Kenny Stuart (born 25 February 1957 in Penrith) is a former

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of M ...

and

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

runner from Threlkeld in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

. Early in his career, when there was still a split between professional and amateur fell racing, Stuart competed in professional races, converting to amateur status in 1982. His first full amateur season in 1983 was marked by close competition with John Wild who had won the previous year's championship. Stuart won the last 1983 championship race at Thieveley Pike, thereby becoming British champion. Stuart was also British champion in 1984 and 1985 and among the course records he set in those years were 1:02:18 at

Skiddaw Skiddaw is a mountain in the Lake District National Park in England. Its summit is traditionally considered to be the List of Wainwrights, fourth-highest peak but depending on what topographic prominence is thought to be significant is also ...

, 1:25:34 at

Ben Nevis Ben Nevis ( ; , ) is the highest mountain in Scotland, the United Kingdom, and the British Isles. Ben Nevis stands at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Highland region of Lochaber, close to the town of Fort William. The mount ...

, 1:02:29 at

Snowdon Snowdon (), or (), is a mountain in Snowdonia in North Wales. It has an elevation of above sea level, which makes it both the highest mountain in Wales and the highest in the British Isles south of the Scottish Highlands. Snowdon i ...

, and 3:20:57 at the Ennerdale Horseshoe, all of which still stand. In 1985 he won the short race at the inaugural World Mountain Running Cup in Italy. Kenny married fellow fell runner Pauline Haworth in 1985. In 1986, Stuart turned his attention to road running and won his debut

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

that year at

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in 2:14:03. He went on to set his best marathon time of 2:11:36 at

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

in 1989 but his career was curtailed by increasing allergy and virus problems. Richard Askwith, '' Feet in the Clouds'' (London, 2004), 125–30. His life story is told in Steve Chilton'
'Running Hard: the story of a rivalry'
(Dingwall, 2017).

References

External links

Kenny Stuart – King of the Mountains

iaion333 on YouTube: Kenny Stuart winning the 1980 Kilnsey Crag Race
Living people 1957 births British fell runners British male mountain runners English male marathon runners British male marathon runners World Mountain Running Championships winners {{England-longdistance-athletics-bio-stub

See also

References

External links