Two of the UK's leading ultra runners have smashed a long standing record in the Lake District.

Hugh Chatfield and Keith Wigley sliced more than half an hour off the record held by Ambleside AC’s Gavin Dale in the '23 before Tea' challenge.

Organised by the Elterwater Hostel in Langdale near Ambleside, the circuit of 23 Wainwright summits was completed by Hugh and Keith in five hours and 16 minutes.

Perhaps the key to their success is the unique way in which they faced the challenge, with the pair being the first to tackle the route in an anti-clockwise direction.

Hugh said: "We’ve had our eyes on Gavin’s record for a long time. He’s a good friend. We’ve been plotting how we could beat that.

"We went anti-clockwise because the terrain over the Fairfield loop is much quicker than the Langdale section, so we thought we could make hay while we were still fresh.

“We went off really hard - it was cold and wet at first and pretty miserable over Dove Crag, but the weather did improve.”

Hugh is a British fell, trail and mountain marathon runner who got into ultra distances as a new way to challenge himself having focused on long-distance triathlons. 

Along with Keith, he is a member of the Elite Trail Team, a support network designed to help runners 'push the boundaries' in trail running.

Hugh spends the majority of his weekends in the Peak District, Lake District and Snowdonia training, whilst Keith - a native of Scotland - has adopted the Yorkshire Dales as his second home.

The two of them will be heading out to the Alps later this summer where Keith will run in the 100 mile Ultra Tour de Mont Blanc, and Hugh will be looking to add another title to his name in the CCC 100k race.