Ultra Excitement!

At 6pm on Friday 29 July, competitors line up to start one of the UK’s toughest events. The Montane Lakeland 100 'Ultra Tour of the Lake District' is a spectacular long distance trail race which encompasses the whole of the Lakeland fells, with 6300m of ascent and almost entirely run on public bridleways and footpaths. Competitors can enter solo, as part of a pair or as part of a three-person team; the gruelling 100-mile route starts in Coniston and heads South before completing a clockwise loop which takes in the Dunnerdale fells, Eskdale, Wasdale and Buttermere before arriving in Keswick. From here the route heads to Matterdale and continues over to Haweswater before returning via Kentmere, Ambleside and Elterwater to the finish at Coniston.

The event is continuous; many competitors won't stop or sleep, and the winners are generally expected to finish close to the 23-hour mark. The overall time available for the route is 40 hours so sleep at intermediate checkpoints is possible, but time is not on their side; final cut off for finishers is 10am on the Sunday morning.

If that’s all too much, surely half the distance must be easy? Nope. The Lakeland 50 event, held on the same weekend, is still one the greatest ultra-running and walking challenges in Europe. It covers the second half of the Lakeland 100 course but is still almost double the distance of a marathon, on rough terrain and there's approximately 3,100m of ascent to deal with. Certainly no 'easy option'!

British brand Montane has been associated with the event since its inception. The company has become synonymous with lightweight clothing and equipment, perfect for the rigours of events such as the Lakeland 100 and 50. Famous for its super-packable, windproof and breathable windshirt, The Featherlite Smock, Montane has developed into a brand that now works with cutting edge materials and serious mountain professionals to push the boundaries of what is possible with clothing, equipment and accessories in order to create the lightest, toughest and most functional products available on the market.

At George Fisher we stock Montane gear because we know how good these products are; as runners and climbers many of us have used them across a wide variety of conditions and they remain some of our top choices.

Find out more about the Lakeland 100.