Friends running length of UK fail in record attempt

TWO school friends missed out on becoming the fastest pair to run the length of the UK.

Sam Jolly, 22, from Wargrave, completed the 1,347 km journey from John O’Groats to Land’s End in 16 days.

But his running partner Will Good, 22, from Crowthorne, dropped out six days before the end due to a shin injury.

The pair, who met at Reading Blue Coat School in Sonning before attending Nottingham University together, are believed to be the first duo to attempt a joint record.

Despite the result, they raised more than £12,000 for the charity Mind, which supports people struggling with poor mental health.

To achieve the record, they aimed to run an average of 100km a day, without breaks. The pair were accompanied by a support crew comprising friends Freddie Yuill and Ayush Kshatriya. They would cook for them each evening and resupply them at stops

Mr Jolly, who works for Hurlingham Stretch Tents, an events company in Maidensgrove, finished the run in 16 days, 13 hours and 10 minutes and had lost 8kg by the end of the challenge.

He described the run as difficult from the get-go as the pair faced severe rain and weather warnings while making their way down through the highlands.

Mr Jolly said: “It had been a really nice day, it was really sunny and then by the end of the day it was raining. It was really windy, it got dark and we had about another 3km to go.

“We decided to just cool it and not wreck ourselves on day one. but then it didn’t get easier on day two. We were in the middle of nowhere up in Scotland and there were weather warnings and it was really, really windy and rainy. It was just really rough straight off the bat.”

Mr Jolly said the trick was to make himself think he would only be out running for an hour at a time. He said: “You just have to break it down and when you think about it like that, it’s just not as daunting, rather than thinking I'll go out and run 15 hours today and for the next two weeks.

“I thought about giving up quite a lot, especially in that first week. From days four to seven for me were probably the roughest just because you still got such a long way to go. Physically, everything was just so painful and we were really wondering if it would be possible at all.”

Despite the hardships, Mr Jolly said that the run had made him appreciate the small things in life.

He said: “The fun bits were the mini bits in the day, like when you come back in for lunch or dinner. So even if you just get a chair and you can just sit for three or four minutes, that is just so nice.”

Mr Good said he was “gutted” not to have completed the challenge but that he was really pleased to see his friend get there in the end.

He said: “It was just sad and all-around pretty rubbish, to be honest. We were 800km out, we were over halfway, and I just kept getting a pain in my shin and then it just got to a point where I couldn’t carry on. I don’t know if it was from the preparation. There was one shoe I kept wearing and I could feel it was just a bit more exaggerated. But it happens, I guess. Those shoes won’t see the light of day again.

“You see Sam doing it and you can't help but think, ‘It’d be so incredible to do it with him’ but I was just very gassed and very happy to see him get to the end.”

The pair first came up with the idea for the challenge while trying to stay fit when backpacking around Australia and Asia and managed to complete a marathon in four different countries they travelled to.

Mr Good said: “We were fortunate to be travelling in January. I was in Australia, Sam came out with some of our other friends from home and we did a bit of training in Australia for a month.

“We were running quite a lot but we weren’t committed to anything serious. We were just running to stay fit during travelling. Then when we were in Indonesia, and I don't know why, but I was just looking up what the John O’Groats’s to Lands End record was.

“We decided to give it a go and during the rest of our trip we would keep setting ourselves little goals and trying to run a marathon in each country we went to.”

By the end of their travels, the friends had competed in a marathon in Indonesia and Vietnam, a 48-mile run in 48 hours in Australia and an ultramarathon in Nepal.

Mr Good said: “We were going to a new country every three weeks and we had to train in order to be fit enough to do the marathons. The run in Vietnam was 30C during the day. That was the worst one by far.”

During their training the pair were helped by running coach, Chris Taylor who helped coach Made in Chelsea star Spencer Matthews complete 30 marathons in 30 days across the Jordanian desert, earlier this year.

They said that they had chosen to raise money for Mind as they had found exercise to be central to their mental health in the past.

Mr Good said: “We spoke about it and we are very lucky, fortunate people, [but] we definitely have, I wouldn’t say suffered with it, but have experienced what lows are and different things like that.

“We have always liked to stay fit and we probably don't realise how much of a big thing it is to do it every day. Looking forward to exercising, looking after yourself is something that I think correlates strongly with being mentally strong.”

To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/page/willsamjogle