers carry food, spare kit, and navigation backup. Brief everyone on the leg handover plan, because a misplaced change costs minutes you trained months to save.

What is the best time of year for a Bob Graham Round attempt?

Late June is the traditional window: the longest daylight, the driest ground, and the best odds of dry rock on descents like Halls Fell. Many rounds start before dawn to time the night sections deliberately. Weather always trumps the calendar, though, since gale or clag on the Leg 3 fells can sink an attempt regardless of the date.

Is the Bob Graham Round harder than a marathon?

Yes, and in a different way. The distance alone is roughly two and a half marathons, but the real difference is around 27,000 feet of ascent, night sections, and navigation on featureless ground while exhausted. A marathon plan with hills bolted on does not prepare you; the round rewards steady climbing for 24 hours, eating on the move, and good decisions when your brain is mush.