SICHEL and STOTT FACE RECORD FIELD IN EUROPEAN 24HR CHALLENGE

Great Britain team members William Sichel (Orkney) and Edinburgh’s Adrian Stott will face a record field of 162 starters including representatives of 14 national men’s teams when they toe the line at 2 o’clock (local time) in the IAU European 24 hour Challenge being staged in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands on Friday 25th May.

William will be celebrating his 10th appearance in a GB vest having represented Britain seven times at the 100km (62 miles) distance and now his third appearance in the 24 hour event, which he now specialises in.

Adrian made a spectacular debut for Great Britain last October when he ran a personal best distance of 143.33 miles and led Britain to the team bronze medals at the last European 24 hour Challenge in Uden, The Netherlands last October.

The third member of the team is England’s Walter Hill from Crawley.

The 24 hour Challenge, which is the longest race recognised by the European Athletic Association, is being hosted by the Apeldoorn organisation which has been promoting a 24 hour race for the last 22 years, making it one of Europe’s longest established 24hr events.

A road circuit of approx. 1 mile will be used running through beautiful parkland and a closed main road. The gun goes at 2 o’clock (local time) on Friday with the runners covering the maximum distance possible before the gun goes again 24 hours later. Every runner will wear a computer chip on their shoe laces which will help in the lap counting process and track their progress during the race. Data will also be fed to a web site for enthusiasts and the media to be able to follow the race world wide.

William’s best performance in the 24hr event came just 12 months ago when he won the prestigious Basle 24hr road race in Switzerland with a personal best distance of 153.3 miles. This performance led the world rankings for a couple of months and was good enough to give William a world ranking of No12 by the end of last year.

This season’s form William describes as ‘promising’ with 5th place in the Soochow 24hr track race, Taiwan, in early March and 3rd place (47.23 miles) in the George Littlewood 6hr track race in Sheffield on April 28th.

“This European event is very important for me. I need to consolidate the performance I achieved last year and also achieve some kind of consistency in the 24hr event. I have had a good build up and am looking forward to a good performance. If I can run to form a good top 10 finish is possible. I will be using much more conservative tactics then ever before. I intend starting at a much slower pace than I normally do in an attempt to run at a more even pace and thereby achieve a greater distance. It will be interesting to see how it works out on the day. I still consider myself very much a novice at this event with a lot still to learn.”

William was voted Orkney’s first ‘Sportsman of the Year’ last year. He is a member of the Moray Road Runners and the Orkney Athletic Club. With his wife, Elizabeth, he runs the Orkney Angora mail order craft business in Sanday.

William is grateful to sponsors Orkney Meat (main sponsor), The Ayre Hotel, The Orcadian, Crantit Dairy (Orkney Ice Cream) and Saucony UK. William also receives a grant from the sportScotland Lottery Fund.

Making contact:
Adrian Stott: Tel 0131 313 5300.
William Sichel, Upper Breckan, Sanday, Orkney KW17 2AZ. Tel/Fax: 01857 600421. Mobile (whilst travelling only) 0794 128 3506. williamsichel@orkneyangora.co.uk Running web site: www.orkneyangora.co.uk/ultra.htm

Photographs:
Newsline Scotland (Press Agency). Tel 01224 594000. photos@newsline-scotland.co.uk
Ken Amer, Orkney Photographic. Tel 01856 873574, Mobile 0780 896 1780 orkneyphoto@sol.co.uk
Also Jean Maclachlan. Tel 01857 600350 jean.maclachlan@bhs-inter.net

21/5/01