A Perfect Day

Ian Charters' Joss Naylor Lakeland Challenge, 20th April


Joss Naylor at Sty Head: inseparable from the landscape

There's something thoroughly unique about long distance mountain running. I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but I think everyone who's a part of it, in some way, feels a profound sense of this without being able to express it.

At the last minute, I took up an offer to help support Ian on his Joss Naylor attempt (77 km, 5100 m of ascent, 30 lakeland summits in around 14 hours). Duncan, Karl and myself were the leg 3 pacers from Dunmail Raise to Sty Head, and the weather was just perfect.



All up, this was, as Ian put it, fell running at its best. From Dunmail Raise we slowly crept up the steep side of Steel Fell and on for another four or so hours till we ran into the huddle of new supporters at Sty Head. I scoured the group just in case Joss had come up from Wasdale as he often does on these attempts. I didn't spot him immediately: he was standing silently at the back, a remote yet intense figure.

Joss Naylor (for those not in the know) is a towering legend in the world of fell running. Dominating the record books for decades, no one could get near him in terms of speed, stamina or mental tenacity. Joss has, over the years, become almost a myth, with a childhood dominated by constant pain from a back condition that left him immobile, to running through injuries that would have literally felled mere mortals.

Joss has come to personify the spirit of fell running not just for these extraordinary facts spilling over into myths. There is an intensity and an alertness that is striking. Talking to him at Sty Head, first about the weather (well, what else..?), it was clear he was not so much observing the landscape as an integral part of it. He had grown into this place as much as the rocks and grass.

But there is also a poignant sense of nostalgia. Modern fell runners, in contrast to many other sports, are just able to grasp the fingertips of the glory days of Lakeland fell running's past. It is a hugely important tradition that we still (just) retain. And Joss is at the heart of this.

Ian made it round in 14 hours and 14 minutes, and you can read a full account of the day on Ian's blog.

I'm no closer to the elusive understanding of why we run up mountains, or what it is that makes it so magical, so rewarding. Even so, I think everyone in Ian's support team that day felt something of it, and this shone out at every turn. And for those of us who got to talk to the great man himself? Well, it was even more special.

Running around the base of Napes Needle to catch the others up, I watched Joss running down the fell into Wasdale. Now in his 70's, he still runs down a mountainside like water in a stream.