Joss Naylor

Joseph Naylor (10 February 1936 – 28 June 2024) was an English fell runner who set many long-distance records, and a sheep farmer, living in the Lake District. He became known as the "King of the Fells" or simply the "Iron Man".

Early life and education Joseph Naylor was born in 1936 in Middle Row Farm, Wasdale Head, and attended school in Gosforth, Cumbria, leaving at 15 to work on the family farm.

Career Injuries in his youth led to operations aged 19 to remove cartilage from his right knee and aged 22 to remove two discs from his back.

Fell-running achievements His fell running achievements included successive peak bagging records within the scope of the Bob Graham Round:

1971: 61 peaks in 23h37m 1972: 63 peaks in 23h35m 1975: 72 peaks, claimed to involve over 100 miles and about 38,000 feet of ascent in 23h20m (record stood until 1988)

His other fell running achievements included: 1971: The National Three Peaks Challenge (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon): 11 hours 54 minutes including driving time 1973: The Welsh 3000s – the 14 peaks of Snowdonia in 4 hours 46 minutes (record stood until 1988) 1974: The Pennine Way: 3 days, 4 hours, 36 minutes (record stood until 1975) 1976: Robin Hood Bay to St Bees: 41 hours 1979: The Lyke Wake Walk: 4 hours 53 minutes (set during the annual race) (record stood until 1981) 1983: The Lakes, Meres and Waters circuit of 105 miles: 19 hours 20 minutes 1986: (age 50) completed the Wainwrights in 7 days, 1 hour, 25 minutes (record stood until 2014) 1996: (age 60) ran 60 Lakeland fell tops in 36 hours 2006: (age 70) ran 70 Lakeland fell tops, covering more than 50 miles and ascending more than 25,000 feet, in under 21 hours.

Personal life and death Naylor married Mary Downie in 1963, and they had three children. and was included as one of Britain’s top 100 sports personalities in the 2007 book Best of British: Hendo’s Sporting Heroes, by sports journalist Jon Henderson. Co-founder of the London Marathon and Olympic Gold medal winner Chris Brasher described Joss Naylor as 'The Greatest of Them All', a title he bestowed on Joss when he ran 72 Lake District mountains in 24 hours.

Naylor completed some of his achievements in extreme weather conditions (the 1972 63 peaks record in a severe storm, and the 1975 72 peaks record and large sections of the 1986 Wainwrights record in a heat wave), and he was noted for his ability to persevere despite pain and adversity. He was also noted for his humility and his generosity towards less talented runners, and in keeping with British fell-running traditions, he frequently provided support or pacing for other runners attempting the same or similar challenges. However, on occasion he was less enthusiastic about runners who differ from his approach by setting records only in optimum conditions or who use more scientific methods such as use of spreadsheets for planning attempts.

Naylor was the subject of a biography by Keith Richardson, and in Richard Askwith's Feet in the Clouds.