THE Bob Graham Round is a holy grail of fell running and one of the toughest challenges in England.

It entails running a circular route from the Moot Hall in Keswick around 42 of the highest Lake District mountains non-stop within 24 hours.

The ascent and descent is 27,000 feet (the equivalent of Mount Everest) and the distance around 68 miles.

It's long been an aspiration of Ilkley Harrier Jann Smith, who had twice attempted the feat in the past but without making it all the way around.

But undaunted, she returned last week to revisit some of the harshest terrain in the country, featuring boulder fields, scree, rock scrambling and exposed ridges.

And this time she conquered it to join a very select running club.

Another female Harrier to the fore in an endurance event in the Lakes last weekend was Mary Fairclough.

She ran in Lakeland Trails' Coniston Marathon Challenge and was an impressive 24th of 288 finishers in four hours, 47 minutes and 56 seconds.

The opening up of outdoor activities has meant the return of fell running events close to home, and the Junior Ilkley Harriers were out showing their support over the past couple of weeks.

The West Nab FRA Junior Championships near Meltham saw some solid performances over a spread of ages: U13 Boys - Oliver Holder 9th (14:57), U15 Boys - Oscar Shinn 42nd (26:13), U17 Girls - Emily Gibbins 7th (34:20), U17 Boys - Archie Budding 19th (33:22), Dylan Shinn 22nd (35:13) and U19 Boys - Harry Stead 13th (49:40).

Then the BOFRA race at Kettlewell had an additional set of excellent results: U9 Girls - Harriet Carter 1st (& 2nd overall - 05:52), U12 Girls - Sophie Leijssen 22nd (09:50), Pippa Singleton 29th (11:05), Megan Snow 30th (11:33), U12 Boys - Robert Carter 2nd (07:02), U14 Girls - Lily Singleton 15th (14:58), Sophie Parkin 16th (15:25), Ella Snow 17th (15:44), U14 Boys - Oliver Holder 7th (11:42), Harry Leijssen 21st (16:27), U17 Girls - Beth Rogers 14th (16:48), U17 Boys - Sam Bentham 2nd (13:33).

In the seniors' race at Kettlewell there was also a good display from Ilkley's Iain Gibbons who was 15th (out of 80) in the short, sharp test.

Finally, a special mention for Harrier Brit Tate, who again excelled in the swim-bike-run sphere at Roundhay Park on Sunday.

She was a superb second in her 25-29 age category in the British Standard Distance Triathlon Championships.

Bringing together the best of British Age-Group talent and racing the same course the world's very best tackled later in the day in the World Triathlon Championship Series, she clocked a stunning 20:57 for the 1.5km swim to put herself right in the mix from the outset.

And she finished as fourth female overall, out of 348 of Britain's finest, after stopping the clock in 2:15:07 following the 36.2km cycle and 10km run.