The inaugural Frog Graham Round (FGR) was completed by Peter Hayes in May 2005 and was completely self-supported.  Tim Mosedale followed with the second FGR in a similar fashion in 2014, but how you tackle the round is completely down to your personal preference.  Those contenders who have already undertaken the Bob Graham Round will be familiar with a model where a person is supported by other runners who carry his/her equipment and provide navigational guidance and while this is completely acceptable for the FGR, contenders should consider how Peter defines the Spirit and Ethos of the round and tailor their decisions accordingly.

Peter outlines what he considers to be the true spirit of the Frog Graham Round:

"The Frog Graham Round will be beyond the physical capabilities of some people, however I still want the challenge to be open to as many people as possible who would like to try it.  For this reason there is no time limit and why taking everything you need with you is part of the spirit of the challenge rather than a rule and is not something that will be enforced.

I think that when people decide to do the Frog Graham Round in a way that is something other than self-supported, then they are best placed to judge for themselves what degree of support is reasonable and what might leave them feeling that they have made things too easy for themselves.

If, say, someone of 'advanced years' managed to get round the route with lots of support, then this is wholly within the spirit of the Frog Graham Round, because it would be impossible for them to get round otherwise; they have done all that they can within their capabilities and that is absolutely fine.  However, if someone much younger and at peak fitness went round with lots of support that would still be acceptable, but perhaps they would feel that it had not been quite in the spirit of the thing.”

There have been athletes who have specifically set out to achieve record (fastest) times on the Frog Graham Round and inevitably there will be more in the future.  How a given individual goes about these record attempts is completely down to them, the Frog Graham Round Club does not seek to discriminate between supported or unsupported attempts and categorically WILL NOT make a determination that could encourage anything less than best practice from both a safety and biosecurity perspective. The club will, however, record the times and promote them on our Roll of Honour as we feel that these achievements deserve recognition.

On the subject of canoes/kayaks accompanying contenders on “supported” Frog Graham Round attempts, Peter offers his thoughts:

"I would again want to leave this to the discretion of the contender as it might be another nice way of getting friends and family to participate. While it’s undeniable that a canoe/kayak leading the way makes direction-finding across the lakes much easier, I am not wholly sure that they make things safer and the last thing I would want is for anyone to get into trouble during the swims.

1. There are more things to go wrong (in one abortive attempt the support canoe blew away) and

2. People may spur each other on. (meaning the contender works harder than he/she would otherwise)

Safety must be absolutely paramount on any Frog Graham Round attempt and while this is completely down to the individual, I would much prefer that contenders take all necessary steps to minimise risk. Ultimately, it is your choice".