HOGMANAY RUN MARKS U.S. DEBUT FOR SICHEL

Sanday's international ultra distance runner William Sichel (Orkney AC) will be having a 'Hogmanay with a difference' this year as he has chosen to compete in the 22 nd running of the "Across the Years" 24 hour race in Arizona, U.S.A. on December 31st/January 1 st.

This will be William's debut run in America and he is looking forward to experiencing this festival of ultra running hosted by the Arizona Road Racers. The 500m course has been specially constructed around the grounds of the Nardini Manor Hotel in Phoenix , Arizona. The program features 3 day, 2 day and 1 day races all finishing at 9am local time on January 1 st.

William is fresh from his age group silver medal at October's World 24hr Championships in the Czech Republic when he covered 133.4 miles. His best run of the year was when he finished 4 th in the Dutch Championships with 134.4 mles in May. That performance has given him the UK No2 ranking at the end of 2004.

"This is the first year I have managed to stabilise my performance at the 24hr event covering over 133 miles in the two events I contested. I've done this by starting slower and by making adjustments to my race feeding such as more dilute drinks etc. I'm looking to build on this in Arizona . Weather conditions are expected to be cold at night but warm during the day with little wind or rain at this time of year."

William's demanding journey begins on Monday afternoon's flight from Sanday to Kirkwall. Then early on Tuesday morning, December 28 th, he heads for London followed by a direct, 11 hour flight from Heathrow to Phoenix.

William will have 3 nights to acclimatise to the time and cultural difference in Arizona, which is 7 hours behind UK time, before toeing the line, with the other 42 starters, at 9am on the Friday morning December 31 st. William will be accompanied by fellow ultra runner Tim Rainey from Manchester and both will be assisted by William's daughter Bella during the event.

Race updates should appear on the race web site http://www.acrosstheyears.com/

William was voted Orkney's 'Veteran Sportsman of the Year' in November and has represented Great Britain 11 times at ultra distance running since 1996. William set new Guinness World Records for both 100 miles and 24hrs on the treadmill in December 2002. With his wife, Elizabeth, he runs the Orkney Angora mail order knitwear business in Sanday, Orkney.

William is grateful to sponsors Orkney Meat (main sponsor), The Ayre Hotel, The Orcadian, Crantit Dairy (Orkney Ice Cream), dion_networks and Loganair.

William's running web site, which is being developed as a resource for ultra running in general, can be found at www.williamsichel.co.uk

Making contact:

William Sichel, Upper Breckan , Sanday , Orkney KW17 2AZ. Tel/Fax: 01857 600421. Mobile (whilst travelling only) 0794 128 3506. william@williamsichel.co.uk Running web site: http://www.williamsichel.co.uk/

Photographs:

Newsline Scotland (Press Agency). Tel 01224 594000. photos@newsline-scotland.co.uk

Ken Amer , Orkney Photographic. Tel 01856 873574, Mobile 07808 961780 info@orkneyphotographic.co.uk

William Sichel, '‘Free to use' photographs can be down loaded from my on-line photo album. Go to: http://www.williamsichel.co.uk/ and click on 'Photos'.

23/12/04