BGR record is it beatable?

[MorganW]

Mark Hartell's speed attempt in 1999 resulted in him posting a time of 14.54.

That put him second in the speed pecking order behind Billy (13.53) and in third, Stuart Bland (14.56).

I discovered the other day that only 16 men have run the BG faster than Anne Johnson, who recorded 18.49 on her record run in 1991.

So the ladies record has gone untouched even longer than the men's.

Are these records unbeatable?

I would say no. The individual with the desire and motivation has yet to be inspired to take on the challenge. There do not appear to be any current candidates.

(It took 12 years before anyone was inspired enough to tackle Mark's 24 Hour Fell Record but that happened this year; and hopefully 2010 will see Steve Birkenshaw having another go.)

Billy's record will be hard to beat for sure. I suspect we may never see another fell runner as well equipped as he was in 1982 for traversing the Lake District fells at speed.

[steadyeddy]

Yer would definatly be great to see an attempt, would love to jebby have a go and see what he could achieve, Billy reckons he was never as strong as jebby on the climbs but i suppose billy more than makes up for on the desc n rough stuff. Seeing Simon Booth have a go would have been interesting a few years ago when at his peak, seen as he got so close to the b-dale record. How about Ben Barnsley a VERY strong runner to.... I suppose its alot to ask though going for a record like that would take total commitment and pritty much need a season purely dedicated to it (even though Billy didnt need to!)

[IainR]

Yer would definatly be great to see an attempt, would love to jebby have a go and see what he could achieve, Billy reckons he was never as strong as jebby on the climbs but i suppose billy more than makes up for on the desc n rough stuff. Seeing Simon Booth have a go would have been interesting a few years ago when at his peak, seen as he got so close to the b-dale record. How about Ben Barnsley a VERY strong runner to.... I suppose its alot to ask though going for a record like that would take total commitment and pritty much need a season purely dedicated to it (even though Billy didnt need to!)

That's why I think Killian is most likely, he's got the training, ultra distance runs are his background, for the likes of Jebby they'll (presumably) after dedicate some time to it.

[IainR]

Suprised at that, you'd think more than 16 people would get within 5 hrs of the record, what's that within 35-40% of the record time?

[Mark Smith]

It would be fascinating to see whether anyone can ever beat it. Of course, it woukd have to be one hell of a run and everything would have to go perfectly!

I wonder whether the existence of more trods on previously unworn ground could be a contributing factor? Recent examples i've seen are up Clough Head, Bowfell, Calva, Hare Crag and even the way towards Ill Crag off the main Scafell Pike track is much clearer than it used to be. There are many others. Perhaps it makes no difference to Billy's time if his lines are all away from the paths/trods.

[Amex]

I was told he trained till he fainted, knew every single step when to leap when to take a short step, just knew every inch of ground, can we honestly see anybody showing the same dedication?
to be honest i hope it stays at least 50 years--- GOD bless Mr Bland for god sake knight him.

[ukhursty]

I was told he trained till he fainted, knew every single step when to leap when to take a short step, just knew every inch of ground, can we honestly see anybody showing the same dedication?
to be honest i hope it stays at least 50 years--- GOD bless Mr Bland for god sake knight him.

Reading that, it would probably be very unlikely anyone will beat the record.

But if Killian did attempt it, I would put money on him breaking it, now that guy really is something else.

He's doing 166km in 21 hours with best part of 10,000 metres lol. Madness

[Nathaniel Lee]

Agreed ukhursty. I know there are some fine Fell runners but Killian has that extra ability that only 1 in a million has that take them from being very,very good to great.

[ukhursty]

Maybe its not extreme enough for him hehe.

[Nathaniel Lee]

Yeah maybe he should carry a 9 stone rucksack on his back to make it more difficult. Ihave had a quick look he would only have to keep going at an average of just over 5.3 miles an hour to complete an 11.59 round. Could he do it ?. Do others have ststs on his speed ?.