Land's End to John O'Groats, LEJOG 2002, A
Standing at the south-westerly point of Great Britain on a beautiful, breezy spring morning in May marked the beginning of a project which had taken several years of preparation and now provided the opportunity to fulfil a boyhood ambition, to run from Land’s End to John O’Groats (LeJog). It was with some apprehension that I approached my family and employer, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, to negotiate a month’s leave. I was surprised by the reaction, both very encouraging to the point where a more sensitive person could have taken it the wrong way. Was I that dispensable and should I have been bolder and gone for three months to join the 2002 run across America? For those not into ultra-marathons (running events greater than the marathon distance of 26.2 miles), running 35 miles a day for 28 days may appear a little excessive. However, it is worth putting my efforts into some perspective. The cycling record for LeJog is 1 day 20 hr held by Gethin Butler. In fact my final overall time of just over 28 days was only a little slower than the running record of 26 days and 7 hr held by Arvind Pandya. Close, but for the fact Arvind was running backwards!. The forward running record is just over 10 days (90 miles per day!) held by Don Ritchie and Richard Brown. The walking record is less than half my time; 12 days 3 hr and 45 minutes by Malcolm Barnish.
My running career started during college days at Liverpool University, where a gentle 2 mile jog around the perimeter of Sefton Park with a friend and fellow vet helped us to wind down after the stress of excessive swotting. The distances crept up (the runs becoming solo) and encouraged by my father’s runs in the London Marathon, I entered my first marathon in Paris 1989. Despite “hitting the wall” and struggling with cramping calves in the last few miles, I was bitten by the marathon bug! The next 10 years were spent running over 150 marathons, using every vacation and spare penny on travelling to events throughout the UK, Europe and the USA. These ranged from big city marathons such as Boston and New York with thousands of runners to small club events with fewer than 100 participants.
The three most memorable marathons were the 100th Boston Marathon in 1996, my 100th Marathon at Harrow and the New York in 2001. Boston is the oldest and probably the most prestigious marathon and in 1996 I had the honour of meeting the great John Kelley, who had completed almost 60 Bostons, starting at the tender age of 20 and running his last at the incredible age of 82 in 1990. In the aftermath of September 11th it seemed a remote possibility that the 2001 New York Marathon would be held. However, supported by Mayor Giulianni and many dedicated organisers, over 24 000 runners completed the course encouraged by 12 000 volunteers and a record 2.5 million spectators. The theme “United We Run” captured the essence of the marathon as a truly unifying force: a race where all men (and women) start equal and everyone finishes a winner. It was a beautiful autumn day and the emotion and energy of the runners and spectators was inspiring. A race where every man and women from nearly every nation around the world started equal and all finished as winners.
In recent times, injuries have begun to take their toll on marathon times. I seem to have covered the alphabet of common running injuries starting at “a” for athletes foot (a chronic problem!) and Achilles tendinitis through chondromalacia patella and hallux rigidus (arthritis of the metatarsal phalangeal joint) to iliotibial band syndrome, shin splints, patellar tendinits and ending with “z” for “zimmer frame” required! However, I looked towards the ultra-events as heralding a new series of challenges. LSD or Long Slow Distance running appeared preferable to the gutsy running of sub-3 hr marathons and at the same time I discovered that the training technique decreased the risk of further injuries. Training for “Lejog” involved abandoning the car and running or cycling the 17 mile journey to work, a weekly total of 120 miles for each discipline, which would hopefully prepare me for undertaking the task of completing 250 miles per week on foot.
From Land’s End, I had decided to follow the national cycle route 3, avoiding the A30 and was soon following pretty country lanes lined with banks of bluebells and primroses. As I worked north I followed the spring and never tired of the delightful sights and smells of these wild flowers. Mousehole, a little fishing port approximately 10 miles from Land’s End, was the first point of rendezvous with my dad. We were keeping in touch with mobile phones, an essential tool for this type of event, but we soon discovered they were all too liable to fail in the hilly less populated areas of the country.
