Record-breaking bike rides, mountain challenges and historic climbing firsts
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Ben Ledi, Scotland
I feel like I’ve spent the summer reading about one incredible outdoor achievement after another. From record-breaking bike rides and epic ultra-running challenges to historic climbing firsts, there have been some seriously impressive things happening both here in the UK and further afield.
Women especially have been breaking records and achieving firsts in areas traditionally dominated by men, which I’ve loved seeing.
So, I thought I’d bring together a few of the stories that caught my eye this the summer. There are some pretty incredible achievements in this lot!
Record-breaking rides, climbs, and runs
Fay Manners makes history on the Eiger
The North Face of the Eiger is one of the most famous and dangerous rock faces in the world. This summer, British climber Fay Manners became the first British woman to establish a new route on the iconic face.
Alongside Swiss climber Roger Schäli, she spent 13 days living on the North Face establishing their route. They named the 900m, 33 pitch route, Solar Eclipse, after being on the wall during the eclipse.
Read the Eiger story: Fay Manners opens up a new route on the Eiger
Sarah Ruggins smashes the record for cycling the length of Europe
Cycling from southern Spain to the Arctic Circle is pretty incredible at the best of times. Doing it in less than two weeks blows my mind!
This summer, British-based cyclist Dr Sarah Ruggins covered 6,042km from Tarifa in Spain to Nordkapp in Norway in just 13 days, 20 hours and 27 minutes. She beat the previous record by more than three days. Even better, it was the outright record, not just the women’s record. Oh, and she also set a women’s seven-day distance record during the ride.
But the best part of the story? She didn’t even learn to ride a bike until she was 35.
See the full story: Sarah Ruggins’ record-breaking ride across Europe
James Gibson completes the Double Trilogy of Britain’s great mountain rounds
Running the Charlie Ramsay Round once is tough enough - but James Gibson did it twice.
He completed the Double Charlie Ramsay Round in 47 hours and 50 minutes, setting a new record. For context, a standard round covers around 56 miles and takes in 24 peaks in the Scottish Highlands, with a 24 hour target for completing it. So James effectively ran the whole thing twice, back to back, in under two days.
But that’s only part of his achievement. The Charlie Ramsay was the third of the UK’s legendary mountain rounds that James completed twice. He set fastest times for the Double Bob Graham and the Double Paddy Buckley too, making ultra-running history - and all in the space of six months.
Read the full story: James Gibson’s incredible Double Trilogy mountain round achievement
Amy and Kyle Hudson cycle around the world in record time
Mr ODG and I love going on long bikepacking rides together, but Amy and Kyle Hudson took it a step further and decided to cycle around the entire planet.
They completed the ride in 123 days, 23 hours and 24 minutes, covering about 18,000 miles and travelling through 20 countries. That’s more than 80 days faster than the previous 205-day record, and they’re expected to set new records for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe by a mixed pair and by a married couple.
The couple were self-supported, carrying their own equipment and averaging 146 miles per day. They’ve also raised tens of thousands of pounds for mental health charities.
Read how they did it: The story behind Amy and Kyle Hudson’s record-breaking ride
Historic British firsts
Rachel Pearce becomes the first woman to climb the notorious Indian Face
Indian Face on Clogwyn Du’r Arddu (Cloggy) in Wales was the first ever E9-graded traditional route in Britain. First climbed by Johnny Dawes in 1986, it became notorious as one of the UK’s hardest and most intimidating trad climbs. Neil Gresham repeated it in 1996, describing it as the most scared he’d ever been.
The route had only seen nine successful ascents before Rachel Pearce climbed it this summer. She’s now the tenth person to make a successful ascent - and the first woman.
I can remember standing under Indian Face once and wondering where all the holds were! I can only imagine the skill and nerves of steel it took to climb.
Read about the historic ascent: Rachel Pearce’s first female ascent of Indian Face
Shauna Coxsey completes one of the UK’s hardest deep water solo climbs
Olympic climber Shauna Coxsey has become the first woman (and only the sixth person overall) to climb Olympiad, an 8b deep water solo route in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
Unlike regular climbing, deep water soloing (DWS) means climbing above open water without ropes or other protection. In other words, fall off and the sea is your crash mat.
