Circumnavigating London: Malaysian runner completes ‘Smog Graham Round’

Trail and fell running fans will know about the Bob Graham Round, an approximately-100K challenge that involves summiting 42 peaks in England’s Lake District in 24 hours or less. The Smog Graham Round is a challenge runners might be less familiar with, likely due to the fact that only one person — a Malaysian ultrarunner named Alison Walker — has ever completed a solo running of the route. The 300K challenge takes runners to the highest point in all 32 of London’s boroughs, and Walker completed the route’s inaugural run in 54 hours and 33 minutes, crossing the finish line on September 14. 

She's done it! Alison Walker has become the first runner to complete the Smog Graham Round ??

A 300-km circumnavigation of all the peaks in each London borough (32 in total) ??

? https://t.co/GWYkSiVBLX#inov8 #GetAGrip #TERRAULTRAG270 pic.twitter.com/Bwz0gqACSZ

— inov-8 (@inov_8) September 15, 2020

The route 

In an interview with the British trail running gear company inov-8 before her run, Walker explained the route, which she said is 50 per cent off-road. “Some of the boroughs don’t really have peaks,” she said, “so some of the peaks are literally running up a small incline and you don’t really notice it.” Even so, she still ended up climbing more than 3,200m over the course of her run. This elevation gain is much less than that of the Bob Graham (which sits at around 8,000m), but it makes up for any lack of climbing with its total distance. In a post-run report on the official FKT website, Walker noted that she could have finished sooner, but she lost about six hours while trying to get on trails that were on golf courses that were closed for the night. 

RELATED: Beth Pascall shatters Bob Graham Round FKT in 14:34:26

Walker’s running resume 

Walker told inov-8 that she started her running career as a “hobby jogger.” She eventually found inspiration to try an ultramarathon after reading the book Running Up That Hill by British author Vassos Alexander. She began training for a 100-miler, which she eventually ran and completed in a little over 21 hours. “Having been motivated by that race, I carried on my quest in trying to become a better ultrarunner,” she said. 

Walker has also set six Malaysian national records with her ultrarunning. In time-based events, she holds the Malaysian records over six hours (59.74K), 12 hours (107.36K), 24 hours (185.93K), and in races with set distances, she has the records for the 50K (4:53), 100K (10:56) and 100 miles (19:41). Thanks to her massive success in ultrarunning, Walker recently won the Malaysian Kotex She Universe award, which was given to 100 inspirational “Malaysian superwomen.” 

RELATED: The London UnderRound: a city ultra between Tube stations

She told inov-8 that she and her husband are moving to northern England soon, and she hinted that she might one day attempt the Bob Graham Round.