Alan Boothroyd started running the 50-miles from Dunblane to Pitlochry this morning knowing that only six days stand between him and the John O’Groats finish line.
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When I spoke to him last night he was relaxing in the bath. He explained, “When I bath I’ve got to talk on the phone otherwise I don’t have time to do it.”
But the strain of the challenge is beginning to show. Although the 52-year-old is never happier than when pounding a lone furrow along endless roads he hit the lowest point of his journey a couple of days ago.
“I did about 33 miles on the bounce from Leyburn on Monday,” he said. “I was running over the Yorkshire Moors and I really struggled that day.”
“The photo we took showing the snow on the hills did’t really give a proper picture of how it was.
“There were snow drifts and in some parts you couldn’t see more than 30-yards in front of you,” he added. “It was that misty and it started sleeting.
“I got a buzz out of doing it, but it was after. It just took it out of me, it was that hard.
“A lad came to see me that evening and I couldn’t even talk, I was that tired.â€
But even though he’s found the early mornings increasingly tough, up at 3.30am each day, the undying belief that he can reach his goal is undiminished.
“I’ve never thought I can’t do this though. I have been low, it’s just a mental thing really, but I’m a person who will never give in.”
The journey from Lands End to John O’Groats hasn’t gone without incident. He’s added to the distance on some days by getting lost and on Monday nearly ended up in the back of a police van.
“We nearly got arrested,” he said. “My driver took some photographs near some satellite dishes at around 5am and we were surrounded by police vans within two minutes.
“They just said it was a high security area and no one was allowed to take photos up there.”
But the spur of the challenge and the support he’s received has kept him going. He needs that to get even bigger over the last miles.
“After that I was running near Masham on a country road and a couple spotted me and said you’re the guy running 40 marathons in 20 days and I said yes how do you know?”
“They’d seen me in the newspaper, but I was in the middle of nowhere and they recognised me and that gave me a massive boost. The public have really helped to get me this far.”
The temptation might be to think of the John O’Groats finish line, but Booby isn’t getting ahead of himself.
“Even the last day is tough at 54 miles, but I don’t look ahead. I just look at the day ahead, but the closer I get to the end it does keep me going.
!I’ve just got to take each day as it comes and I’ve got a long one tomorrow (Friday). I read all my tweets and it’s gone big on Twitter. Everyone says they’re addicted to my tweets.!
“It’s going alright but I want my life back. All I want to do is walk to the paper shop at home and do something normal.”
Let’s hope that return to normality starts with a celebration in John O’Groats on Wednesday night. Give him all the support you can as he climbs to the very top of the United Kingdom.
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THE LAST SIX DAYS
Day 15: Friday: Dunblane to Pitlochry – 49.8 miles
Day 16: Saturday: Pitlochry to Newtonmore – 40.5 miles
Day 17: Sunday: Newtonmore to Inverness – 45.3 miles
Day 18: Monday: Inverness to Bonar Bridge – 38.1 miles
Day 19: Tuesday: Bonar Bridge to Helmsdale – 32.8 miles
Day 20: Wednesday: Helmsdale to John O’Groats – 56.3 miles
