Joss Naylor

Who is Joss Naylor?

Joss Naylor MBE is an English fell runner. Naylor is 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:

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: completed the Wainwrights in 7 days

1997: ran 60 Lakeland fell tops in 36 hours

2006: 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 awarded the MBE 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. 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.