William Sichel sets new World Record in Norway

Posted on November 30, 2015 by talkultra

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Orkney-based ultra marathon runner, William Sichel (62) ended the year on a high by running 315.565km/196.083 miles to claim 3^rd overall in the men’s race, from 37 starters and first in the over 60 age category with a new World Age-Group Record in the Bislett International Endurance Indoor Festival 48 Hour race in Oslo, Norway.

As is often the case William worked his way gradually to the top positions from much lower down the field in the early hours.

“As always happens, people start too fast, eat too much and get sick. I just stick to my plan and used my experience to run a more even pace throughout the race. Sometimes it’s important to see the whole race as a whole and not be too myopic.”

William set a life time best time for 100-miles indoors of 19 hours 56 minutes, 28 seconds and covered 184.791km/114.82 miles for the first 24 hour period. This was only 3 miles less than he ran when coming 3^rd overall in September’s Tooting 24 Hour track race in London.

“I then went on to do just over 81 miles in the second day, when the track was less crowded and added a substantial 25 miles to the current World Age-Group record for indoor 48 hours which was set last year in Alaska. To be honest over-crowding wasn’t too bad most of the time but I did find it far too noisy a lot of the time and had to run with ear plugs. The high noise level also interfered with my system of having quick 20 minute naps as I couldn’t get to sleep.”

William would like to thank his crewman Alan Young from Dundee who travelled to Oslo to assist him as well as all sponsors who helped to make the trip possible.

William will now check all the records set at intermediate distances and times to see how many records were set all together.

Read all articles about William Sichel HERE

William Sichel – A RUN IN THE PARK on RUNULTRA

Posted on October 8, 2014 by talkultra

Read my article on the incredible William Sichel. He has been flying the flag for ultra running for 20-years. This year he took on the intimidating 3,1000 mile SRI CHIMNOY.

‘On day 19 I was 71-miles behind the target pace. I was aware of this but during the race I didn’t know this… it wouldn’t have been helpful. I needed to blank this and work on my mind. I adjusted and went into mental lockdown. I lived in the moment. I focused on each step, each minute detail and I said to myself, just run the greatest distance possible each day and repeat. Lap by lap, day by day I started to adapt and I found that at night I could speed up. After 9pm I could run, I could speed up and I could move quickly. This is coincided with the course being quieter too. The race and the other runners had written me off; they all didn’t think it was possible to pull back such a deficit.’

You can read the full article HERE

Make sure to check out RUNULTRA HERE

William Sichel completes 3100 mile Sri Chimnoy

Posted on August 15, 2014 by talkultra

William Sichel 3100-mile Sri Chimnoy

Orkney-based ultra marathon runner, William Sichel (60) completed the World’s Longest Certified Footrace – the Sri Chinmoy Self Transcendence 3100 Mile Race in New York last week, in a time of 50 Days 15 hours 06 minutes and 04 seconds.

A full and in-depth interview with William will be on episode 68 of Talk Ultra available on August 22nd via iTunes or this website.

William has now run further in a single, measured race than any other Scot, any other British athlete, and/or anyone over the age of 60 – ever. In doing this William set over 50 records at the Scottish Over 60, Scottish Overall, British Over 60, British Overall and World Over 60 levels.

Finishing as the 6^th male finisher overall, William became the first person over 60 ever to complete this incredible challenge. William struggled early on and by day 19 was 71 miles behind the daily average required to complete the race in time.

He managed to claw his way back, day by day and eventually finished with more than a day in hand. This entailed running the second half of the race 3½ days quicker than the first half, a feat that had never been done before in the 18 year history of the race.

Race Director Sahishnu Szczesiul described William’s run as “the performance of the race”.

“I found the race incredibly hard – far and away the hardest thing I have ever done. I then made it harder for myself by falling behind and having to run a negative split to finish. I had to battle the heat and humidity, the noise, the unreal distance and duration. I was so relieved to finish within the time limit.”

William hopes to have high-lighted the benefits of exercise for the over 60s as well as raise money for the CLAN cancer support charity.

William made the decision 18 months ago to compete in this race as he wanted to mark his 20^th year in ultra distance running and his 60^th year, by tackling something rather special and this event seemed to fit the bill.

William will now allow time for a full recovery, both mental and physical, before returning to competition next year.

Make sure you tune in to Talk Ultra HERE on August 22nd for a fascinating interview by an inspirational and very humble, pure, ultra runner.

William is raising funds for CLAN Cancer Support and his dedicated web page can be found here: http://www.justgiving.com/William-Sichel

Sichel starts World’s Longest Footrace – 3100 miles in New York

Posted on June 9, 2014 by talkultra

Orkney-based ultra marathon runner, William Sichel (60) will become the first Scot to start the World’s Longest Certified Footrace – the Sri Chinmoy Self Transcendence 3100 Mile Race – which starts in New York on Sunday June 15th – with a 52 day cut-off.

