A new women’s Bob Graham Round record of 15hrs 23min, and the fifth fastest ever. A stunning achievement from Jasmin! Apart from knocking 3 hours off the women’s record, it is not that far off Billy Bland’s untouchable overall record which has lasted for ever. Well done and congratulations, Jasmin.
Olly Stephenson puts it into perspective…
For those that are not very familiar with the BGR I thought it might be helpful to set Jasmin’s new women’s record in some sort of context to illustrate what a truly phenomenal achievement it really is – hopefully the stats speak for themselves –
The Bob Graham Round (BGR) is the benchmark long-distance challenge in Great Britain, covering 66 miles/27,00’ ascent over 42 peaks in the Lake District, to be completed within one continuous 24 hour period.
It was first done by Bob Graham himself in 1932, and since then nearly 2,000 people have completed it sub 24 hours; to set this in context over 4,000 people have now summited Mount Everest, first climbed in 1953.
So… back to Jasmin…
Line up these 2,000 finishers and she is the fifth fastest of them all. FIFTH FASTEST. Only 90 minutes ahead is the record holder Billy Bland, who set his 13:53 time in 1982, and which no-one has come close to threatening ever since. Whilst at it she also smashed the existing and very respectable women’s record of 18:06 set by Nicky Spinks last year by over 2.5 hours.
And Jasmin did all of this on a pair of legs that completed a winter BGR in a very respectable 22:28 only a month ago – it takes most BGR completers at least 3+ months to recover after their Rounds, but evidently not Jasmin – it’s also worth noting that a winter BGR is a much, much bigger beast than a summer outing as evidenced by the fact that there are only 36 winter BGR completions to date, so all-in-all Jasmin has pulled off a very low-key but totally world-class performance here, and she was no-doubt smiling, laughing and enjoying herself all the way around. Maximum respect Jasmin, you are a legend.