AMBLESIDE athlete Ben Abdelnoor produced a stunning run at the Lakeland 50 at the weekend, obliterating the course record in the process.

The 32-year-old completed proceedings in 07:39:26, shaving eight minutes off the previous best time set in 2010 by Andrew James.

His first time running this distance, Abdelnoor was more than 40 minutes quicker than any of the other 583 competitors on the day, something he was not necessarily expecting.

“While I had an idea of how I wanted to go, it’s difficult to know the level of competition because I had never done this type of race before,” he said.

“I don’t really do this sort of running, I’m more of a fell runner so it was quite a step into the unknown.

“But I wanted to have a go because I was really inspired by watching the Lakeland 100 for the last three of four years go through Ambelside but I thought I would start with the 50.”

The Lakeland 50 route starts from the northern end of Ullswater within the Dalemain Estate, following the eastern shoreline as far as Howtown.

A trek along the banks of Haweswater to Mardale Head proceeds visits to Long Sleddale, Kentmere, Ambleside, Langdale and Tilberthwaite before the final climb and descent finish at Coniston.

In total, entrants have to navigate approximately 3100m of ascent in what is billed as one of the greatest ultra running and walking challenges in Europe.

Finishing second behind Abdelnoor was Richard Ashton in a time of 08:20:58, with Robin Houghton of Winchester & District AC posting 08:33:30.

The first woman home was Katherine Brougham in 09:44:10, strides ahead of the remaining female field with Alice Briscoe second over the line in 10:35:42.

Elsewhere, Stuart Mills took top gong in the Lakeland 100 – a circular route encompassing the whole of the fells with 6300m of ascent.

From 274 competitors, Mills, 50, visited all 14 checkpoints and was first home in a time of 22:17:50 with Charlie Sharpe coming second in 23:02:45 and Ed Batty third in 23:07:40.

Lizzie Wraith was the leading lady, coming back in 24:15:16 – just more than a day after starting – with Debbie Martin-Consani of Garscube Harriers next with 26:02:00.