Still, the idea lived on, and in April 1982 I was part of a very strong Aberdeen AAC team, which set the present record of 77 hours, 26 minutes, and 18 seconds.

After that, the idea of a solo run grew steadily stronger, until in June 1986, I decided to plan an attempt during our two-week Easter holiday from school in 1987. Both of my parents had died of cancer, my father in 1985 and my mother in 1986, so the time seemed right to attempt the run; I planned to raise funds for cancer research through soliciting sponsorships.

After months of planning, my attempt began at 7:00 a.m. on April 5 at Land’s End. I had decided to start there, at the southern extreme, to make use of the prevailing wind, which in April is from the west, and to take advantage of the “homing pigeon” effect of running toward home. My support crew consisted of Graham Milne (coordinator of the run), Peter Chalmers (in charge of navigation), Mike Francis (who looked after my requirements on the road), and Malcolm Morgan (“Magic” Morgan, the lead physiotherapist from Dr. Gray’s Hospital in Elgin).

I set a schedule for 10 days, and my strategy was to run for one hour, then walk for five minutes, before running another hour, continuing in this fashion

Don Ritchie starts the Land’s End-to-John O’Groats run in April 1987.