Meet the South Shields dad who ran 66 miles in just over 22 hours through the Lake District

Luke Adams, from South Shields, took on the Bob Graham challenge on Friday, June 23, and finished on Saturday, June 24, after 22 hours and 22 minutes of running.

The Bob Graham Round is a 66 mile circuit of the 42 highest peaks in the Lake District, with runners having to complete the challenge in less than 24 hours to join the Bob Graham Club.

Luke, aged 35, supported a friend to do the challenge 12 years ago and ever since then, he has wanted to give it ago himself.

The dad-of-one said: “I’ve been wanting to do it for ages so at the start of this year, I decided that this would be the year that I would finally do it.

“It has been on my radar for a while but a lot of planning has to go into it, you need to get a team together who help you navigate the route and carry equipment.

“I’ve trained for the last six months to prepare for it, with most of the training taking part in South Shields and then I travelled twice a month to the Lake District to learn the route.

“As well as physical training, a lot of mental training went into the preparation for it as well as it felt like this was my olympic final.”

Luke, who is a running coach, told the Gazette how he felt once he had completed the challenge that had been on his mind for more than 10 years and he also looked ahead to the future.

He added: “It felt amazing when I finished it, I was just so proud that I was able to achieve it given that you have to deal with cramps and injuries along the way.

“I can’t thank the support team enough, they are the ones that push you on when you are feeling at your lowest on the challenge.

“I want to give special thanks to my training partner David Shields and Michael Bunn, who provided road support on the day of the challenge.

Read South Tyneside’s news on the go with our free email newsletters - bringing the headlines to your inbox. Catch up on the day’s news and sport and enjoy even more from your Gazette. Visit our website here to find out more and sign up.

“In terms of what’s next, I’m just going to rest for now but I’m sure there will be something else for me to have a go at as I have always enjoyed running.

“Having my own running business means that I get to coach others anyway so I would love to be able to support anyone else who wants to have a go at their own Bob Graham round.”

The Bob Graham round was created back in 1932 when it was first completed by Bob Graham.

Since then, it has become a testing ground for the supremely fit, with around 100 people each summer attempting the gruelling challenge.