There were some fantastic competitor stories submitted as part of our post-event survey. It was difficult to choose five winners but here are the ones that receive a £60 voucher for Pete Bland’s. If you’d like to read all the stories, they are collected here together in this PDF document.

Three months ago my husband died suddenly at the age of 58 having suffered with Parkinson’s disease for many years. Due to his illness, over recent months the amount of walking I’d been doing was limited. My brother (who with his family has done SLMM many times) suggested I partner him this year. I took a while to be persuaded! I am not a runner but have done a lot of walking in the Lakes over the years so the Fairfield course seemed the most appropriate category. Having the SLMM to prepare for encouraged me to get out walking as much as possible – great for my fitness and also my mental health. The event itself was hard but much of the time genuinely enjoyable. My brother encouraged, cajoled and bribed me (with Percy Pigs!) up and down the fells, the scenery was glorious and the sense of achievement on completing both days within the allocated time and walking 25 miles and 6000 ft of climbing was brilliant – I actually cried a few tears as we crossed the finishing line! And we didn’t come last either!!

As first timers at a mountain marathon, we arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed. Expectations were high, morale higher. One thing which we were particularly pleased about was our kit, neatly packed into tiny bags we scoffed at the Pete bland van as we walked into registration. We could never be the kind of people who left kit or the last minute. Several hours and many miles later we stood at the top of an astonishingly steep, bracken covered final descent towards the campsite. The air turned purple. One member of the team, who will remain nameless, had managed to bring shoes that were too small, too tight, too uncomfortable. A frank discussion followed. There could be no contouring round, no climbing back up towards a path, no zig zag down and absolutely no direct descent. We had arrived at a stalemate. Had we been alone on the hills on Saturday we may still be up there arguing about how to reach that final point. Our salvation came in an unexpected form, a rustle of bracken, a flash of bald heads, a murmur of how do and whoosh. Two men flew past on, bouncing along on their backsides. We knew instantly what had to be done. We too crashed onto our rears and bowled down the hill towards a hard earned rest and a delicious Wainwright. We’ll be back!

I just love this event as a way of pushing myself way beyond my comfort zone. This was my second year of doing the Saunders. Both me and my running partner are in our 60’s and grandmothers! I had a good day on Saturday and felt strong, but on Sunday about half way round I went through a really bad patch and found putting one foot in front of the other so hard. My partner was great, she encouraged me to eat and drink more, slowed the pace and didn’t let me give up. I pulled through! A big part of the Saunders for me is working as a team, helping each other through the hard times and enjoying the good times – reaching the overnight camp, getting the tent up, chatting with old friends and getting to the finish with a smile on our faces! Seeing so many competitors of all ages out there is was a totally inspiring experience, particularly seeing so many young people running around the fells with their parents! I just hope that when my grandson reaches the age that he can join in that I am still active enough to do the Saunders with him!

I have done The Saunders with my adult child every possible year since 2018 (excepting covid lockdowns and me having covid last year). It is a highlight of our year. My child has mild cerebral palsy and mental health problems and spends much of the rest of their time in their bedroom. We come each time hoping we can make it to the overnight camp. On our first attempt we had to camp in the hills, beautiful sunset to enjoy after making sure I’d got the message through to the organisers. This was the first year we could enter the Fairfield course and we were delighted to make the campsite and get some points. I’m not sure this story will inspire others as we are approaching the challenge from a rather different direction from other people but we both push ourselves to walk our modest distance and feel huge satisfaction and a sense of achievement each time. At the end of each day we enjoy meeting up with friends and discussing route choices, weather and kit whilst feeling pleasantly exhausted from fresh air and effort. The Saunders is one of the handful of things my child can feel positive about in their life.

My husband, Nigel, and I ran the Fairfield course together this year. We’ve been married for 25 years and, although we’ve both run lots of mountain marathons in the past, we’d never done one together. But this year, when none of our usual partners were available, we were left with no other option! (The other option would have been not to do it, which was not an option – all of our three children were entered and we didn’t want to miss out.) So we set off, with some trepidation on my part, as Nigel is much stronger and faster than me. In some ways, it was like a 25-year marriage in miniature: setting out with high expectations but some nervousness, going through a few rocky patches on the way (such as when I realised I’d left my compass behind at the previous control and we needed to go back up two index contours to retrieve it), and ultimately settling into a rhythm that seemed to work (bar a few aches and pains). By the end of Day 1, we were astonished to find ourselves the top mixed pair on Fairfield! We had a lovely evening at the overnight camp, hanging out with our children and various friends (the Saunders overnight camp is the place to catch up with people you haven’t seen all year). The next day, we set off in high spirits, having planned what we thought was a deviously cunning route, with high hopes of a trophy in our heads. We pushed hard, but it was tough going (another marriage analogy?). Our kids, who had all finished earlier than us, were there to cheer at the run in. It turned out we’d dropped a few places on Day 2, so our dreams of trophies were dashed, but we were happy with how we’d run (and we ended up the first mixed vets pair). More importantly, though, we’d survived with our bodies – and marriage – more or less intact. We might even go it again together next year…

Here are the suggested routes from the planners for the six linear courses. Compare them with your own choices or use Routegadget to see where other competitors went.