General
Joss Naylor, the English King of Racing Up Mountains, Dies at 88
A sheep farmer, he set records in so-called fell running — rugged off-trail competitions that can last days and present painful hazards, including an irate cow.
The “Iron Man” of fell running — the somewhat preposterous English sport of off-trail mountain racing — was Joss Naylor, a sheep farmer who, during multiday marathons traversing rugged terrain, endured the loss of all 10 toenails, the skinning of his soles and a kick by an irritated cow.
In competitions that sometimes lasted a week, he survived on scone-like cakes and black currant juice with a dash of salt and cod liver oil that he swilled straight from the bottle — “like whiskey,” he once said.
Mr. Naylor died on June 28 in a care home in Gosforth, a village in Cumbria, northwest England. He was 88. His daughter Gillian Naylor said the cause was complications of several recent illnesses, including a stroke.
His feats running the fells — the term in northern England for hills and mountains — defied common sense and earned him multiple nicknames, including “Iron Man” and “King of the Fells.”
In 1971, Mr. Naylor became the sixth person to conquer the Bob Graham Round — a 24-hour challenge to finish a 66-mile trek over 42 peaks in Cumbria’s Lake District. He overachieved, topping 61 peaks in 23 hours 37 minutes.
The next year, he crossed 63 peaks in the challenge, followed by 72 in 1975 — both times in under 24 hours.
