A FRIZINGTON man is attempting to become the first person to complete a continuous single round of all 214 Wainwrights, without support.

Laurie Crayston, 28, will set off on his trek early next month.

First completed in 1985 by Alan Heaton in a time of nine days and 16 hours, this challenge has only been accomplished by three men since.

The route covering the 214 peaks is approximately 320 miles, with over 35,000 metres of ascent – more than four times the height of Everest and over 12 marathons.

Training for the challenge since the start of February, having first floated the idea in a drunken conversation at a wedding last year and following an abdominal injury in October he had been sedentary for almost four months when starting training.

Describing this as a “twisted couch to 500k” journey he said: “We say a lot when we’ve had a few, and every once in a while I think it’s nice to follow through with one or two of those outlandish drunken ideas.

“I wanted to include Dent in this as well, but I think 214 will be enough. We’ll give it a crack and see what happens. I’ll be delighted if I make it round in one piece, unsupported – that would be a record in itself.”

Laurie, who now lives in Kendal, will be sleeping on the fells in a tent and carrying kit and up to two days’ worth of food and water with him at any one time.

Before the event he will be leaving himself ‘aid parcels’ at various places along the route, containing extra food and supplies.

Although he has no major running credentials, Laurie isn’t a complete stranger to long-distance challenges. He has previously cycled the length of France from top to bottom for charity, completed the Arthur Baxter Mountain Marathon and been on numerous multi-day hikes across the Lake District.

‘This is a whole different ball game to anything I’ve done before,” he added. “Most people think it’s ridiculously unachievable for me given the short amount of time I’ve had to train and my lack of experience. They might be right, but it’s the process that’s more important to me than the outcome. I’ll give this my best shot and if I make it round that will be incredible. If I don’t, it’s been a good excuse to get out and enjoy running around the fells and, by the time I’ve set off, the training will have hopefully got me into good shape after I let my fitness slip whilst injured.”

Laurie will be raising money for Cancer Research UK and throughout the challenge will be wearing a GPS tracker that people can follow online. You can also follow Laurie’s progress in the lead up to the challenge on Instagram, @lauriecrayston