Steve Birkinshaw: record attempt will start at 3am

In the early hours of Saturday morning, when most of the country is slumbering in bed, a small group will gather in a Lake District village to help an ultra runner in his attempt to realise a dream and smash a long-held record.

Compared to Stephen Pyke’s recent 39-day record slog up every munro in Scotland, this will be a sprint; but one that will take close to 24 hours and involve more than 12,000m (40,000ft) of climbing over 90 miles.

Steve Birkinshaw says he does not consider himself a gifted athlete. “I do seem to have some ability over long distances and I am determined,” he adds.  “So over many years I have trained and raced hard and got some good results. The worse the weather and rougher the terrain the better I do.”

Birkinshaw, a 42-year-old research associate at Newcastle University, will attempt to extend the 24-hour record for Lakeland peaks held by Mark Hartell for 13 years. And, on this occasion he’s glad the weather forecast is for cool, dry conditions on the tops, 78 of which he’ll attempt to cross after leaving Braithwaite at 3am.

He said: “I am a bit nervous, but I’m very happy about the weather.”

Birkinshaw's attempt will start at Braithwaite, seen in the valley, before heading to Skiddaw, in the distance

Helping him will be a small army of pacers and navigators – 20 or so in total – including the current record holder Mark Hartell, who will accompany Dr Birkinshaw on one of the longer legs. The round heads for the northern fells, including Skiddaw and Blencathra, then loops south down the Helvellyn range, across Dunmail Raise and into the central fells in Langdale and the Scafell range before heading back north to Great Gable, the Buttermere peaks and then Newlands with a final flourish on Grisedale Pike before dropping back down to Braithwaite.

The addition of Fleetwith Pike to Hartell’s previous round will mean a new record for the challenge, which is an extension of the original Bob Graham Round, the 42-peak route set by the Keswick guesthouse owner in 1932. Birkinshaw himself has the fifth fastest time for the BGR, which he did five years ago in a little over 17 hours.

He failed in his attempt on the 24-hour record last year, succumbing to adverse weather and the effects of a cold after falling an hour behind schedule and dropping out in Wasdale after 16 hours of running.

He admits to self doubt after an abdominal upset last month during the 97km (60-mile) Fellsman race. Writing on his blog, he says: “After throwing up at the Fellsman getting the food and drink right on the day worries me but hopefully that was a one off.”

The addition of Fleetwith Pike will take the tally of peaks to 78

“But I still have doubts about if I am capable of doing it. I can say I have trained as hard as I can and I have been taking it easy for a week and my strength seems to be returning. But I have not been helped by three colds in the last three months and I have a slight niggle in my knee – but that seems to be recovering well whilst I have been resting in the last week. I have a good group of pacers lined up to help.”

He is due to pass his home village of Threlkeld just before 7am if all goes to plan, with Helvellyn at 9.08am; Pike O’Stickle at 12.35pm; Scafell Pike at 4.21pm; Honister Hause at 9.54pm and Grisedale Pike at 2.28am.

If he succeeds, the married father of three will join an esteemed list that includes Hartell and Wasdale fellrunning legend Jos Naylor, who held the 24-hour record in the 1970s.

Steve’s progress is due to be tracked by GPS and logged on the Open Adventure website,  which should show his timings compared to his target times needed to beat the record.