He competed in many long-distance fell running events, and completed the Bob Graham Round in 2005 in a time of 17 hours 9 minutes.
[6] In doing so he raised over £22,000 for two multiple sclerosis charities, the MS Society and the Samson Centre for MS in Guildford,[7] because his sister has MS.[2] He described the run in his book There is No Map in Hell, including full details of his route and timings, as well as the complex logistics of support runners, road support, and general planning involved in the operation, and the pain and psychological challenges he endured.
[9] After the Wainwrights run, Birkinshaw suffered health problems diagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome, saying in an article in Fell Runner in 2017 that he "is not sure if he is fully recovered.
"[10] In July 2018 he accompanied Kilian Jornet on a section of his record-breaking Bob Graham Round (Jornet completed in 12 hours 52 minutes, an hour below the previous record) and reported that "although I have recovered from my Wainwrights round – which is now four years ago – I am still five to ten per cent slower than I was then.
[1] He works as a research hydrologist at Newcastle University, in the area of "physically based hydrological modelling of river basins".