I'd been encouraged by both White Peak and Penistone runners to get another date in the diary as soon as possible, after my second unsuccessful attempt (running the route clockwise), at the end of May.  On that occasion, Mark Pearce of Penistone Club coped better than me with the rain and controlling his stomach.  He successfully completed his Round, whilst I pulled out at Honister - cold wet and miserable.

I decided that a month was enough time to recover, but not too long as to lose fitness, and set the date of 26th June.  Runners from White Peak kindly offered their support once again, but this time I was to go anti-clockwise.  White Peak have all run the BGR anti-clockwise, and it least it offered me a view of the fells from a different perspective!  Marianne, my sister-in-law offered car support - not only is she an experienced off-road ultra-runner, she's also the most organised, no-fuss person I know and very experienced at supporting runners/bikers, so she was my No1 choice.

The weather forecast was good - hot and dry, so perfect for me.  I started from Moot Hall in Keswick at 8am (which again, suited me better than an evening start, as I'd had a good night's sleep) and we ran through the woods out of Portinscale which was cooler and more pleasant than the road.  Gary, Andy and Chris got me into Honister bang on schedule.

We had great views on the leg to Wasdale, with the Sleath brothers (Dave and Martin) leading the way with Shane and three dogs in tow.  We even picked up another runner from Tring who was out recce-ing that section, and we made good time into Wasdale, arriving 45 minutes ahead of schedule.

After 10 minutes rest and some food, I slowly made my way up Scafell with Mark Pearce and Andrew, my husband.  Rob and Gary had already gone ahead to secure the rope on Broad Stand - what a difference that makes time-wise compared with Lord's Rake or Fox's Tarn!  Gary went back to Wasdale with the rope, as the three of us continued to Dunmail.  We were met by Andy Plummer on Stakes Pass with a cup of tea - most welcome as it was still very hot and all liquid was welcome!  I managed to cool off a bit in a bog which I fell into (much to Rob's amusement!) and we were still up on schedule as we descended into Dunmail.

After some hot food and some Coco-cola, Martin, Neil and I (as well as Poppy the dog)trudged up Seat Sandal still an hour ahead of schedule.  We got off Dollywaggon Pike before it got dark, then met Dave and Shane on Sticks Pass, ready with another cuppa.  They then continued with us into Threlkeld.

The midges were out in force asI had a bit more hot food and tea.  Still an hour up, we made our way up Hall's Fell okay but then my stomach started to feel a bit off.  I lost time descending off Blencathra and Dave and Andrew started cajoling me along (ie. shouting at me to get a move on!).  Even though it was now light, I found the ascent through the heather up to Great Calva really hard work and lost more time.  I tried to eat a bit at the top (I hadn't eaten since Threlkeld) and then was promptly sick a few times.  Aware that time was beginning to slip away, I was not going to fail this close to completing the Round.  With a face full of thunder, I charged up Skiddaw to touch the final cairn, only to be told by my support (Neil, Andrew, Rob, Dave, Gary and Shane) that I could still get in under 23 hours.  After a minor strop on the grounds of  "Isn't it enough to just complete it in under 24 hours?", I knuckled down and flew into Keswick to acheive my long-held ambition of completing the BGR.

I was totally shattered, I'd run my socks off and it was the hardest thing I've ever done to date.  I could never have achieved it without the help and advice of White Peak, most of whom have done the BGR and other amazing things.  Penistone and Dark Peak runners have also been very supportive, as have friends and family (especially Andrew, Nicky and Marianne).

I've learnt such a lot and had such fun on the fells training for this BG, and now feel I can call myself  "a proper fell runner"!

Full report here!

(Andrew's photo shows me leading Mark Pearce and Rob Sanby on the Wasdale-Dunmail section)