The Frog Graham Round - The UK’s Ultimate SwimRun Challenge

Many people have heard of – and even attempted – the 66 mile, 27,000 ft, 42 peak Bob Graham Round in the English Lake District. It is one of those extreme 24 hour fell running challenges that only mad and very fit people could seriously entertain. I had heard of it and I have long known I would never be one of these people. Good luck to them all.

Imagine, then, my response when my cousin Alexis, 12 years my junior at 45 years old, put it to me in March that I should accompany her on the Frog Graham Round this summer. At 57, I’m not unfit, and I have some recent experience of completing ultra “running” events. I have even completed a weekend Mountain Marathon orienteering event. But the name alone told me to expect that this was in a different league. Not least, on top of over 40 continuous miles of dragging yourself up and down 15,750 feet of Lakeland Fells, it contained the added challenge of swimming across four of the Lake District’s major lakes: Bassenthwaite, Crummock Water, Buttermere and finally Derwentwater (including getting out to walk over 3 islands!). I can swim; but I have never been drawn to swimming in cold open water. Let alone in the dark! It wasn’t an obvious choice.

The official Frog Graham Website pulls no punches. It says:

“This is not your ordinary day out in the hills and lakes and we want to be absolutely clear: This is a formidable, very tough challenge and will appeal to endurance athletes looking for something a little out of the ordinary and those who wish to push themselves one step further. It is categorically NOT for novices and anyone considering an attempt should be an experienced off-road runner and very competent open-water swimmer. Seriously.”

Food for thought. The official Frog Graham Roll of Honour, which has existed for 19 years, still contained well under 200 people in spring 2024. With the best will in the world - and notwithstanding Lex’s enthusiasm for the challenge - I doubted whether either of us would be joining the list. I knew the swimming would be no obstacle to her. She has completed iron man events and regularly swims in lakes and tarns at all times of the year. But I had never once felt a need to join her in these pursuits. I admit that we do share a love of cycling, and a tendency towards endurance rather than speed, and she did convince me to run my first marathon some years ago; but you have to draw the line somewhere.

On reflection, the first mistake I made was not to reject her suggestion out of hand. I don’t really know why; but perhaps somewhere deep down I thought that I just MIGHT be capable of doing it. There would be some red lines, for sure. My terms included that - as far as possible - this would have to be enjoyable. I don’t do pain; but I’m quite partial to good weather and beautiful views. Under the right circumstances, and with a full support crew, perhaps this madcap idea could fly. Primarily, though, I knew how badly Lex wanted to do this, and my role – if I chose to accept it – was to make it possible for her to fulfil an ambition. I think it was really this that persuaded me to keep an open mind.

And so began 3 months of preparation – just in case everything else fell into place and it actually happened. I enjoy doing very long walk/runs from my front door around the beautiful Peak District for their own sake. I typically walk uphill and run down. So it was no hardship to build these trips up over several weeks to 30 plus miles. I had some truly glorious spring days in the hills. But despite the miles, I wasn’t getting in anything like the level of ascent (or descent) required for the Frog. I began to plan the hilliest days out I could possibly find in Derbyshire; but still I couldn’t match the long, steep climbing needed. My legs still felt it though. I could tell this was a different game.

With a month to go I realized I should also be swimming. In truth I had been putting it off. I don’t really feel at home in water and I never have. I have challenged myself to swim and snorkel in various situations around the world; but it remains an area of weakness. Still, I am lucky to have an outdoor heated pool walking distance from my house, so I put in a few hours of swimming endless lengths. I borrowed a wetsuit and tried it out in a spring fed open air pool in Matlock Bath. It was fine. I only do breast stroke; but I get there. I began to believe the distances involved would be within my range. I expected Alexis would swim faster than me; but I would be quicker on dry land and we might cancel each other out. I was running out of excuses.

My best chance of avoiding an attempt was our mutual unavailability. We really only had one weekend open to us – in the middle of June – and the weather forecast was terrible. Until, with just days to go, it changed. Now there was no getting out of it. The day before, I had my first taste of swimming in a big English lake, Ullswater, in a wetsuit. I quite enjoyed it. What had I been worried about? I relaxed; but Lex’s mum, my auntie, kindly did enough worrying on my behalf for both of us.

The Frog Graham Round Club (FGRC) are deliberately pedantic about what represents a successful attempt. You have to register with them and prove that you have met all of the many criteria on your way around. These are clearly set out, so there is no real excuse. Only 50% of attempts are successful (still better than the 1 in 3 success rate of the Bob Graham). You are free to choose whichever route you prefer as long as you visit all of the prescribed summits and other features in the correct order. This requires a full valid GPS trace to be submitted afterwards. And you should expect it to be thoroughly checked!

The FGRC are also at pains to underline the spirit of their challenge, pointing out that it is not a race, and there are no records, prizes or awards for the fastest times. Times will in any case vary due to weather conditions, time of year, level of support, age, etc. There is no time limit placed on an attempt as long as it is done in a single outing. I know that if we had been chasing a deadline – which we may have struggled to meet – it would have taken much of the enjoyment out of the experience for me (so if you want that particular thrill, perhaps the Bob Graham is more for you). But you do need to be able to navigate across the mountain terrain. The Frog Graham Round is as much a navigational challenge as it is a test of your physical endurance. You must not miss any fell tops or ground control points, or the committee will not ratify your attempt, leading to inevitable disappointment.