William hopes to high-light the benefits of exercise for the over 60s as well as raise money for the CLAN cancer support charity.

The 18th edition of this event will, once again, take place on a half mile street circuit in Queens, New York from June 15th to August 6th. A small, invited field of 11 men and 3 women will start this unique event.

For organisational reasons the race is run a bit like a stage race with the runners and organisers having an enforced break between mid-night and 6am every day. The clock doesn’t stop however and competitors must be on the start line at 6 every morning.

So in effect, the runners have 18 hours a day to cover the daily average of 60 miles required to complete the challenge within the time limit.

“That means I must cover almost 2½ marathons a day or the equivalent of 240 laps of a 400m track, every day for 52 days, just to finish inside the time limit! It’s an incredible ask because if I have a bad day then I have to run further in subsequent days to complete the race. Currently no one from Scotland has ever started the event and no one from anywhere, aged over 60, has ever finished it, so there are lots of targets to aim for.”

Sri Chinmoy was an Indian spiritual master and teacher of meditation, who established himself in New York in the 1960’s and who died in 2007. The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team organise many running events world-wide, including the UK.

The heat and humidity of summer in New York will have a big bearing on the event and William has prepared diligently in his own home-made heat chamber, mimicking the the 35°C and 90% humidity often experienced in New York during July and August.

“To be honest it would hardly be worth going if I didn’t do this type of specific preparation. The effects of heat and humidity on running performance can be severe and coming from a cool climate it makes perfect sense and is something I can do, relatively conveniently, at home.”

William made the decision 18 months ago to compete in this race as he wanted to mark his 20th year in ultra distance running by tackling something rather special and this event seemed to fit the bill.

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William Sichel to attempt World’s Longest Certified Footrace – 3100 miles

Posted on March 27, 2014 by talkultra

Orkney-based ultra marathon runner, William Sichel, has announced that he will be attempting to become the first Scot, first Brit and first person over 60-years of age to complete the World’s Longest Certified Footrace – the Sri Chinmoy Self Transcendence 3100 Mile Race – within the current 52 day time limit.

Described by the New York Times as the “Mount Everest of ultra marathons”, the 18^th edition of this event will, once again, take place on a half mile street circuit in Queens, New York from June 15th to August 6^th this year. A small field of about a dozen runners is expected.

“I wanted to make this year in particular rather special, it being my 60^th year and also my 20^th in ultra distance running. I’ve always specialised in standard road and track ultras so, to me, this is the ultimate in this type of race. Clearly it is way beyond anything I have previously attempted and I’ll need to use all my experience to try and finish the race!”

Sri Chinmoy was an Indian spiritual master and teacher of meditation, who established himself in New York in the 1960’s and who died in 2007. The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team organise many running events world-wide, including in Scotland, England and Wales.

“My first ever standard ultra was the Sri Chinmoy 100km race in Edinburgh in 1994, which to my amazement I won. Since then I have done loads of Sri Chinmoy ultra distance events world-wide and up to 6 Days in duration. Their events are always well organised and have the best interests of the runners at heart.”

William has known about this incredible event for a long time but never thought he would be able to participate or realistically consider himself a possible finisher.

“Trying to clear a two months gap in your life isn’t easy and in fact that becomes part of the challenge. It will be the most incredible trial for me – the ultimate really in long distance running.”

For organisational reasons the race is run a bit like a stage race with the runners and organisers having an enforced break between mid-night and 6am every day. The clock doesn’t stop of course.

So in effect the competitors have 18 hours a day to cover the daily average of 60 miles required to complete the challenge within the time limit.

“I’ve run 153 miles in a single day as a one off. In six day races I cover 80-90 miles as a daily average and in my only 1000 miles race I averaged 72 miles a day. To attempt a daily average of 60 miles, week in and week out, will need the most astonishing effort and conservation of resources.”

Welshman Abichal Watkins, was the first British person to compete in the event, finishing five times in five years, with a best performance of 54 days 11 hours in 2008. He is now a race organiser and this year is promoting the Celtic Ultra Fest in Weston-super-Mare in September.

William is working on Project165.com in which he will attempt to have set 165 ultra running records before his 65^th birthday on October 1^st 2018. Amongst William’s current 95 records he holds nine world age-group records including the fastest time to run 1000 miles.

