I'm just back from a week in the Lake District, aka 'Wainwright country'. Alfred Wainwright's 7-volume 'Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells' (1955-1966) remains the standard reference work for this beautiful part of the world. The author was at pains to choose routes with good views, and always advised people to watch where they put their feet: if you want to admire the breathtaking scenery, stop! So I doubt he would have approved of how conquering all of the 'Wainwrights' (summits in his guidebooks) has become such a competitive sport. The record for all 214 currently stands at 6 days 6 hours and 4 minutes. I think the title of the account published by a former record holder says it all: 'There is No Map in Hell: The Record-Breaking Run Across the Lake District Fells' (Steve Birkinshaw, 2017). F M Alexander would have called this speed-obsessed approach 'endgaining'; my grandmother would have quoted her favourite poem, by William Henry Davies: 'What is this life if, full of care,/We have no time to stand and stare.'
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