And so, after not much sleep at all, at 1am outside Keswick Moot Hall, it began! We set off with our head torches up the slopes of Skiddaw in darkness and found ourselves a couple of hours later in truly foul weather conditions. You couldn’t see much at all and it was cold and wet and windy. It was at this point – and indeed for most of the rest of the day - that I truly understood the value of Lex having reccied the whole route over several shorter walks in the previous few weeks. Without that, I suspect we might have failed at the first hurdle, and possibly at several more.

On the run down, the rain cleared and the midsummer dawn slowly took hold. We ran to the misty shores of Bassenthwaite Lake to be met by our first kayak support, who had camped out overnight to be here at 4am! I must say, Lex had really pulled out all the stops in organizing our support team. It certainly made my first big, cold water swim seem a lot friendlier. It also helped us to maintain a straight line towards the correct point on the distant shore across the lake. It was certainly a long swim, much longer than I was used to. Distance was very hard to judge. Then just as it seemed like we would never get there, we did!

We had made a decision to swim in wetsuits but not run in them. I’m very glad we did that. It slowed us down, for sure. But comfort matters and chafing is very much the enemy of the endurance runner! We had been blessed with amazing weather – and we had the maximum allotment of summer daylight at our disposal – and we aimed to enjoy every minute of it! Besides, getting changed was also an opportunity to eat and drink and chat to our amazing, ever changing and surprisingly numerous support crew!

The Frog Graham Round breaks down into four legs. Emerging from Bassenthwaite Lake we now had leg one behind us; but that was only 9.7 miles, 3,191 feet of ascent, one peak (albeit the highest) and one big lake swim. Leg two of our anti-clockwise round was longer, indeed the longest on paper: 12.8 miles, 5,175 feet of ascent, 12 tops and a shorter swim across Crummock Water. We had a friend for company for this part of the day and as time went by the mist cleared and the sun took over. Blue sky was spotted before 11am and never left after that until sunset. Our general direction of travel was NE to SW and the mountain views – once they arrived - were exceptional! Some of the climbs were steep and there were places you couldn’t possibly run, whoever you were. These climbs might last for well over an hour in some places before you got to go down again – only to go up once more!

By noon, we were back down enjoying lunch by Crummock Water and changing once again into wetsuits for the swim across. We had already been up for 12 hours and en route for 11, and we were barely halfway through!

On paper, leg three appears much shorter and indeed it consists of just 6.2 miles and 5 summits, including Red Pike and High Stile. The climb is 3,477 feet and the swim back over Buttermere was probably only 20 minutes. But it is a beast of a leg! Again we had company waiting for us and I was glad of the offer to carry my wetsuit. The first part after we emerged from the water was an almost vertical scramble up through dense heather for what felt like ages. For the first time I began to doubt myself. It was warm and I began to feel tired. I was worried about dropping back and losing touch. But we reached the high ground and a little food got me going again. After that, my memory is of an almost equally slow, difficult rocky descent off High Stile to get us back down to Buttermere. I’m no mountain goat and have a healthy fear of slipping and falling, so by the time we left the far shores of Buttermere for the long, tough climb back up onto Robinson at the start of leg four, it was after 6pm.

Leg four is long; but less steep overall. You climb and descend 3,900 feet in 11.5 miles, with the longest swim, across Derwentwater (including landfall on three of its islands), coming just a couple of miles from the end. As we crossed the miles of empty fell, we experienced the longest and most glorious of sunsets and didn’t need to reach for our headtorches until the rather nobbly and technical descent off Catbells – the final sting in the tail - down to the shore. Ahead of us lay a swim in darkness, made possible only by the welcome presence of two support kayaks – one each for company – that illuminated the way for us to the opposite shore. As it came into view after the final island, the flashing lights of our massed support were waiting to guide us back to dry land, and the final easy walk into Keswick. Weirdly, it didn’t hurt. I wasn’t even all that tired. I had been awake for so long that time had lost all meaning. And I believe what someone told me: that the swims have a soothing effect on your muscles and make you feel refreshed. Overall, the many hours of essential preparation paid off, my auntie’s fears were banished, and we took celebratory photos on the steps of the Moot Hall.

We had done it! Cousin Lex had realized her dream and I had played my part in bringing it about. I had stepped well out of my own comfort zone (into several cold, deep lakes) to do so. I was pretty chuffed. Lex was also pretty chafed for the final section, it turned out, and I can strongly advise the wearing of short-style undergarments if you take on anything similar. But that apart, we had the most amazing experience, made possible by the most fabulous and generous of support teams: all basically like-minded friends and family that Lex was able to summon up in short order. I was very impressed. I think they must think rather highly of her.

Some people complete the Frog Graham Round in hours less than we did; but I bet they don’t have as much fun, or have as many wonderful photographs at the end. Honestly, I don’t care how long we took – and if I did I would probably be doing a different challenge. But this one was epic and it ticked every box for me.

The ratification of our attempt was confirmed by the FGRC and we joined the roll of honour. My number is 197 and I now belong to an elite group of people who alone have achieved something special. I’m a little bit proud of that, particularly since there is really nothing elite about me – or Lex – at all. Except perhaps our ability to keep going – and keep smiling - and our willingness to try something new and slightly daunting.

However, the real icing on the cake came a few weeks later. As well as the Frog Round, the FGRC have devised the Tadpole Round. It covers a distance of just under 7 miles and is a great introduction to SwimRun, taking in part of the much tougher Frog. It has a total ascent of 795ft, a maximum elevation of 937ft and includes the swims across both Crummock Water and Buttermere. Inspired by our efforts, Lex’s 6 year old daughter Evie and her friend Oliver, who had supported us all day, decided to take on the Tadpole together and became the youngest ever finishers! And that made it all worthwhile.