Hardest trail runs in the UK

You earn a free cup of tea at Abraham's Cafe by touching every summit you can see from its top-floor window: a proper Keswick fell-running rite of passage.

Ten Munro summits in one outing on the highest ground in the southern Highlands, and you cross An Stuc's eroded crux four times. There is no harder day on this site.

This is a commitment. Five distinct fell ridges, two remote valleys, and enough climbing to earn a very large meal. Plan your food, check the forecast, and don't set off late.

It takes two of the Lake District's best-known summits and links them properly, so instead of picking Fairfield or Helvellyn for the day, you get both, with the climbing to prove it.

This is the full southern Dales in one enormous self-navigated loop: Malham Tarn, the summit of Buckden Pike, Trollers Gill, Simon's Seat and a string of the prettiest villages in the country.

You circle Skipton on a huge loop through the quieter country of Craven, linking moor edge, riverside and old field paths that most runners pass through but never string together.

Crib Goch is one of the most exposed ridges in Britain, and this route puts it in the middle of a big mountain day rather than as the whole objective, so you get the scramble and a proper crossing into the Glyderau either side of it.

You get the full Fairfield ridge plus a there-and-back tag of Helvellyn thrown in, so a route runners already know becomes a proper full-day mountain outing without ever leaving a path.

A genuine ultra-distance day that shows you the Helvellyn range from every angle without ever queuing for Striding Edge - based on the established Tour de Helvellyn race route.

You string together the greatest hits of the southern Dales in one enormous loop: Gordale Scar, the summit of Pen-y-ghent, Fountains Fell and Malham Tarn, all on foot from Skipton.

This is the heart and the crux of the Bob Graham: the Langdale Pikes, the highest ground in England over the Scafells, and the notorious Broad Stand step onto Scafell.

The savage climb straight out of Wasdale onto Yewbarrow sets the tone: this is the steepest, most concentrated leg of the round, over Pillar and Great Gable.

Proper Dales miles — limestone scars, wide skies, and the kind of distance that sorts out who's eaten their breakfast. This is a full day out.

A full 50km day that strings together the cove, the tarn and two major summits, a serious long-distance challenge through the heart of the Dales.

It is the great runnable middle of the Bob Graham: a near-continuous high ridge where you can hold a rhythm over twelve tops without ever dropping to the valley.

This links the two great paths of the north in one loop: the final stretch of the Pennine Way over the Border Ridge, and the Wooler stage of St Cuthbert's Way back through College Valley. Almost nobody runs the whole thing.

Simon's Seat is one of Wharfedale's best short climbs on its own, and this route turns the trip up to it into the centrepiece of a full ultra distance day rather than an afternoon out.

You get the start of the most famous round in British fell running, crossing Skiddaw at 931 m and the lonely top of Great Calva before the high traverse to Blencathra and the steep drop off Hall's Fell.

A big day out on the most recognisable skyline in the Dales — three distinct summits, 1500m of climbing, and a finish that earns its beer.

Three summits, 1,505m of ascent, and a finish back in Horton means that you have definitely earned a drink.

It links a big day in Wharfedale with the wide-open water and skies around Grimwith, so you get valley running, moorland crossings and a proper reservoir circuit all in one loop without needing a second car.

Four Northern Fell Wainwrights in one continuous round, including the roof of the region on Skiddaw and the dramatic edges of Blencathra.

The full Peak District experience — deep peat bog, gritstone edges, and those big Kinder views. Earn the ridge on the way back in.

Seven summits of the Eastern Fells in one continuous high-level horseshoe, finishing over St Sunday Crag with Ullswater filling the view ahead.