County Durham plumber breaks Lake District 24-Hour fell running record

Andy Berry, from Tudhoe in County Durham, summited 78 peaks in the Lake District in 23 hours and 23 minutes, setting a new record. Credit: Damian Hall/inov-8

A County Durham plumber has broken the Lake District 24-Hour fell record.

The record dates to 1904 and involves a runner seeing how many Lake District peaks they can summit within a 24-hour period.

Andy Berry, from Tudhoe, summited 78 Lake District peaks in 23 hours and 23 minutes, completing it 22 minutes quicker than previous record holder Kim Collison, who also did 78 peaks in 2020.

He had hoped to summit 79 peaks within the 24 hours but decided during the run to miss out the extra planned peak, at Haydock, so he could make it back to the finish in time.

Mr Berry's route started and finished at the top of Newlands Pass Credit: Damian Hall/inov-8

Mr Berry said: “I can’t believe it all came together on the day and I managed to build on the incredible feats of those who have gone before. 

“This record has been a huge dream of mine and everything I’ve done over the past 18 months built up to this attempt.

"I feel proud to now see my name alongside some of the greatest long-distance fell runners in history."

His route – starting and finishing at the top of Newlands Pass – totalled 94 miles, with around 40,000ft of ascent. 

The 78 peaks summited by Andy during his record run included Scafell Pike - which is England’s highest mountain - Skiddaw, Helvellyn and Great Gable.

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