Olympiad is seen as one of the UK’s hardest and most intimidating DWS routes, first climbed by Neil Gresham in 2012. It follows a line up a 12m wall at an arm-pumping 45 degrees. Even more impressive, Olympiad was Shauna’s first DWS!
Find out more: Shauna Coxsey’s historic ascent of Olympiad
Laura Baillie completes the UK’s Full House of 1,072 peaks
Scottish climber Laura Baillie completed the Full House this summer, finishing on Carn na h-Easgainn with family and friends there to celebrate.
The Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) challenge includes every Munro, Munro Top, Corbett, Graham and Donald in Scotland, plus every Furth in England, Wales and Ireland.
That’s a total of 1,072 peaks, which took Laura 11 years to complete. She’s now one of just 113 known people to have completed the Full House, including 23 women. At 38, she’s also the youngest known woman to achieve it.
Discover more about Laura’s challenge: Laura Baillie completes the Full House
Epic endurance
Lucy Gossage runs the Pennine Way in under three days
The Pennine Way is 262 miles covering some of Britain’s toughest terrain. Lucy Gossage ran the whole thing, self-supported, in just 70 hours, 47 minutes and 15 seconds.
That makes her the first woman to complete the famous National Trail in under three days, smashing the previous women’s record in the process.
Lucy has a serious endurance sport background. She’s a former professional Ironman triathlete and has previously won the Winter Spine Race. She also works as an oncologist and is co-founder of 5k Your Way, a cancer-support initiative combining exercise and community. Phew!
Read about the challenge: Lucy Gossage’s Pennine Way record
Louise Brookwell smashes the Ring O’Fire ultra
Louise Brookwell took on the Ring O’Fire 130, a brutal 209km ultra-marathon around the coast of Anglesey. She finished first overall, completing the rugged coastal route in 30 hours, 20 minutes and 32 seconds.
That made her the first woman in the race’s 14-year history to take the overall win.
I’m no runner, but I enjoy following endurance running events and love seeing women getting the overall win.
Find out more: Louise Brookwell’s Ring O’Fire victory
18-year-old Phoebe Harris runs the length of Britain
Most 18-year-olds have enough to think about without deciding to run over 1,000 miles across the length of Britain.
Phoebe Harris did exactly that, becoming the youngest known woman to run from John O’Groats to Land’s End. She completed the journey in 68 days, raising thousands of pounds for charity. At one point, she even received her A-level results while on the trail.
She ran alongside her dad, saying she wanted to do the “longest challenge” possible with him. She also described running as a form of therapy following her autism diagnosis.
Read about the challenge: Phoebe Harris runs from John O’Groats to Land’s End
British Quirkiness
Derbyshire cyclist takes on 140-year-old penny-farthing record
Richard Thoday, aged 62, rode 236 miles continuously on a penny-farthing, completing around 830 laps of Reading Velodrome in over 17 hours 😮
That’s two miles further than the previous record, which had stood since 1886. He’s now waiting for Guinness to officially confirm the record.
Richard raised more than £3,400 for Ashgate Hospice in memory of his late sister and says he was a “broken man” when he eventually dismounted.
Read about the ride: Richard Thoday’s 236-mile penny-farthing ride
What a summer!
I don’t know about you, but I think these are pretty incredible.
Putting this list together has reminded me just how many people are getting out there and doing things that I genuinely can’t imagine attempting. And I love that they’re all so different - from huge mountain challenges and epic bike rides to climbing routes that make my palms sweat and twitch for my chalk bag just reading about them.
The big records and firsts make the headlines, but there are thousands of people every week taking on their own challenges outdoors. They might not make the news, but they’re still a big deal to the person doing them.
And I think that’s what I love most about outdoor adventure. Sometimes, just getting out there and doing something that challenges you is more than enough.
You may also be interested in reading:
10 awesome outdoor adventure films to keep you inspired
20 of my favourite adventure books by women
The best climbing films to stream in the UK
10 inspirational women in adventure
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Outdoor Girl is run by Jacquie Budd, a UK-based outdoor writer and member of the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild. Alongside Outdoor Girl, she works with small businesses on websites, content, and search.
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