On September 30th, 2018 I will begin my run from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
One end of the country to the other!
If this wasn’t intimidating enough, I have decided to make it even harder for myself. My run will be a world record attempt! I will be attempting to break the Guinness World Record for Fastest Journey on Foot from Land’s End to John O Groats. To be successful I will have to run from one sign to the other in less than 9 days 2 hours and 26 minutes.
Let me tell you why
In the summer of 2017 I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Following surgery and chemotherapy, I have been lucky enough to make a complete physical recovery. However, my short experience with this illness made me realise how difficult it can be to talk about.
Most men (me included) struggle to open up about issues in this area of our body, let alone talk about self-examinations etc. This needs to change.
Testicular cancer is one of the most treatable forms of cancer if it is caught early. It can't be caught early if we do not talk about it!
My journey to my world record attempt is all about raising awareness about testicular cancer and helping make sure men across the country know the signs, symptoms and who to speak to if something isn't right.
After my chemotherapy ended, I decided that I wanted to celebrate my recovery by becoming a world record holder. I didn't want any old record though. I wanted one that was hugely challenging, completely out of my comfort zone and something that people will tell me I simply can't do!
The fastest journey on foot from Land’s End to John O Groats fits all the above criteria. So, I have put on my running shoes with the goal of becoming a world record holder by the end of 2018.
I have teamed up with the testicular cancer charity BallBoys. Our partnership will make sure as many people as possible are talking about testicular cancer.
My running background
I will be brutally honest with you. I have never run in a competitive race in my life! Not one, not even part of one. However, I have been a personal trainer for 10 years so my fitness levels have always been good. I recently left the fitness industry to pursue my writing aspirations when I became ill. Being unable to workout how I have been used to, I fell in love with running.
I don’t consider myself a natural runner, but I have always enjoyed going for spontaneous runs whenever I could and my body has always coped well with this.
Over the last few months, running has taken over my life. I have always, and I will always, try to avoid being ‘that guy’ who constantly talks about running, who shares every PB on social media and always has his running shoes with him just in case… but here I am writing a blog post about my running, having just finished running with my running shoes in my bag by the door!
What now?
I am training my body to get used to the HUGE challenge it will be facing. Running as much as possible, wherever possible. I hope to gain sponsorship in coming weeks which will allow me to train for my record attempt full time, but for now, I work with the time I have.
BallBoys have been extremely supportive so far and I love working with a charity that I can relate to first hand. I have nothing but the utmost respect for all their work and I truly hope I can make a difference to people’s lives who need their help.
Get involved
I want as many people involved with my record attempt as possible. Whether that be through chats on social media, meet ups at running events or going for a run together. I will be travelling all over the country over the next 9 months to work out the best routes, time frames and so many other mind boggling tasks that I don’t even want to think about right now. So feel free to make contact if you want to talk about running – I am getting pretty good at talking about that lately…
Thank you to everyone who has supported me so far and I am excited to make lots of new running friends.
If you'd like to write a blog for us then get in touch at info@runr.co.uk and you could be up next.
Happy running and be proud to be a runr!
Team Runr.
