Safety in numbers for walkers who were strangers at the start

But those who were first over the line in the 24-mile challenge said they never considered giving up, despite being lashed with rain for almost eight hours.

First in, who all finished together despite being strangers until yesterday morning, were Jason Horsfall, 24, of Sheffield; Alan Horsfall, 27, also from Sheffield; 31-year-old Ben Longstaff, from Huddersfield; 52-year-old Bob Hornby, from Cumbria; and Paul Warren, 43, from Huddersfield.

They finished in a respectable seven-and-a-half hours.

Mr Hornby said: “It was very hard and the wind was horrendous. I have done an awful lot of walking all over the world and these were some of the worst conditions I have ever been in.

“But, because of what Jane did, obviously that spurs you on.

“We all didn’t know each other before we set off but we kept together because it is safety in numbers. We didn’t do too much talking though, the wind was so bad we wouldn’t have been able to hear each other anyway.” He added: “We never thought about giving up.”

Final figures are still to be released to show how many of the 223 starters completed the tough 24-mile walk, but it is thought several who attempted it either swapped to the 12-mile walk en route, or else dropped out altogether.

The 24-miler Peaks Walk was the only one of the three routes which hadn’t completely sold out before the event yesterday, perhaps due to the sheer nature of the challenge.

After a tough climb in the first two miles, up Win Hill, the route continued over a high plateau above Ladybower reservoir before dropping down to Edale.

Following a check-in at Edale village hall, walkers then continued up and along Jacob’s Ladder and the Kinder plateau, before returning to Hope via the summit of Mam Tor.