One of the toughest of the Lake District's fell running challenges is to be celebrated in a new orchestral suite composed by an Italian who lives in Kent and had never been to Cumbria before the commission landed on his doormat.
Running in the Clouds by Maurizio Malagnini, which will be given its world première by the Salford-based BBC Philharmonic in Kendal on 14 January, celebrates the Bob Graham Round, a trot round the hills that requires runners to complete a 70 mile circuit of 42 peaks (27,000ft of ascent, roughly the height of Everest) within 24 hours.
It was pioneered in 1932 by Graham, owner of a bed and breakfast in Keswick, who completed the run in tennis shoes, long shorts and a pyjama jacket; he was sustained by bread and butter, a lightly boiled egg and fruit and sweets. His round, described as "probably the most demanding test of physical fitness available to British athletes or mountaineers", was not repeated until 1960.
It now attracts scores of runners every year and the fastest circuit so far has been completed in 13 hours 53 seconds.
The mystique of the round and of Malagni's response to it (and to legendary fell runner Joss Naylor) are captured in a Radio 4 documentary to be broadcast on December 16. In it, Richard Wigley, general manager of the BBC Philharmonic, takes the composer to the summit of Yewbarrow (628m) north of Wast Water on a typical Lake District day of mist and rain. "You can see enough so that you are not going to fall off," he says. "So you are safe…It's the right kind of lonely here."
Malagnini describes Running in the Clouds as a musical diary of the memories of Naylor:
It portrays the intimate relationship between the runner and his environment. The music takes us through the most energetic and heroic moments of the ascent. It culminates in the final movement, A View from Yewbarrow. Here, Joss is lost in the mist until the wind blows away a cloud and uncovers an incredible view from the summit.
In the programme, Malagnini explains that he has tried to capture both the beauty and the challenge of the fells. One melody expresses the heroic moment at the beginning of the Bob Graham Round; sustained notes leave room for the woodwind to create the sound of the wind in runners' faces. Later, a series of violin scales evoke the descent from the high tops. Wigley says he is "chuffed to bits" with his commission. "It's a skilful evocation of unbridled joy."
Wigley, an enthusiastic fell runner who has never done the Bob Graham Round but in his 50th year ran up 50 fells in 27 hours ("three hours too slow"), speaks of his Lake District adventures with mystical fervour:
The fix is the moment when you crest the top of a hill that felt impossible to climb and all below you is revealed in a wonderful patchwork of highly defined colours; or a moment in the cold, misty, rainy, miserable run when your head leaves your body and the synapses connect in a new way and all is right with the world.
Running in the Clouds will be broadcast live on BBC Radio Cumbria on 14 January and recorded for later transmission on Radio 3.
And now a footnote..or, OK, blatant plug. But a plug for a very good cause:
Since, almost four years after leaving the Guardian, I'm still working for Theatre by the Lake in Keswick, I couldn't miss a chance to find a link between the Bob Graham Round and Britain's most beautifully located producing theatre.
The link is of Blue Peter tenuousness: Patric Gilchrist, executive director of TBTL, is a fell runner. He has never attempted the Bob Graham Round but is frequently to be seen panting into the foyer in shorts and trainers. In the summer, he took part in an Ambleside Sports fell race, a mere nine miles rising a footling 3000ft.
While catching his breathe recently, he was pleased to find a TripAdvisor site devoted to Theatre by the Lake; none of us knew it was there until it popped up with comments that made us blush with delight. We knew we had loyal supporters in Cumbria but now we know we have fans all over the country, including Watford, which proves that people there do go north after all. "Great variety of shows on offer and good seating arrangement," comments Watford's Melanie W concisely.
"We always fit in a trip to the theatre whenever we come to the Lake District," writes Persistent from far-away Brighton. "There is a good range of plays and the cast are always very polished and enthusiastic. The sets are often quite unusual and clever. It is a great night out always."
And how about this from Starshine in London: "The quality of the productions, from our experience and from talking with the seasoned patrons is extremely high…Shows are beautifully conceived and directed, elaborately costumed with outstanding technical support and effects. For us, it's just a shame we are so far away!"
Gilchrist is probably having that inscribed on a Lakeland slate plaque to hang above his desk.
There were also unexpected panegyrics from much further away. "First class facility and very talented actors," wrote gsandy of Peachtree City, Georgia.
Batnballbuderim of Buderim in Australia added: "We visited the Theatre by the Lake to see a great production of Noises Off…The energy and enthusiasm of the cast made it a great night. At interval, the sun was setting over the lovely Derwent Water and we enjoyed the parklands opposite where we sipped a leisurely wine gazing at the mountains all around. What an experience! One of the highlights of our UK tour."
Praise indeed from someone who lives on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland.
There was yet more from StephenDeanP in Saint Joseph, Michigan: "The quality of acting, sets and just plain theatrical wonder…was competitive with other excellent plays I've seen in New York, Chicago and LA. We're most pleased that the season was still on during our late autumn visit, and we would absolutely recommend a stop if and when you're in Keswick."
I swear that none of these fulsome tributes has come from aunties and uncles of actors or members of staff. I have always been a little sceptical about opinions on TripAdvisor but I now know that is an utterly reliable repository of absolute truth.
In between these bouts of self-congratulation, we have been preparing for 2012, a year in which our Arts Council England grant will rise by 25 per cent. In February, we stage Knives in Hens, a darkly visceral three-hander by David Harrower that has been produced all over the world, to be followed in March by Alan Bennett's The History Boys.
Our summer season of six plays in repertory includes Bedroom Farce by Alan Ayckbourn; Dry Rot by John Chapman; an adaptation of Great Expectation to mark the Dickens bicentenary; Ibsen's A Doll's House; the regional première of Colder Than Here; and Roma and the Flannelettes: A Love Like Yours by Richard Cameron, the world première of a Theatre by the Lake commission.
