Trish Patterson Runs 425 Miles To Break The Three Peaks World Record

Trish Patterson is now the fastest woman ever to complete the UK Three Peaks on foot, and her plans for the aftermath are appropriately modest. “I could do with a week off,” the 41-year-old from Hythe, Hampshire told BBC South.

Patterson summited Scotland’s Ben Nevis, England’s Scafell Pike, and Wales’ Yr Wyddfa, and ran every mile in between, covering 425 miles with more than 10,000 meters of climbing in five days and 21 hours.

What She Actually Did

The National Three Peaks Challenge is usually a 24-hour dash where participants drive between the mountains and only hike the climbs. The on-foot version is a different animal entirely: an unbroken, self-propelled journey the length of Britain’s western spine, one of the country’s most coveted fastest known times.

Patterson did it on 90 minutes of sleep a night. “The sleep deprivation is intense,” she said. “I actually turn my brain off, because that’s the only way you’re going to get through miles and miles of repetitive stuff.”

Supported by a team of friends and family, she was kept going by strangers along the route, who offered encouragement and the occasional ice lolly. “It was a huge boost to see those people and to make those connections, so I really enjoyed it,” she said.

A Record With Recent History

The mark she broke was not some dusty artifact. Patterson took more than eight hours off the 6 days, 5 hours, and 43 minutes that Imo Boddy set in May 2024, a run that itself demolished Ann Sayer’s 45-year-old record from 1979. Two big improvements in two years suggests the women’s on-foot Three Peaks has become one of British ultrarunning’s live battlegrounds.

According to outdoor journalist Fiona Russell, Patterson’s time is also the second-fastest ever recorded on the route by anyone.

Running For A Reason

Patterson ran in memory of a close friend who died recently, raising money for the mental health charity Mind Over Mountains. The community she found along the way was the point as much as the clock. “Running is a great way to connect with people and I really enjoyed that whole process,” she said.

As for what’s next, the mother of twin girls is planning some parkruns and a return to normality: “back to getting beat by small children and pensioners.”