William is dedicating Project165.com to raise funds for CLAN Cancer Support and his dedicated web page can be found here: http://www.justgiving.com/William-Sichel

William Sichel settles for age-group win in Taiwan

Posted on February 25, 2014 by talkultra

Orkney-based ultra marathon runner, William Sichel had to settle for an age-group win and 14^th overall, with his distance of 156.069 miles in the Taipei 48 Hour Road race which ran from February 14th-16^th in the Taiwanese capital.

“I started strongly but after about 4 or 5 hours I could feel that I hadn’t fully recovered from my epic run in Arizona in January. I just kept going, but had to accept a lesser distance than I would normally achieve in this type of event.”

William has had an incredibly successful, but hectic, last few months of competitive action going back to August when he was runner-up and set a world age-group record at the British UltraFest 6 Day race in Abingdon, England. Then came runner-up spot again in the Monaco 8 Day race in November followed by 4^th overall and 17 records (including another world-age group one) in the Arizona 6 Day over the New Year.

The Taipei event was incredibly popular with over 1700 runners taking part in the 12 hour and 24 hour relay events which took place concurrently with the 48 hour event. A noisy festival of ultra marathon competition.

“It’s time now for some rest and recovery and then a few months of hard training before my next competitive outing which will be announced shortly.”

William Sichel 2nd at Monaco 6-Day

Posted on December 2, 2013 by talkultra

Orkney-based ultra marathon runner, William Sichel came second overall (first over 60) with 533.57 miles over the 8 Days run around the harbour in Monaco.

William will claim eight Scottish and one British age-group records achieved during the race.

Over 9100 runners took part in the whole event which raised almost 300,000 Euros for children’s charities.

The race was halted on the Monday night when Cyclone Cleopatra hit the port area of Monaco wrecking part of the course. When a tower collapsed, crushing a row of toilet cubicles and a car, the authorities moved in to halt the race as it was unsafe to continue.

“It was a bizarre situation as when the race was stopped we had no idea when it would resume. We went back to our hotel and awaited news of a re-start which came the next morning.”

William lost 12 hours of the event which completely altered the race and ruled out chances for any World Age-Group Records.

“I had to re-assess my goals for the event so that I knew what I was doing.”

The race was subsequently hit by torrential rain which rendered part of the course almost impassable, due to flooding, for some hours. There were also major issues with the computer system at the race which meant that very few distance updates were available to runners during the race.

“All in all a very difficult and unusual race! Finishing 2^nd to Didier Sessegolo, for the the third time, is no disgrace, as he is a worthy World No 1 for this year. I should hang on to my overall World No 3 ranking which isn’t bad for an over 60 year old!”

William now has a short break before heading across the ‘pond’, just after Christmas, for a very competitive Phoenix 6 Day race in Arizona.

William is just starting Project165.com in which he will attempt to have set 165 ultra running records before his 65^th birthday on October 1^st 2018. These records will be at World, British and Scottish level, including age groups, in certified races on road, track or indoor courses. Amongst William’s current records he holds seven world age-group records including the fastest time to run 1000 miles.

Who is William Sichel?

I was told I “might be an ultra runner” in 1994, following some success at ‘ordinary’ marathon running but reporting that I “wasn’t exhausted at the finish”. I enjoyed instant success, winning the Scottish 100km (62 miles) Championships in July of that year.

I went on to get my first Scottish vest in 1995 and my Great Britain call-up in 1996 and represented GB in all European and World 100km Championships through the 90’s. I also won the British Championships and the World Age-Group Championships at the 100km distance.

During the early part of the 2000’s I focused on 24 hour races, being ranked in the World Top 10 for two years. I had outright 24 hour wins in Switzerland, the USA and the UK. I also tackled some classic ultra distance events including the Spartathlon (twice) – 153 miles from Athens to Sparta, setting a Scottish event record and the World’s hottest race, the Badwater Ultra marathon, through Death Valley in California, setting a British event record.

In 2006 I had a winning debut in my first 6 Day race, in Monaco and became the overall World No1 in that event, for that year. Since then, multi-day races, up to 1000 miles in length, have become my specialty.

In the November 2011 Monaco “No Finish Line” 8 Day race (which had over 6,000 participants) I won the event outright, set a new course record and became the first person to cover more than 1000km during the 8-day race.

For some years I have been engaged in Project 60@60 in which I was attempting to have set 60 ultra distance records, at World, British and Scottish level, including age-groups, before my 60^th birthday on October 1^st 2013. The two 1000km records, achieved in Monaco in November 2012, marked my 59^th and 60^th records thus achieving my target 10 months ahead of schedule. Full details are provided HERE.

Project165.com was announced in September 2013.

I run a very active blog, which has had almost 1 million hits over the last 2 years and receives visitors from 91 countries. I also actively promote my performances and my sport via social media.

The Scotsman newspaper described me as a ”role model for the middle aged”.