Ross Jenkin celebrates on the steps of the Moot Hall in Keswick

Athlete Ross Jenkin has achieved his quest to complete his Big 4 Grand Round Challenge.

He arrived back at Keswick Moot Hall in the early hours of Sunday at the end of his final round.

His arrival at the traditional start and end point of the Bob Graham Round at 1.48am marked his accomplishment as the first person to complete a continuous traverse of the UK’s four big mountain challenges: the Paddy Buckley Round in north Wales; the Denis Rankin Round in Northern Ireland; the Ramsay Round in Scotland, and the Bob Graham Round in the English Lake District.

He ran the first two in less than 24 hours, but the Scottish round took him 26 hours, and with fatigue taking its toll, his time for the Bob Graham Round was 29hrs 48mins. The challenge involved 152 summits, with 387km (240 miles) of running and 31,800m (104,331ft) of ascent.

The Cumbrian police officer, who is sponsored by Dynafit, attempted the challenge last August but was thwarted by injury and Storm Francis.

His support team reported that in the final stages of this year’s challenge Jenkin was still climbing well, but downhill sections were causing him considerable discomfort.

Speaking at the finish, Jenkin thanked the dedication of his supporters, his family, and all the people who sent messages of encouragement during the challenge. He is raising funds for the Campaign Against Living Miserably charity and said: “I suffer from depression, so I wanted to encourage others to do something which helps their own mental health.

“I can safely say that I am stronger now than I was before all this. Don’t man-up; speak-up!”