Brand Founder Laurie Crayston is Taking on his Fifth — and Final — Unsupported Wainwrights Challenge.
Laurie, 30, last embarked on the colossal test of physical and mental strength back in April. While he did set a new unsupported record, covering 360km and 150 summits in total, he was forced to cut his attempt short after the condition of his feet deteriorated severely.
The challenge involves climbing to the top of all 214 Wainwright's without any external assistance, carrying absolutely everything he needs for the challenge on his own back, from the start.
“I was out for about 15 days, but if I’d been able to predict the weather I wouldn’t have set off,” explained Laurie. “Due to the cold, I often had to make a choice to either play it safe and sleep down low in a valley. This meant I lost about four to five hours of walking each day. I was also caught in a blizzard and had to stay in the tent for two days.”
Two weeks after Laurie returned from this attempt, special forces veteran Chris Gaskin became the first individual to complete the unsupported Wainwrights round in a time of 11.5 days.. With this in mind, Laurie is aiming to beat Chris’ time and set a new record for the fastest unsupported round.
“Training has been interesting,” Laurie continued. “For attempts one, two and three I never really gave myself enough time to train. I was working full time while trying to build my brand, Ascendency Apparel. Last time, I basically became a full-time athlete and the Wainwrights became my priority, so I was in the best possible shape I could have been. Again due to work commitments, I’ve just been working on maintaining my fitness levels. The key difference this time though is that my backpack will be significantly lighter as I’m only taking enough food for 11 days.
While he opted to move clockwise last time, Laurie will now walk anti-clockwise, as the majority who set out on this route do.
“This way, I know exactly where I need to be at what time to match or beat Chris’ pace,” said Laurie, who will be setting off at 7am on Tuesday 31 August and is aiming to roll into Keswick Mountain Festival in the evening on Friday 10 September. “While I’m slower over the ground than Chris, I’m hoping to keep going for longer each day; it’s very much a tale of the tortoise and the hare.”
But how does Laurie feel about taking on the Wainwrights 214 for a fifth time?
“I’m excited and slightly nervous, but I’m itching to get going,” he said. “I’m keen to push myself more athletically this time; while the challenge in April was difficult from a survival point of view, I was never able to push myself to walk more than 30k per day due to the weather.”
Laurie will be walking in aid of Samaritans, adding to the £2,614 total he raised for the charity back in April.
You can follow Laurie’s progress and keep track of his attempt on his Instagram - @lauriecrayston and follow his live tracker at live.opentracking.co.uk/laurie2021