Brothers break world 'Everesting' record in memory of their dad
Andrew and Joe Symonds beat the world record for running an Everesting attempt by 36 minutes (Image: Steve Cooling)
Two brothers broke a world record running the height of Mount Everest up and down a single hill in Sedbergh last weekend.
Joe and Andrew Symonds took on the 'Everesting' challenge to raise money for charity and in memory of their father Hugh, 35 years after he set his own world record.
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'Everesting' is a concept that sees runners, cyclists and skiers pick a hill anywhere in the world and repeatedly run, ride or ski up and down it until they reach the elevation of Mount Everest, 8,848m.
Joe Symonds said: 'I'd only ever seen people attempt Everesting on bikes, and I wanted to see if I could do it on foot.
'When I was looking for a hill to use for this Everesting attempt, Winder seemed like the perfect choice,' said Joe. 'Apart from being the ideal gradient and terrain for the challenge, it would have been the hill that our dad ran on the most in his life.'
Joe and Andrew's dad Hugh was a school master at Sedbergh School and lived in the town for 43 years.
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A prolific fell runner throughout his life, Hugh Symonds set a world record in 1990 after continuously running over all the 3000ft mountains in Great Britain and Ireland in 97 days – a record that stands to this day.
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Hugh's sons wanted to follow in his footsteps in fundraising too, aiming to raise £8,848 for Practical Action, a charity that develops sustainable solutions to health inequalities and poverty in poor communities, and the same charity that their father raised £20,000 for in 1990.
Setting the route on Winder meant measuring a 148m stretch up the front face of the hill, which the brothers would need to run 48 times to reach the height of Everest. By completing this in 10 hours 8 minutes and 53 seconds, they built the previous record by 36 minutes.
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The pair were supported in their efforts by friends and family who ran several of the laps alongside them, while Sedbergh School organised relay teams who took on the same challenge in teams, collectively reaching the same elevation.
Joe and Andrew said the support from everyone has been incredible, already reaching 91% of their fundraising target.
'Mum was there for the whole day and a lot of family members ran with us,' says Joe. 'It felt like the right thing to do for Dad too, he would have loved it.'
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