Sichel Tackles 48 Hour Treadmill Challenge

22 FEB2012

William Sichel, Britain's top ultra-distance runner, embarks today (Wednesday, February 22) on his latest endurance event as he takes part in the World Challenge 48 Treadmill. Sichel will be competing against five other established ultra distance athletes over the course of two days at Evreux in Northern France, .

The brainchild of local organiser Gerard Cain, athletes will be aiming to match the existing 48 hour treadmill record of 251.80 miles, set by Ireland's Tony Mangan. 10 years ago, William set a Guinness world record of 112.46 miles for the greatest distance run on a treadmill in 24 hours. More recently, Scottish runner Mark Cooper completed 129.2 miles over the same duration.

On the upcoming challenge, Sichel commented: "I have to admit I have done nothing like that since and I'm not sure how I will respond to 48 hours on a treadmill. I use a treadmill regularly in my training but never for longer than a few hours. I'm fully fit and willing to have a good shot at it and see how I get on."

The 48 hour competition will form part of the athlete's project 60@60 in which he aims to set 60 records before reaching his 60th birthday on October 1, 2013. In his last event in November, Sichel won the 8 Day No Finish Line road race, covering a staggering 621.37 miles.

To keep up-to-date with Sichel's progress on the treadmill, you can visit his blog.