On the 25th June, Team Mountain Fuel aim to make history with the first competitive head-to-head race involving the Billy Bland Challenge. Two mixed teams of men and women will race against each other in an attempt to beat the mixed team record of 16 hrs 49 minutes, with aspirations of beating legendary fell runner Billy Bland’s time of 13hrs 53 minutes on the Bob Graham Round. Both teams will consist of 10 runners, with two runners each running one of the five legs together. The team is made up of a collective mix of ultra, trail and fell runners. This includes local Keswick AC runners (some of whom hold individual leg records and were part of the Keswick AC record breaking time of 12hrs 25 minutes). There will also be other Team Mountain Fuel runners from around the country, including eight Team GB Mountain Running representatives.

The Bob Graham round is a 66 mile, 42 peak challenge with a 24hr time limit. It is considered one the biggest challenges in English fell running, involving a 27000 ft of ascent up Skiddaw and Blencathra, over the Helvellyn range, the Langdale pikes, Scafell, Wasdale and Great Gable, starting and finishing at the Moot Hall in Keswick. The aforementioned Billy Bland’s time of 13hrs 53 minutes is the current record for any individual completing the round and the fact that it’s stood since 1982 shows what an incredible record it is. Up until a few years ago no team had managed to beat it. Even to this day only Keswick AC and Ellenborough men’s teams have beaten the time, demonstrating how great a runner Billy Bland was.

The teams have been evenly matched to try and encourage an exciting sprint finish to the door of the Moot Hall in Keswick! You will be able to follow the challenge live thanks to ResultsBase.net and also pour over all the stats post-race thanks to Suunto and Moves Count.

There will also be media teams capturing sensational video and imagery throughout the challenge.