The year of the Bob

The year of the Bob

By Ian Palmer

Embracing the year of the Bob, honoring a beloved tradition with passion and dedication.

Back in 2018 I had an epileptic fit in a period of24 Hours of Awfulthat stripped me of mydriving licence for a year, which in turn halted my passion of racing mountain bikes far and wide around the country. What it did was open up the passion for running and the target of completing the 42 peak, 65 mileBob Graham Round with just 9 months training. How did Ido? Did I do it? Find out in my Year of the Bob film.

Trail Running Clothing
Gravitas [Mens] tf

Gravitas [Mens]

Ultralight and breathable waterproof 3-layer protection when moving fast and light
£199.99
Gravitas [Womens] alpkit women's gravitas trail running jacket|hm

Gravitas [Womens]

Ultralight and breathable waterproof 3-layer protection when moving fast and light
£199.99
alpkit aiguille skort running hiking skort in black alpkit women's aiguille running and hiking skort

Aiguille [Womens]

Lightweight, running and hiking skort with pockets
£39.99
alpkit Mello short in cosmos alpkit mello shorts - action

Mello Short [Womens]

Wicking shorts for hot weather hiking and climbing
£39.99
rg hm

Mello Tight [Womens]

Technical all-day leggings made for hiking, hillwalking, scrambling and climbing
£49.99
alpkit mens koulin trail shorts for trail running fell running in black|sm TCAKKTSHOM-mens-koulin-trail-shorts-location-1.jpg - action - closed

Koulin Trail Short [Mens]

Lightweight, quick-drying trail running shorts with Polygiene® odour control
£37.49
alpkit womens koulin trail shorts for trail running fell running in black TCAKKTSHOW-womens-koulin-trail-shorts-location-1.jpg - action

Koulin Trail Short [Womens]

Lightweight, quick-drying trail running shorts with Polygiene® odour control
£37.49
alpkit mens vamper twin running shorts in black alpkit mens vamper twin running shorts in black outfit

Vayper Short Twin [Mens]

Twin layer running shorts for better weather protection and reduced chafing on long runs
£52.49
alpkit womens vayper twin running shorts in black alpkit womens vayper twin running shorts in black outfit

Vayper Short Twin [Womens]

Twin layer running shorts for better weather protection and reduced chafing on long runs
£52.49
alpkit vayper 6 ultralight 5in running shorts in black Vayper Short 6 [Mens]

Vayper Short 6 [Mens]

Minimalist, ultralight 6-inch running shorts
£47.49
alpkit vayper 5 ultralight 5in running shorts in black Vayper Short 5 [Womens]

Vayper Short 5 [Womens]

Minimalist, ultralight 5-inch running shorts
£47.49
alpkit mens koulin trail 3/4 tights trail running fell running tights TCAKKOUTT3P koulin-tights-mens 2400 1606auto - action

Koulin Trail 3/4 Tights [Mens]

3/4 length trail running leggings with stash pockets.
£39.99

Your next reads

Ultra Tour of the Lake District - Running The Lakeland 100

Following my previous article, it has been a month of lounging around and not much running, except for an amazing day/night/day/bit-of-a-night out ...
September 08, 2011
Endurancelife Coastal Series Wins

Endurancelife Coastal Series Wins

It has been a while since Alpkit Adventure have been doing any blogging. This weekend saw the trio return to adventure racing action at the Enduran...
March 16, 2009

The Transvulcania

There’s nothing like the post-race blues to make you find something bigger and harder. Just after Glen Coe Skyline a friend showed me Transvulcania...
May 28, 2018

Grindleford Gallop 2017

My fell shoes were barely dry from High Peak Marathon when Dan in Marketing asked if anyone wanted to enter a race at the weekend. It didn’t sound ...
March 14, 2017

A Treasured Outdoor Moment - The magic of a sunrise

A Treasured Outdoor Moment - Scott Palmer My treasured moment outside this Christmas has been getting up before the kids to go for a run in the nea...
January 06, 2022
Romping round the New Forest...

Romping round the New Forest...

Well it’s a good start to the New Year with a 1st in the Dynamic Adventure Racing New Forest Challenge race. Two years before I competed in the 8 h...
February 09, 2010

24 Hours of Awful

Episode 1: Ian Palmer is ramping up the training in this first update of how he plans to get in the miles to be ready for a Bob Graham Round in May...
November 21, 2018

Lakes Traverse 100km

Stu Taylor gives us an insight into his Lakes Traverse 100km, just 6 weeks after completing the Atlas Mountain race. “How long do you need to train...
June 12, 2023

Double Bob Graham

Bob Graham round; a circuit of 66 miles, 42 peaks and 28,000 feet ascent in the Lake District. Doing this twice, back to back in under 48 hours may...
June 21, 2016

A festive run.

