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Finlay Wild

Scottish hill runner and mountaineer Finlay Wild has some questions for the mountain community... www.gomountaingoats.com Buy me a cuppa! https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild

  1. Episode 58 - Munro Round Record with Jamie Aarons

    44 MIN. GELEDEN

    Episode 58 - Munro Round Record with Jamie Aarons

    In June 2023 Jamie Aarons set out on her continuous, self propelled Round of all 282 Munros. 31 days and 10 hrs later she finished on Ben Klibreck with a new record and an incredible story. Moving to Scotland in 2005, Jamie and her partner Andy Taylor completed their first Munro round over one year (2013), before returning in 2020 with their rescue dogs for a second round. Hearing about Donnie Campbell's Munro Round Record in 2020 (Episode 12) set Jamie wondering how she would approach the challenge herself. She knew her superpower was going without sleep, and incorporated this into a plan which evolved over two years. She would just keep going, on minimal sleep, and streamline the route she took between hills by freeing herself from the contraint of returning to the roads to sleep and refuel. For this she needed a complex plan of support and many, many spreadsheets. Her friend Jenny Allen became Operations Manager with partner Andy taking on Field Operations. With 117 volunteers supporting her at different points, the Round pulled in interest from enthusiastic friends and strangers alike: meeting her at unlikely times in remote places with bivi kit and food resupplies; paddling across remote lochs to allow Jamie to cross between mountain ranges most efficiently; and getting bikes into position just in time for Jamie's arrival. I chat with Jamie and Andy in detail about her Munro Round and try to get a sense of the scale of the challenge as well as the tricky logistics which were constantly adapting to keep pace with Jamie. Jamie travelled 2576km with 135,366m of ascent, and so far has raised over £25,000 for World Bicycle Relief. The campaign is ongoing and her target is to fund a bike for every single munro summit. You can donate here: www.justgiving.com/page/jamiesmunrochallenge Jamie's website: jamiesmunrochallenge.run/ If you want to buy me a cuppa to help support the podcast, thank you and please do at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    1u 50m
  2. Episode 57 - Lake District 24-hour Fell Record with Andy Berry

    30 JAN

    Episode 57 - Lake District 24-hour Fell Record with Andy Berry

    I speak to Andy Berry about the Lake District 24-hour Fell Record, which he broke in 2023 with a new time of 23 hours and 23 minutes for 78 peaks. The Fell Record has existed in some form since Victorian times, and has evolved and grown in parallel with the honing of criteria for eligible peaks. This has led to some route quirks, and also the fact that the women's record follows a different route than the men's due to certain peaks being 'baked in' or omitted due to choices and requirements to meet the criteria of the time (the women's record evolving later than the men's and so set with newer criteria in play). Fiona Pascall holds the female record of 68 peaks set in 2022. Peter McDonald has written a book called 'England's Everest: The 200-year story of the Lake District 24-hour Fell Record' which chronicles the evolution of the round from it's very early days when 'pedestrianism' (endurance walking) was very popular. In 1904 Dr Wakefield first formalised criteria that a peak had to be over 2000ft in height. Later criteria were added - the current rules being that you must complete all the peaks of the existing round, and that any additional peaks must involve at least 250ft of re-ascent and be at least 0.25mi from existing peaks. Bob Graham's 24-hour Fell Record of 42 peaks in 1932 clearly became its own entity, but the Fell Record went on, increasing by a significany margin with Joss Naylor in the 1970s to 72 peaks. It wasn't until 1988 that Mark McDermott managed to improve this to 76 peaks, then Mark Hartell with 77 peaks in 1997 and Kim Collison with 78 peaks in 2020. This stood until 2023 and Andy's record time which was 22 mins quicker than Kim's for the 78 peaks. Andy is a running coach who spends his time between Durham and Fort William. He holds the Steve Parr Round record (116 miles, 33hrs 46mins), has the 4th fastest Bob Graham Round time (13h 35m, 2025), won the Lakeland 100 in 2023 and the UTMR Mattertal 50km in 2024. Andy can be found at: www.andyberrycoaching.org/ England's Everest by Peter McDonald can be found at: www.bookscumbria.com/product/uk-books/sport-uk-books/englands-everest/ See this podcast by The Rest Is History for more about Pedestrianism: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-rest-is-history/id1537788786?i=1000721953819 If you want to buy me a cuppa to help support the podcast, thank you and please do at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    1u 13m
  3. Episode 56 - Breaking The Snowline with Anna Wells

