SICHEL DELAYS START TO SEASON

Orkney’s world ranked ultra distance runner, William Sichel from Sanday, has been forced to delay the start to his competition season due to two shin injuries which have prevented him from reaching full fitness.

William was forced to give up his plans to defend his Basle International 24hr title in Switzerland at the beginning of last month.

“I was very hopeful I would be ready to travel to Basle and put up a strong defence of my title there. But is was not to be and I must be patient. I don’t train or race if I am injured and sometimes ‘time off’ is the only cure. I have enjoyed 10 years of running with hardly any injury that an end-of-season break didn’t fix. It’s been my time to suffer now.”

Ranked No1 in Britain, for the 24hr event, for the past 4 years and twice reaching No12 in the World, William has struggled this winter to clear a shin problem that has dogged him since September last year.

It is very fortunate that many of the big races this season come later in the year, with the English 24hr Championships taking place in Hull in July followed by the European 24hr Championships in France in early September. There is then a big 100 mile race at Crystal Palace in London in October.

William has put himself in the hands of Sports Massage Therapist Sharon Gayter from Guisborough, herself a top ultra runner, currently the British 100km Champion and World No3 at the 24hr event.

“I have found it useful to put myself in someone else’s hands, metaphorically speaking, as she is some hundreds of miles away from me. Sharon has given me hands-on treatment for a similar problem some years ago so it is not too improbable that she can be of help at the other end of a telephone line. She has guided my massage and advised on my re-hab programme.“

William has used any extra free time, whilst rehabilitating to reinforce his training and preparation for the coming races. He has been able to do extra sports psychology work with Swedish expert Nils Vikander and also completely re-vamped his strength and conditioning programme with the help of Dave Clarke, Head Strength & Conditioning coach at the Scottish Institute of Sport.

“Small improvements in all these different areas can hopefully lift me to even better performances in the future. My best performance of 87.90 miles during a 12 hour race in Sheffield last August earnt me a World Top 10 ranking for that event. I am now looking for the same ranking over the full 24hrs which means I have to go over 155 miles at some point. My current best is 153.30 miles”

Most pressing at the moment is the need to gain a qualifying distance for the GB team for this year’s European 24hr Championships in France in September. A minimum of 220km/137M is required before July 19th.

“To try and achieve this I have decided to tackle the Cologne International 24hr road race in Germany on July 13th/14th. I can get the support there, the course is well shaded and I will be well looked after. Also it gives me the maximum amount of preparation time before the team is selected.

William was voted Orkney’s first ‘Sportsman of the Year’ in November 2000. 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:
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

4/6/02