Christmas day andAlpkit customer Sam Clifford put opening the stockings on hold, or got it out the way nice and early! Living in the middle of Dart...
January 22, 2015

A Treasured Outdoor Moment - A Brocken Spectre

A Treasured Outdoor Moment - Carolyn Barker Arnside Knott in Cumbria is my favourite place to go trail running, with its wide variety of terrain ra...
January 06, 2022

Surviving The Fellsman fell running race

Race week, only seven days to go and I was nursing a sprained left ankle after rolling it on a reccy run the week prior, this led to shin splints i...
June 24, 2024

The Spine Race and Other Mishaps

What you are about to read is an exclusive extract from the book "In it for the Long Run" by Damian Hall. To see more books we love and books that ...
April 19, 2021

Incredible stories from Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon

It was brilliant being at Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon(SLMM) again this year. What a weekend! Here are some of our favourite stories from th...
July 13, 2021

David's Pennine Way Run

I wanted to raise some money for Ashgate Hospicecare, who cared for my mum when she was terminally ill in 2020. Ashgate Hospicecare looked after mu...
September 27, 2021

Beauties and the Bog

We’re Lisa and Libby, two friends and fell running buddies from Sheffield. Since 2012, we enjoyed enjoying running and competing in local running e...
June 28, 2017
Johnnys Bob Graham Round

Johnnys Bob Graham Round

Although it’s maybe not the most daring, or the most recent of Daring Deeds, one thing that pushed me to my absolute limit (and a bit more) was my ...
August 23, 2010
Time to test the fitness

Time to test the fitness

My first olympic distance triathlon of the year took place on the 1st of June at Rothervalley. The race consisted of a 1500m lake swim, 40km undula...
June 23, 2008

Running the Wainwrights

When I was a kid, the Wainwrights were something that my parents and their middle-aged friends talked about whilst huddled around a map. Growing up...
April 24, 2019

High Peak Marathon 2017

I started running properly when I moved to Sheffield 4 years ago. I fell in with the wrong crowd at Uni, the type of people who thought running at ...
March 13, 2017

NITro North 10k Night Trail Run

Thisonecounts ran its 5th edition of NITro North 10k night trail run around the Clwyd Forest, North Wales on Saturday evening 5thMarch. This year t...
March 10, 2016
Winning at Blenheim Palace

Winning at Blenheim Palace

Great to be doing my first blog post for Alpkit. I recently won the Mazda Blenheim Triathlon - the second biggest triathlon in the UK, after the Lo...
June 20, 2008

Home Run

Katie is a good friend of Alpkit and here she tells us about why running in the Lake District is so good. A good fell runner once told me that most...
February 25, 2023

Tutus and Beer Kegs

Have you ever wondered what the residents of one of England’s busiest National Parks get up to as each summer draws to a close? Some of them choose...
June 03, 2017

OMM 2017

As we reached the end of the ridge, the wind hit us squarely in the face. We were hoping the track would drop away to the south. It didn't. This wa...
November 13, 2017

Ultra runner Nicky Spinks' insights on The Spine Race 2024

As an introduction – I have wanted to do the Spine for many years; however, I’ve been involved in the Trigger organisation and running that race as...
February 14, 2024

A Farewell to Shorts

It's that time of year again when, with a wistful sigh, I move the hot weather running kit into the back of the wardrobe and start dusting off the ...
October 23, 2024

Nicky Spinks - A Mountain Journal Short

Nicky Spinks. Female record holder for the four hardest fell running challenges in the UK. Bob Graham, Paddy Buckley, Ramsey round, Lake District 2...
October 22, 2015

16 National Marathons

The 16 National Marathons is a project where I will run 16 marathons in 16 days in all 16 UK National Parks in an attempt to find an answer to the ...
October 22, 2018

Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon 2019

ALPKIT SUPPORTING 2019 SAUNDERS LAKELAND MOUNTAIN MARATHON After the success of the 2018 event we will be returning to support the 2019 Saunders La...
November 30, 2018
The OMM

The OMM

I guess you heard about the OMM. We started early, before the rain. so perhaps went for fast and light, rather than taking a bit more kit. It was v...
October 27, 2008

Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon

ALPKIT SUPPORTING 40TH SAUNDERS LAKELAND MOUNTAIN MARATHON We are delighted to announce that Alpkit will be supporting the 2018 Saunders Lakeland M...
December 01, 2017

OMM 2010 KIT

This coming weekend is the 2010 edition of the Original Mountain Marathon. It’s a classic event and I’ve always fancied a bash at it- this will be ...
November 01, 2010

Jelly legs and jaffa cakes - Trail Quest Spring Series 2017

I am, what I would describe as, an unnatural runner. But, one with anaspiration to be a competent long(ish) distance trail runner. I don’t crave wi...
April 02, 2017

Fuelled by the Honey Sandwich

I have suddenly realized that the winter is now over. We’ve had a few nice weekends and the clocks have changed. This means it’s just a matter of w...
May 02, 2019

Running Up and Falling Down

The Alpkit Team headed up to Grasmere for the 40th Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon last weekend to run and navigate under sunny Lake District s...
July 05, 2018

Northern Traverse turns Lakes Traverse

The week building up to the race was good, with the weather forecast looking sunny during the day and cold in the evenings with pretty much zero ch...
May 15, 2025

Leave a comment

Please note, comments must be approved before they are published

=