New record set for Land’s End to John O’Groats cycle run
THE record for cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats has been broken by Michael Broadwith.
The 40-year-old from Hertfordshire did the marathon bike run in 43 hours, 25 minutes and 13 seconds – more than 30 minutes faster than the previous record held by Gethin Butler.
His record of 44 hours, four minutes and 19 seconds had stood for 17 years.
Veteran local cyclist Alasdair Washington was a record-keeper for the Road Records Association (RRA) at the north end of the trip.
Mr Broadwith, a maths teacher, joins a select number of people to break the record since George Mills, riding a penny-farthing, made the first successful end-to-end attempt in 1886.
Broadwith also broke the RRA 24-hour record with 507.511 miles covered at an average speed of 21.1 miles per hour.
Bill Mowat, vice-chairman of the Dunnet and Canisbay Community Council, congratulated Mr Broadwith on his remarkable achievement.
The women’s record holder is Lynne Taylor who lives in the West Midlands. “She is the only one with a Canisbay parish relative to do so,” said Mr Mowat, who pointed out that the RRA only recognised female racers in the late 1930s. The association was formed in 1888.
She also holds the mixed tandem record with Andy “Iron Man” Wilkinson.
Meanwhile, Moray long-distance runner Don Ritchie, who held the record between John O’Groats and Land’s End, has died at the age of 73. He did the run in 1989 in 10 days, 15 hours and 27 minutes.
The feat was achieved in what were described as “challenging conditions”. Mr Ritchie developed bronchitis and endured stomach and chest pains as well as regular nosebleeds as he ran his way into the record books.
Mr Mowat said: “He was also the last Scot to hold the record which stood until 1996 when it was broken with a time of 10 days, two hours and 25 minutes by Richard Brown.”