Joss Naylor

Joss Naylor

Joss Naylor providing water to fell runners - Ennerdale horseshoe fell race June 2010
Personal information
Nationality	British
Born	February 10, 1936 Wasdale Head
Occupation	Farmer
Sport
Sport	Fell Running
Updated on 4 November 2013.

Joss Naylor, MBE (born on 10 February 1936 at Wasdale Head) is an English fell runner, and a sheep farmer, living in the English Lake District. As his achievements increased he became better known as the King of the Fells or simply the Iron Man. His fell running achievements include successive peak bagging records within the scope of the Bob Graham Round:^[1]

• 1971: 61 peaks in 23h37m
• 1972: 63 peaks in 23h35m
• 1975: 72 peaks, claimed to involve over 100 miles and about 38,000 feet of ascent in 23h20m

His other fell running achievements include:

• 1973: The Welsh 3000s - the 14 peaks of Snowdonia in 4h46m
• 1974: The Pennine Way: 3 days and 4 hours
• 1983: The Lakes, Meres and Waters circuit of 105 miles in 19h20m
• 1986: (age 50) completed the Wainwrights in 7 days
• 1997: (age 60) ran 60 Lakeland fell tops in 36 hours
• 2006: (age 70) ran 70 Lakeland fell tops, covering more than 50 miles and ascending more than 25,000 feet, in under 21 hours.

He considered the 72 peak Lakeland circuit as his own greatest achievement, setting a record which stood unbroken for 13 years. He was appointed an MBE^[2] for his services to sport and charity, and is included as one of Britain’s top 100 sports personalities in the 2007 book Best of British: Hendo’s Sporting Heroes, by sports journalist Jon Henderson.^[3] Olympic Gold medal winner and co-founder of the London Marathon Chris Brasher described Joss Naylor as 'The Greatest of Them All', a title he bestowed on Joss when he ran 72 Lake District mountains in 24 hours.^[4]

Naylor is the subject of a biography by Keith Richardson,^[5] and his fell running exploits are covered in detail in Steve Chilton's It's a hill, get over it: fell running's history and characters. ^[6]

See also

• Bill Smith (fell runner)
• Billy Bland (runner)
• British orienteers
• List of orienteers
• List of orienteering events
• Munro/ "Munro Bagging"

References

1. Covell, Brian; Griffin, A.H.; Smith, Roger (1992) [1982]. 42 Peaks: The Story of the Bob Graham Round. The Bob Graham Club.
2. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 46919 p. 8029 4 June 1976. Retrieved 11 May 2015
3. Best of British: Hendo's Sporting Heroes, Jon Henderson (Yellow Jersey Press) 2007, ISBN 0-224-08248-5
4. Keith Richardson, Joss (Keswick, 2009).
5. Keith Richardson, Joss (Keswick, 2009)
6. Chilton, Steve (2013). It's a hill, get over it: fell running's history and characters. Dingwall: Sandstone Press. ISBN 978-1-908737-57-1.