The Shelly Rothwell Round

There are challenges that begin with entry forms, media crews, flashy finish lines and corporate sponsors. And then there are the ones that start quietly, as a plan, with no headlines, no guarantees, and no promise of recognition beyond the people who were there to see it. The Shelly Rothwell Round did not exist until Michelle Rothwell decided it should. It had no registration desk or medal ceremony. There were no rules because no one had ever attempted it before. It came into being because Michelle couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Michelle started her epic challenge in Lake Windermere. Photograph by Ed Slater

“It started as a daydream, really,” Michelle says. “I was linking up some of the hardest endurance routes I knew, wondering what it would feel like to do them all together. Once it got stuck in my head, I couldn’t let it go!”

That idea turned into a 57-hour test of endurance, stitched together by cold water, dark roads, steep climbs, mountain passes and a few hallucinations along the way. The challenge began in Windermere, in the north of England, with a 10.5-mile swim of the full length of the lake. On the day Michelle set off, the water was 12.5°C. She swam without a wetsuit. The ferry paused service to let her through. She had swum the lake before and even crossed the English Channel, but this was something else. “It was raw! I’ve swum the lake several times but on this one, the cold bit early and once it hits it doesn’t really let up. I had to just find a rhythm and stay with it, I couldn’t feel my legs for most of it. The effect of the shock on my body was way beyond what I have experienced.”

From the lake, she climbed straight onto a bike and rode five miles from Ambleside to Grasmere, adding, as she puts it, “a little extra challenge of cycling between each section,” before beginning the Fred Whitton route. One of the UK’s most revered and gruelling cycling sportives, it is a 110-mile circuit with 3,900 metres of climbing that includes some of the steepest and most technical passes in the Lake District. Known as “The Daddy of them all” by Cycling Weekly, it rivals Europe’s toughest rides, such as the Marmotte. Michelle cycled through the night. Her body, already cold from the swim, couldn’t stabilise. “Having had severe hypothermia during the swim, what then happened is I couldn’t regulate my body temperature at all, I was sweating one minute and shivering the next, and whilst shivering my body started to fill with lactic acid, something I hadn’t ever experienced before. Layers were on, off, back on. It was an out of body experience to be honest those first 30 miles, but after that I really did enjoy the ride!

The Fred Whitton Route: "t was an out of body experience to be honest those first 30 miles, but after that I really did enjoy the ride!" Photography Anna Bailey

Once the Fred Whitton was complete, Michelle rode an additional 13 miles from Grasmere to Keswick. As if that alone didn’t already push the limits of what was possible, she then ran into the fells to take on the Bob Graham Round. This legendary fell-running challenge covers 67 miles, 42 Lake District peaks, and around 8,200 metres of elevation. Fell running, for those unfamiliar, is a uniquely British test of endurance that involves running across wild, rugged hills without set paths, often navigating through harsh conditions and steep terrain.

Traditionally completed within 24 hours, the Bob Graham usually demands months of planning and large teams of support. Michelle took it on after more than 36 hours of continuous movement, battling wind chill down to minus five, rain, and the disorientating fog of sleep deprivation. “With the exception of one leg of the Bob Graham where we struggled with navigation I was super happy on the Bob Graham. I had that constant feeling of ‘bring it on’! The hills were amazing and I was supported by the most incredible friends.”

The Bob Graham Round: After 36 hours of continuous movement Michelle battled -5° wind chill

humbled

And then it was done. Friends and family cheered as she crossed the finish line, feet cut and bruised, body aching. Michelle had done it. She had taken an idea and turned it into one of the UK’s most punishing endurance tests.

“I feel so humbled by the support I received from so many friends, family and total strangers who came on this journey with me,” she says. That support mattered even more because of everything else Michelle was balancing. She’s a mother of three young children, aged six, seven and eight, and the founder of Watch This Space, a property development company focused on building community rather than just buildings. She also serves as director of WAKTU, which provides outdoor training to elite teams and athletes. The round wasn’t something carved out of empty time or supported by a full-time setup. It was imagined, planned and trained for in snatched windows between parenting, working, and living. There were no training camps or fixed schedules. The entire thing came together in the margins.

L The Bob Graham Round covers 67 miles, 42 Lake District peaks & around 8,200 metres of elevation, R, Michelle completing the 10.5-mile swim of Lake Windermere

“I’ve achieved a couple of world records over the last 15 years for endurance events,” Michelle says, nonchalantly. In reality, her CV is already packed with some of the world’s toughest tests of physical and mental resilience. She’s completed the Enduroman Arch to Arc, a monstrous triathlon that starts with a run from London’s Marble Arch to Dover, continues with a swim across the English Channel, and finishes with a bike ride to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. She’s also taken on Ironman, the iconic one-day race involving a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile cycle and full marathon, completed without pause.

emotional

“I feel so humbled by the support I received from so many friends, family and total strangers who came on this journey with me”

The round itself doesn’t flow with the rhythm of a traditional triathlon. It shifts between water, road and mountain, never allowing rest or routine. The challenge was in its totality: physical, emotional and logistical. “It’s not just the distance, it’s the cold, the sleep deprivation, the terrain, and the sheer mental load. There’s nowhere to hide in it.”

“What if tomorrow doesn’t come?” That question stayed with her. Michelle had lost two close family members to cancer at young ages, and it changed the way she approached time and energy. She stopped waiting for perfect moments and started creating her own. The decision to take on something so extreme didn’t come from a place of ego, but urgency. It was never about headlines. It’s about using the time she has, while it’s still hers to use.

As for the name, the challenge needed one, and Michelle chose something that mattered. Almost every route she’d ever taken on had carried a man’s name. This one was hers. She had imagined it, built it from scratch, and finished it. Calling it the Shelly Rothwell Round wasn’t about ego. It was a deliberate, grounded choice that highlighted how rare it still is to see serious endurance challenges named after women. “In this day and age it seems strange that so many challenges are named after famous men, but hardly any after women,” she says. “The Shelly Rothwell Round takes a step towards balancing that.”

Michelle post-challenge. Photograph by Anna Bailey

“I didn’t create this race for women,” Michelle says. “I created it to put men and women on an even footing.” The round isn’t a statement about gender, it’s a challenge for anyone with the drive to take it on. She didn’t make it easy, but she made sure it was possible. That matters to her. “I designed it to be tough, but not unreachable. I really hope someone gives it a go,” she says. “Come and try the challenge for yourself, if you’re man (or woman!) enough!”

What began as a wild idea now exists as a marker. Not a race series. Not a brand. Just a living route built from belief. Michelle didn’t wait for permission, or follow a set path. She imagined something different and did the work to make it real. In doing so, she widened the road for whoever comes next.

“I hope people understand that you don’t have to be the fastest or the strongest. But if you care enough, and if you’re willing to do the work, you can go further than you think. The edge of what we believe we can do is often just the start.”