Keswick to Barrow walk

The annual Keswick to Barrow Walk is celebrating its 40th year on Saturday, May 6, by aiming to attract a record number of teams, and topping the £1 million mark in donations to charities.

The walk - 40 miles in a day through some of the Lake District's loveliest landscape - is a unique charity event challenge for walkers of all ages and in the past has mainly attracted participants from the region. But this year the aim is to raise the profile of the walk to establish it as a truly national event.

The event starts around 6am from Rough How Bridge, just south of Keswick, and proceeds by footpaths and road to the finish line just outside Barrow town centre. Most of the teams walk the route, but there are also trophies for the fastest runner and disabled entrant to complete the distance.

The most challenging part of the walk is the progressive ascent up Kirkby Moor to the highest point of the route with breathtaking views of the Furness Peninsula, Morecambe Bay and the Irish Sea.

A record £100,000 raised by the K2B Walk was shared out to charities and organisations in 2005, bringing the total since the walk began to just short of the £1 million mark.

For more information on the walk, its history and how to take part, visit www.keswick2barrow.co.uk