Last updated at 06:20, Friday, 26 June 2009

KING of the fells Joss Naylor, 73, exceeded all expectations on Sunday when he ran 35 miles and climbed 16,000ft over the Buttermere peaks.

TAKE A BREAK: Joss Naylor, at his pitstop on top of Newlands Pass, has his leg massaged by his daughter Sue Naylor

Skiddaw and Blencathra were included in the Wasdale fellrunner’s exhausting day, with Great Gable and Pillar adding a sting in the tail.

“It was a hell of a route,” he said, sipping champagne at the end of his charity run for Eden Valley Children’s Hospice.

“Grisedale Pike took it out of me. Perhaps we brayed on too much above Braithwaite and went rather too fast. But the day was good, and kept us cool.”

Above Honister Pass he suffered from cramp on Robinson and had to take table salt with his drinks.

Helping to relieve his pain was Joss’s daughter Sue Naylor, of Seaton, who massaged his aching limbs and back muscles during rest stops.

A qualified masseur who helps people with learning disabilities, Sue works for Closer to Home in Workington rehabilitating hospital patients within the community.

“I ran a lot with dad when I was growing up,” said Sue. “I have always enjoyed the fells and sometimes I joined dad on his training runs.”

Also helping Joss as one of the pacers was Eaglesfield fitness trainer Barry Johnson.

“It was quite terrific what Joss did,” he said. “In his seventies, he is a lesson to us all to keep on keeping on.

“You could see by the growing crowd of folk at each stop cheering him on what a hero he is.”

Anyone wishing to support the hospice event can give donations at branches of HSBC bank.

First published at 19:26, Thursday, 25 June 2009
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk