Cumbrian vet 'first woman' to complete Wainwright challenge

Sabrina Verjee had only seven to eight hours' sleep during the challenge

A Lake District vet is believed to have become the first woman to run all 214 Wainwright peaks in one go.

Starting and finishing in Keswick, Sabrina Verjee completed a 325-mile (525km) route across the fells in six days, 17 hours and 51 minutes.

The 39-year-old, from Ambleside, hoped to break the record of six days and six hours but suffered a knee injury.

The peaks are featured in Alfred Wainwright's seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells.

Ms Verjee ascended 36,000 metres (118,000 ft) and completed her route shortly before 21:00 BST on Sunday, having set off in the early hours of the previous Monday.

Her planning began several months ago but the attempt was delayed by the coronavirus outbreak and the injury forced her to walk down many of the fells backwards.

"As soon as [prime minister] Boris Johnson announced we could do unlimited exercise, I took it as a personal message to get on with it," she said.

"When the injury happened I knew it was no longer about trying to do it quickly. It became a question of can it be finished?

"I probably need to do it again. Even before I got under way I told my support team May 2021 is the time to do it faster."

The current and former record holders, Paul Tierney and Steve Birkinshaw, joined on part of the route

The record for quickest completion of the Wainwrights was set last year by Paul Tierney.

He joined Ms Verjee on part of her challenge along with previous record holder Steve Birkinshaw, who ran it in six days and 13 hours in 2014.