    21-12-2025

    Episode 56 - Breaking The Snowline with Anna Wells

    In March 2024 Anna Wells became the fourth person, and first woman, to complete all 282 Munros in a single winter season. She started on Dec 22nd 2023 and took a little under 83 days, equalling the record set by Martin Moran in 1985. Helen Rennard has subsequently lowered the time to 80 days and 9.5hrs in winter 2024-25 (Episode 47). For related episodes see also Ep 12, 15, 35, and future Ep 58. Anna was introduced to indoor climbing at the age of 12, and was a member of the GB Ice Climbing team for 4 years, competing all over the world in dry tooling events. As well as climbing extensively in the UK, she has climbed on Yosemite's El Capitan, the high summits of the Alps, and even on the chalk cliffs of the Isle of White. Anna talks us through her several careers - in which she has worked as a doctor, an alpine babysitter / transfer driver, a mountaineering instructor, and as a risk model analyst. She enjoys the sudden inspiration of a 'spark' of an idea which has led her to adventures such as attempting to climb all the 4000m peaks of the Alps in one summer, as well as the Winter Munro round. We talk about her Munro round and her unique approach which involved choosing 'unbreakable loops' of hills to fit the weather conditions throughout the season - big loops with many Munros in good weather, smaller loops in difficult weather or when fatigued. She preferred to do bigger days and then return to the comfort of a bed, rather than relying on bothies or van dossing. Anna found her voice particularly as a role model for women, and had many positive interactions and generous offers of support throughout her trip. Struck down by a lurgy in the final stages of the round, she lay ill while frustratingly good weather reigned outside. Recovering quickly she returned to the hills and finished her final Munro on Cairn Gorm, equalling Martin Moran's record of 83 days (rounded up in both instances). Anna's book 'Breaking the Snowline' tells her Winter Munro Round story and can be purchased via her website at: shop.rocksandtrails.com/ If you want to buy me a cuppa to help support the podcast, thank you and please do at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    1u 45m
  4. Episode 55 - Langdale Extreme Rock with Esther Foster

    05-12-2025

    Episode 55 - Langdale Extreme Rock with Esther Foster

    I talk to Esther Foster about the Langdale Extreme Rock linkup which she completed with Callum Coldwell Storry in May 2025. This challenge involves climbing all seven Langdale routes from the iconic book Extreme Rock in 24 hours. These routes range from E2 - E6 and visit three varied crags: Raven Crag, Gimmer and Pavey Arc. Extreme Rock, by Ken Wilson and Bernard Newman, was published in 1987 and forms a triptych with Classic Rock and Hard Rock. It showcased cutting edge climbing across Scotland, England and Wales in a coffee table book that was both guidebook and inspiration. The printing plates were lost and so only 4000 copies were ever produced. These have become cherished collectors items and change hands for hundreds of pounds. As it happens, Vertebrate Publishing have just released the long awaited Extreme Rock 2nd Edition by Grant Farquhar - which keeps the format and most of the iconic routes, but with brand new stories and photos. You can get a 10% discount on the book by using code EXTREME10 at www.adventurebooks.com/products/extreme-rock Vertebrate have also released a short film to mark the release, at www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX_6KzcLGq0 Esther is an MCI and Development Coach living in the North Lakes. She is a director of the Women's Climbing Symposium. She has climbed for the past 20 years with trad up to E8, sport climbing 8a+ and bouldering V11. She particularly specialises in climbing coaching. She has written a chapter in the new Extreme Rock, on the Langdale climb 'Eqqus'. Her website is www.estherfoster.co.uk The UKC article detailing Esther and Callum's linkup - and with photography by Esther's husband George Foster - can be found at: www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/esther_foster_and_callum_coldwell_storry_on_the_langdale_extreme_rock_challenge-16396 If you want to buy me a cuppa to help support the podcast, thank you and please do at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild⁠⁠⁠⁠

    55 min
  5. Episode 54 - 40 at 40 with Rob Greenwood

    14-11-2025

    Episode 54 - 40 at 40 with Rob Greenwood

    Rob Greenwood - who interviewed me about my Dark Bob Graham in Episode 33 - returns to chat about his own adventure on the Fleetwood Lakes 40. Often called the 40 at 40, or Lakes 40, this route was devised by John Fleetwood as a 40 peak challenge to celebrate his 40th birthday. Hear more from John Fleetwood in Episode 42 "Beyond the View". Rob Greenwood has an impressive and broad resume in both the climbing and running worlds including headpointing E8, the Brandler-Hasse on the Cime Grande (Dolomites), and of course countless Dark Peak Fell Runners obscure Peak challenges (and a lot of racing besides)! No stranger to long distance runs, he has completed all 4 of our classic national Big Runs (Bob Graham, Paddy Buckley, Charlie Ramsay and Denis Rankin rounds), as well as the Spine Challenger. Rob talks about his introduction to the outdoors and early days as an obsessive climber. Before his more recent days as an obsessive runner! He brims with enthusiasm and we talk about how a positive mindset has helped him in the outdoors as well as in the very different challenge of recovering from a life-threatening ruptured appendix. Rob is one of only a select few people who have completed the 40 at 40, which was devised as a Lake District run that covers interesting and varied terrain with similar stats to the famous Bob Graham Round (BG), but by sharing as little terrain as possible with the Bob. The result is a route mixing big and small peaks, and which let Rob explore some new ground, in mixed weather. At 108km and with around 7700m of ascent, the route only shares 5km with the BG, and Rob recounts his memorable day on the round (completed in 19h35m). If you want to buy me a cuppa to help support the podcast, thank you and please do at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild⁠⁠⁠

    1u 15m
  6. Episode 53 - Three Solo with Damian Hall

    03-11-2025

    Episode 53 - Three Solo with Damian Hall

    Damian Hall is an ultrarunner, coach and writer who has held records on many of the UK's long distance challenges including the Pennine Way, Paddy Buckley Round, Cape Wrath Trail and Wainwrights Coast to Coast. He has placed 5th in UTMB (2018), 4th in Tor des Geants (2023), and has won the Spine Race. He has competed in the infamous Barkley Marathons ultra twice. Damian is also a founder of The Green Runners which is a global community of over 3000 runners who aim to highlight and take action on the climate and ecological crisis. Their 4 Pillars consider How We Move (travel), How We Kit-up, How We Fuel (diet), and How We Speak Out (activism). Damian talks us through the formation of The Green Runners, as well as talking about campaigns and activism, such as action taken against sportswashing. One of Damian's books is 'We Can't Run Away From This' which examines running's carbon footprint and ways to improve on this. In September 2025 and on the back of his Lakeland 100 win, Damian set out in suboptimal weather for his Three Solo Challenge where he attempted to run the UK Big Three rounds (Charlie Ramsay, Bob Graham and Paddy Buckley rounds) linked together by public transport. The Big Three had previously been linked together by car by Mark Hartley (1990) and then by bike by John Kelly (2020) in his Grand Round. Damian's round would add the vagaries of Britain's public transport system into the mix. We talk logistics and sleep deprivation, deteriorating weather, and about how he made the eventual decision to bail due to worsening conditions on the final half of the Paddy Buckley round in Snowdonia. Damian's website: www.ultradamo.com The Green Runners: https://thegreenrunners.com/ Into Ultra: https://intoultra.org.uk/home The round the world cycling book I mention is 'Coffee First, Then The World' by Jenny Graham. Links to articles on topics mentioned by Damian: www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/cvgxe2n05v3o www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv22vl99vwro www.badverts.org/gamechanger thegreenrunners.com/running-through-oil/ If you want to buy me a cuppa to help support the podcast, thank you and please do at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild⁠⁠

    1u 43m
  7. Episode 52 - All the Marilyns with Rob Woodall

    16-10-2025

    Episode 52 - All the Marilyns with Rob Woodall

    I sat down with Rob Woodall to talk all things peak bagging. After completing all the Munros, Corbetts and Grahams, Rob progressed to more obscure categories such as HuMPs (hundred metres of prominence) and TuMPs (thirty and upwards metres of prominence), via some long distance hill running rounds (The UK Big Three, the Rigby Round, and his Cuillin Round to name a few). Rob also devised the Trans Cuillin but never got to complete it - James Gibson doing this in 2023. From an early age Rob was interested in maps, and as one list led to another in 2016 he became the first person to visit all 6190 British Trig points - a huge feat which required negotiation with not a few landowners, and even special arrangements to visit trigs within military facilities. We chatted about his recent trips to Norway and Turkey, where he has been ascending P1000 mountains (mountains with a prominence of 1000m or more). In 2014 he became the first person to complete all 1556 Marilyns, UK peaks of P150m (150 metres prominence). The final crux of this endeavor were the 6 summits on the remote archipegalo of St Kilda, two of which - Stac an Armin and Stac Lee - are stacks rising vertically out of the Atlantic and requiring not only calm sea conditions and an approach between October and March to avoid gannet restrictions, but also careful landing stretegies and roped climbing techniques. Rob has always been a collector - he describes initially 'completing' classic symphonies eg by Brahms, Mahler and Sibelius, then also collecting logs of birds, plants, and long distance hill running rounds, as well as his astromonical number of peaks worldwide in a whole range of categories from TuMPs and HuMPs, right up the Ultras - which have 1500m prominence. I also mention a list of P4000m Peaks - but this is a worldwide list not a South American list as I state. Further information on these categories and more can be found at www.peakbagger.com, where Rob is ranked #1 worldwide for his P-Index (a calculation designed to indicate the number and quality of prominent peaks the person has climbed). Rob has even been involved in some work to relocate 'lost' trigpoints, and to find previously uncategorised hills. Many thanks to Rob for giving us a glimpse into his world of prominence and relative peaks. If you want to buy me a cuppa to help support the podcast, thank you and please do at: ⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild⁠

    1u 7m

Info

Scottish hill runner and mountaineer Finlay Wild has some questions for the mountain community... www.gomountaingoats.com Buy me a cuppa! https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild

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