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William Sichel has become the first person to run the 500 plus miles of Scotland’s answer to America’s Route 66

An exhausted former cancer patient from Orkney, Scotland has become the first person to run the 500 plus miles of Scotland’s answer to America’s Route 66.

Pensioner William Sichel completed the circular North Coast 500 mile tourist route in northern Scotland when he ran into Inverness at around 2am on Monday.

The route has been hailed as one of the greatest drives in the world but has never been run before.

William started at Inverness Castle in Scotland on April 13, with the goal of finishing the iconic route, solo, in eight days.  His official time was 8 days, 19 hours, 7 minutes and 7 seconds.

It took him to the west coast, up to Cape Wrath, through Caithness, through Tain and then down the east coast, to finally complete the loop in Inverness.

“I completed a recce run on the whole course in November last year when I was driven around the whole route, which is actually 518.7 miles and ran for up to three hours a day to get a feel for the area," William said.

“Following that experience I decided to have a go at running the whole thing.”

“I am completely drained. I haven’t slept for 21 hours but I made it in under nine days,” said William at the end of the run.

“It was incredibly demanding in every sense – mentally and physically. We made it – thanks to the team, it was a team effort. I’m now just looking forward to my bed.

“I was running into head winds at times but overall I got lucky with the weather. I had a lot of support. I was amazed how it caught on with people as I went round. I hadn’t expected that at all.”

William has completed 107 ultra marathons since 1994. Last summer he ran the Self Transcendence 3,100 Mile race in New York – the world’s longest certified footrace.

No one had previously run the North Coast 500 route although cyclist James McCallum, completed the route in 31 hours in 2016.

 

(04/23/2019) Views: 2,644 ⚡AMP

William Sichel is set to take on one of the world’s most exhausting and brutal races in the running world

William Sichel, from Orkney UK and eight other runners will at 6am local time, on Sunday June, 17, toe the startline of an event recognized as one of the most exhausting and brutal in the running world — the 3,100-mile Sri Chinmoy race in New York. Sichel, who became the oldest ever finisher of the event in 2014, is anticipating being pushed to his breaking point once more, in his bid to complete 5,649 laps of the half-a-mile circuit in Queens inside the 52-day time limit. The 22nd annual event is set to finish on Tuesday, August 7, with competitors clocking up the miles between 6am and 12 midnight each day. He believed the support of the Orkney public could be key in crossing the finishing line, with the runner set to take to social media for encouragement throughout his time in New York. Since I did it four years ago, engagement through social media has become even more important. (06/16/2018) Views: 1,854 ⚡AMP

Sichel’s Returning to Run world’s longest certified footrace

Legendary ultra veteran William Sichel has accepted an invitation to return to New York this June 17th for the 22nd staging of the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3,100 mile, officially recognised as the world’s longest certified footrace. Described by the New York Times as the 'Mount Everest of ultramarathons', competitors must average 60 miles a day, every day in order to complete the distance inside the strict 52-day time limit. Sichel became the oldest ever finisher of the event in 2014 when completing the distance in just over 50 days 15 hours, an average of over 427 miles a week for the duration. (02/06/2018) Views: 2,145 ⚡AMP
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