Young Lake District fell runner aims to break 50-year-old record

A young Lake District fell runner is aiming to break a 50-year-old record at Grasmere Lakeland Sports and Show next month.

Zeke Sumner, 16, of Little Langdale, will compete at the show on August 24.

Zeke, a member of Ambleside Athletics Club, won the £500 Pete Bland Bursary last year, to help him with his sporting development.

The Under-17s Guides Race at Grasmere Lakeland Sports and Show record has stood for 50 years. Graham Moffat set what Zeke regards as an unbelievable time in 1975 of 9 minutes and 3.6 seconds, but that will not stop him trying his best to at least get close to it.  

Zeke applied for the bursary so he could overcome some obstacles to maintain fitness in Little Langdale in winter. 

With no street lights to allow him to go on runs in the dark, his aim was to take out a gym membership at his local hotel and train indoors.

With the rest of the money going towards new running shoes and parts for his road bike, he wanted to make some significant gains in his fitness and winter preparation for the fell running season.

Zeke is a fell running purist and every pound of the money was to be devoted to improvements in his performance.

He trained in the gym at the Langdale Estate Hotel from November to April, both on treadmills and in the pool.

He came ninth in the Fell Running Association’s English Championships last year, but thus year was second.   

He has also been selected to represent his country as part of a team of four at the Youth Skyrunning World Championships in Gran Sasso, Italy, from August 1 to August 3. 

In the British Open Fell Runners Association races, he has won five out of five this year, with the most recent win being at Cracoe. 

He has also represented Cumbria this year at an Inter-counties Championship, with the Cumbrian team picking up silver medals – an impressive achievement considering all the counties involved.

Now, he has just achieved his dream of being selected to run for England Athletics, competing against athletes from other home countries, at the British and Irish Junior Mountain Championships, to be staged in Wales on September 13.

Zeke said: “I’ve a busy month ahead with the trip to Italy but then the major race after that will be the Grasmere Sports Under-17s race.  I should be much better equipped for this race this year, having finished second in 2024.  

“The Pete Bland Bursary has been a massive boost; in fact, I’m quite surprised by just how much it has helped my development. By having the additional training regime in the winter, I emerged much stronger, much earlier in the year than usual and that has made a tremendous difference.”