Sichel chases World qualifying distance in London 24 Hour event

Orkney ultra endurance athlete William Sichel travels to Tooting in south London for the Sri Chinmoy International 24 Hour track race on Saturday 14th/Sunday 15th October.

Main target for William will be the UK Athletics' qualifying distances for next year’s World 24 Hour Championships in Quebec, Canada.  Qualifying marks are tough with 225km/139.8 miles required for team members and 234km/145.4 miles for individual participation.

"The distances required are demanding and I’ll need my best performance since 2000 to achieve them but I’m in peak form at present and confidence is high following my performance in the USA in July."

At the end of July William produced one of his life time best performances when finishing 7th overall, from 85 invited starters, 1st over 50 and set a British event record in the 29th running of the Badwater Ultramarathon through Death Valley in California.  In completing the course in 31hours 31minutes and 12 seconds William triumphed over searing heat and a mountainous course in what is often described as the "World’s Toughest" ultramarathon.

The track in Tooting Bec will be a far cry from Death Valley but the 24 Hour event remains a supreme athletic challenge.  The Tooting event has attracted a strong, international field of 45 entrants representing 7 different countries, including the home countries.

The event starts and finishes at mid-day.  In an attempt to allow more people to be involved in the event William has arranged for his web site www.williamsichel.co.uk to be regularly updated with distances and photos direct from the race.

William is grateful to sponsors: dion_networks, Loganair, Sheila Fleet Jewellery and The Orcadian.

End.

8/10/06

Photos: William competing in the Badwater Ultramarathon in July.

Editor's Notes

William currently lies 5th on the “All time” list of British road 24 hour performances with his run of 153.3 miles/246.70km in 2000.

William is a member of the Orkney Athletic Club and was voted Orkney’s ‘Veteran Sportsman of the Year’ for the second successive year in November 2005. 

With his wife, Elizabeth, he runs the Orkney Angora (hand dyeing specialists) mail order business in Sanday, Orkney.

Although born in the Warwickshire village of Welford and brought up in the southeast of England, William has lived in the Orkney island of Sanday since 1982.

Higher quality images can usually be supplied if required.

Making contact:

William Sichel, Upper Breckan, Sanday, Orkney KW17 2AZ.

Tel: 01857 600421; Fax: 0709 288 3499; Mobile 0794 128 3506.

william@williamsichel.co.uk  Web site: http://www.williamsichel.co.uk/

William's CV:
Scottish 100km Champion (1994)
British 100km Champion (1999)
European 100km Championships: Team bronze medal (1997)
World 24hr ranking No12 (1998 & 2000)
"Across the Years" 24hr, Phoenix, Arizona, outright winner (2005)
First Scot, ever, to complete the world's longest point-to-point race - the 153 mile "Spartathlon" in Greece (2005)
Masters World 100km Champion (1998)
World 24Hr Championships (2004) Age-Group Silver
Guinness World Records (treadmill) 100 miles & 24hrs (2002)
Ranked in the Top 2 in Britain every year since 1998 in the 24 hour event.

British event record in the 29th running of the "World's Toughest Race" the Badwater Ultramarathon (2006)
Represented Great Britain 11 times since 1996:100km team x 8 & 24hr team x 3.

William's Personal Bests

Marathon: 2:38:17 (1995)
100km: 7:07:49 (1996)
12hr: Track 141.50km/87.92 miles (2001)
24hr: 246.70km/153.30M (2000)

48hr: 264.25km/164.2 miles (2006)