An exhausted former cancer patient from Orkney has become the first person to run the 500 plus miles of Scotland’s answer to America’s Route 66.
Pensioner William Sichel completed the circular North Coast 500 mile tourist route in northern Scotland when he jogged into Inverness at around 2am on Monday.
The route has been hailed as one of the greatest drives in the world but has never been run before.
North Coast 500 completed, full details to follow but here's the initial comments.
“I am completely drained. I haven’t slept for 21 hours but I made it in under nine days,” said William at the end of the run.
“It was incredibly demanding in every sense – mentally and physically. We made it – thanks to the team, it was a team effort. I’m now just looking forward to my bed.
“I was running into head winds at times but overall I got lucky with the weather. I had a lot of support. I was amazed how it caught on with people as I went round. I hadn’t expected that at all.”
Official time for my NC500 run was 8 days 19 hours 7 minutes and 7 seconds.
William uses The Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” on his jogs.
After starting at Inverness Castle on April 13, William was attempting to run that distance – and a bit more – on the iconic route, solo, in eight days or less.
Racing into the record books as former cancer patient becomes the first person to run the North Coast 500
