until 1:00 p.m., when I would take a break of one hour. The afternoon and early evening would be similar. On the first day, I finished in the town of Lifton, having covered 83 miles in 12 hours, 44 minutes of running and walking. The next morning, I set off in pouring rain, which was miserable. Mike and I got lost in Taunton, which wasted time and energy. I ended the day in Bridgewater, having covered 80 miles, plus one mile in the wrong direction.

GO LAME, GO HOME

Day three started well: the sun was shining, the road was flat for about 16 miles, and I felt quite good. However, many miles later in the early evening between Monmouth and Hereford, my attempt floundered. I was running down a steep hill before St. Wenwords when suddenly a severe pain developed in my lower left leg, making further running impossible. Treatment from Malcolm that evening proved ineffective.

The next day I spent miserably walking, or rather limping, at less than four miles per hour. At Hope under Dinmore, which I reached in the late afternoon, I abandoned the attempt, after consultation with Malcolm, who could see no chance of the injury improving. Later, the injury was diagnosed as a stress fracture of the tibia.

I made a complete recovery from the fracture and wanted again to try the solo JOGLE. However, before committing myself, I thought it best to give my leg a good test, so I accepted the invitation to run in the Cagliari-to-Sassari race of 254K in Sardinia on October 17. Icompleted the run in 25 hours, 28 minutes, and 52 seconds with no leg problems, apart from the normal one of not being able to move them quickly enough.

Having passed this test, I decided to make a second attempt at the JOGLE, starting on July 11, 1988, again from Land’s End. Everything was set up for the attempt, so it was a bitter blow to all involved when the attempt had to be postponed on June 19. On this day, soon after the start of a 100K race in Lincoln, I collided with another runner and fell very badly onto the pavement.

I fractured my left patella and had to endure the next three and a half weeks with my leg in plaster from groin to ankle. Following the removal of the plaster, and after daily physiotherapy and muscle-strengthening exercises, I regained full bending movement in my knee, but my leg looked rather like a stork’s. I was able to start jogging on August 7 and progressed to full training by September 12. I wanted to test the knee to see if I could contemplate another JOGLE run the following Easter.

Iran the Black Isle Marathon on September 29 in 2:34:56 with no ill effects, except increased discomfort and ache in my knee for a few hours after the race. Then on November 19-20 I ran in the indoor (200-meter track) 24-hour race in

the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, and managed 144 miles, 1,009 yards. My knee was no problem during the run, but it did swell with fluid for a few days after.

I decided that I was sound enough for another attempt. This time I planned to go from John O’ Groats. My reasoning was that it’s much easier to get to John O’Groats from Lossiemouth, my home, and in the event of my knee giving out, which I thought might happen after three days if at all, it would not be so far to get home. On the negative side, going in this direction, headwinds were more likely.

OUR NEW TEAM

I set up the attempt to begin on the first of April 1989, at noon—no longer an April Fool, I hoped. April 1 was the first day of our two-week holiday from school. My support team consisted of Isobel (my wife), Donald Gunn and Mike Francis (teammates from Forres Harriers), George Stewart, plus Claire and Anna, my daughters. Isobel, assisted by George, was to tow our trailer, provide meals, wash clothes, and record parts of the run on videotape when she got a chance. Mike took responsibility for route-finding and keeping the log book, while Donald was to administer massage after each running session. The crew would also take responsibility for collecting names and addresses for the witness book, as required by the Guinness Book of World Records, for inclusion should I break the record, as I planned to do.

After work on March 31, we set off for Golspie, where we were to stay at Donald’s parents’ holiday cottage. Mike and Donald drove a minibus, supplied by our main sponsor, the Macallan Whisky Distillers. I had all the seating removed except for the driver and passenger seats; this way I could easily carry all our provisions, kit, and a bicycle, plus there was room to lie down for a massage.

Overnight, Mike developed a severe toothache, so he and Donald set out early to try to find a dentist in Wick, while we made our way to John O’Groats some time later. My plan was to ease into the run by starting with a half-day, which would take us to Brora. At John O’Groats, temperatures were bitterly cold, and a strong southeast wind blew, so a wetsuit, hat, and gloves were necessary. Mike and Donald arrived about 30 minutes before the noon start, having found a dentist who fixed Mike’s tooth for free as his contribution to our run, which by now was known as “Ritchie’s Run ’89.”

Nine friends and supporters turned up before the start to wish me luck and see me off, a surprise treat that I greatly appreciated. I planned to start exactly at the 12 noon time signal from a BBC radio station, but in all the excitement I selected the wrong station on the car radio, and there was no BBC time signal, so my actual departure was at 12:02.

& £: ee 24″ Annual eo:

Napa Valley Marathon

March 3, 2002 7:00 am RRCA National Championships

2001 Champions Anthony Grudale & Miriam Schmidt