I completed them in 5 days 12 hours 14 min 41 sec but I didn't bother telling the world.

We’ll done John, that’s a fantastic achievement.

Well done John been a pleasure to follow your adventures . enjoy life back in the USA.

Congratulations John, immense effort. [And let's all just ignore the negative 'Jock's of this world.]

If AW knew this is what people would end up doing with the list of fells he chose to include in his books, he'd never has set pen to paper.

Despite going against everything the guy stood for, people still attach his name to their attention seeking challenges.

Contrary to Rogers negative opinion stated above, Wainwright most certainly approved of people attempting to complete the full round of his 214 peaks. For those interested, see the article “Wainwright and the 214 Fells”, in the Spring issue (77) of Footsteps, the magazine of The Wainwright Society.

Over 1200 people have now completed the goal of climbing all 214 “Wainwright” summits. Most “Completer’s” take months or years to reach the total, whilst others, such as John Kelly manage it in a shorter time. (He’s in a rush to get home to the USA). Wainwright personally wrote to many completer’s to congratulate them on their achievement. He also wrote that “One should always have a definite objective, in a walk as in life - it is so much more satisfying to reach a target by personal effort than to wander aimlessly. An objective is an ambition, and life without ambition is …. Well, aimless wandering” (A coast to coast walk). Wainwright was the instigator of many long distance walks, not least The Pennine Way, and his Coast to Coast walk, two challenges hundreds of people have completed.

Well I'm afraid I'm full of negatives. It's raping and pillaging the hills. Where will record breaking end? The margins must inevitably reduce to microseconds then it all becomes a pointless ego trip, if it hasn't already.

Mike, you say over 1200 people have done the Wainwrights. Whilst this is true, I think the number is at least 10 times that amount. I know loads of people who have done them during time spent just enjoying being out on the fells, not mindlessly ticking fells off an arbitrary list. The people I know haven't added their name to a pointless list of 'Completers.' The Wainwrights are just that; a list of fells made up by one man. For the average man in the street, walking up all of them can't be regarded as an achievement. Some of them, like Nab Scar and High Pike on the Fairfield Horseshoe are just points on the end of other fells. However, I agree that doing them in the time achieved by Mr. Kelly is.

Mike, you say over 1200 people have done the Wainwrights. Whilst this is true, I think the number is at least 10 times that amount. I know loads of people who have done them during time spent just enjoying being out on the fells, not mindlessly ticking fells off an arbitrary list. The people I know haven't added their name to a pointless list of 'Completers.' The Wainwrights are just that; a list of fells made up by one man. For the average man in the street, walking up all of them can't be regarded as an achievement. Some of them, like Nab Scar and High Pike on the Fairfield Horseshoe are just points on the end of other fells. However, I agree that doing them in the time achieved by Mr. Kelly is. However, adding your name to a list of 'Completers' is a pointless ego trip, even if it's not much of an achievement.

So much depressing and needless negativity in some of these comments. The guy has achieved an amazing and inspiring thing; no one and nothing was harmed in the process. Live and let live.

I’m sure the majority of the 1200+ completer’s don’t consider it to be merely an Ego Trip, though the difference between that emotion and a sense of achievement and the wellbeing it can produce, I will leave to the psychologists. The target of completing 214 wainwright summits is often only an excuse to spend time in the lakes, an ambition with an objective, as wainwright might say. Those who criticise that motivation are probably suffering from an inferiority complex, brought on my their own inadequacies.

Where are people getting the daft figure that 1200 people have completed the wainwrights.

There must be many thousands of people who have done this without seeking any recognition for it.

@Mike Langrish, your final sentence is probably the most ridiculous of any on this whole topic.

I wonder if John Kelly will ever reads these comments.
If he does perhaps he'll finally realise not everyone is as impressed with this attention seeking as he'd like them to be.

So anyone who successfully completes a list of summits whilst accompanied by witnesses for safety and validation, and submits a report, hoping to become a qualified member of a club, are attention seekers are they ? Well all those who have completed the Bob Graham Round, or the Joss Naylor Lakeland Challenge, or the Paddy Buckley round, or the Ramsey round etc, are all attention seekers. Well I’m proud to be one of those attention seekers.

So anyone who successfully completes a list of summits whilst accompanied by witnesses for safety and validation, and submits a report, hoping to become a qualified member of a club, are attention seekers are they ? Well, all those who have completed the Bob Graham Round, or the Joss Naylor Lakeland Challenge, or the Paddy Buckley round, or the Ramsey round etc, are all attention seekers, and I’m proud to be one of those.

I think Mike Langrish has missed the point some people are trying to make.
No Mike, not everyone who completes a list of summits is an attention seeker, (read this bit carefully) only those who seek attention after doing so. Just like yourself in your previous comments. Thing is, you'd do better by telling everyone which list you completed and how quickly.

Quick, cancel all the sports pages, book reviews and music reviews in all the papers. They just encourage and publicise people's attention-seeking behaviour.

I sometimes despair at the modern world of posting comments on the internet. No winners, no losers, just faceless people trying and mostly failing to put across their opinions and (or) deliberately trying to provoke reactions from strangers.

I wonder what some of these people did before the WWW came along. Poison pen letters and funny phone calls I suspect.

All this upset and nastiness over a pointless challenge like this. Who cares if someone ran round the fells faster then other people.

It's only a matter of time until someone beats that time.

Pointless challenge because it'll probably be broken by someone who isn't as fast but happens to be better at route planning. To make it credible everyone attempting this should take the exact same route as the previous attention seekers.

Hi Mike,

I don't know if you read what I originally posted to you, but within my reply, amongst all the words, I meant that the time John did the Wainwrights in was incredible. Perhaps it was lost amongst my other words. My appolgies for that, as I should've worded it better. I just have a disappointment with the tickers.

Let me explain. I have been on the fells where people have approached me and asked me which fells I am ticking off today. Also, I have had twice had someone saying, on top of a fell, "Thank God I've ticked this off, as it means I don't have to come back again."

That's the sort of mentality I hate, not John Kelly's. He's an athlete to be admired.

Sorry for any misunderstanding.

Wow what a load of fun hoovers.

Great work John Kelly and all his team involved. Really inspirational stuff.

Wow, what a load of fun hoovers.

Good work John Kelly and team. Really positive and great to read about your new record.

And don't forget all the attention seekers who with
Gold Medals at the Olympics

And don't forget all the attention seekers who win
Gold Medals at the Olympics

Ignoring the time to complete this Wainwright Round, the numbers are mind blowing.

515km distance with 36 km of ascent

Just think about this for a second or 2.

That's running Glasgow to Coventry, and climbing the height of Everest from sea level, 4 times. (And down again)

I tip my hat to anyone who does the preparation, and has the commitment to even attempt this. Let alone actually complete it in these timescales.

Many many kudos to John.

I think he should tout his techniques and mind set to several insanely paid lazy footballers so that for their 90 minute run around once a week, they could actually put a full shift in.

Well one thing is for sure here. We can't let the Americans get away with this. Surely some British Iron Man can shave this down to a day or two. Rule Britannia.

Iron Man? Don't you mean Iron Woman? Sabrina Verjee is up to the job, without a shadow of a doubt.

@John Bull
How would you feel about an Irish Iron Woman doing it?