British ultrarunner sets her second women’s JOGLE record

No, it isn’t a variation on joggling (running while juggling). JOGLE stands for John o’ Groats to Land’s End, and refers to the full length of Britain, from the tip of northern Scotland to the western end of Cornwall, a distance of 822 miles (1,323.4K). People have been trying to run it fast for many years. (If you go in the other direction, the acronym is LEJOG.) On Friday, British ultrarunner Sharon Gayter, 55, set a new women’s JOGLE record of 12 days, 11 hours, 6 minutes, 7 seconds, knocking three and a half hours off Mimi Anderson’s record of 12:15:46, set in 2008.

Congratulations to ultra-runner @SGayter@TeessideUniTUBS
who has set a new record #JOGLE https://t.co/p7H4RA13oC pic.twitter.com/LRs1Cddw0a

— Teesside Uni news (@TeesUninews) August 5, 2019

Gayter’s goal was to break 12 days, but that proved slightly too ambitious. It was actually Gayter’s second time setting this record. The first time was in 2006, and she ran in the other direction (Land’s End to John o’ Groats, or LEJOG) in 12:16:22 (another account says it was 13:10:01).

Congratulations to @SGayter on her outstanding performance setting a new WR from John O’Groats/Lands End. Records are there to be broken & Sharon showed everyone how it should be done. Amassive congrats to her incredible crew who worked tirelessly to help her achieve her goal.

— Mimi Anderson (@MarvellousMimi) August 2, 2019

On this latest attempt, she slept three to four hours each night, and battled rain and wind at regular intervals. At one point she collapsed unconscious in the road, but after a few hours’ sleep was back at it.

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BBC News – Woman, 55, sets John O'Groats to Land's End running record https://t.co/xPqYwCzXyE

— Sharon Gayter (@SGayter) August 3, 2019

Gayter, a former bus driver, is a lecturer at Teesside University in northeastern England. According to her Twitter profile, she is a multiple world-record-holder and represented Britain at 100K and 24-hour distances for 18 years. And according to a story in Athletics Weekly, she had been preparing for this latest record attempt for two years. Her tuneup races included a six-day race in Greece and a 220-mile (354K) race in Britain (the Severn Challenge–a five-day stage race in May along Britain’s longest river, which happens to be in Wales.

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Last year she set a record for 10 marathons on 10 consecutive days, on a treadmill: 43 hours, 51 minutes and 39 seconds. In 2011 she set world treadmill records over seven days (breaking both women’s and men’s records) and 12 hours.

LAST LAP OF JOGLE ATTEMPT. Dots indicate Sharon @SGayter is through Penzance & on the last gently undulating 10ml stretch to Lands End. If my sums are right?she has been on the move for 12days 9hrs at 4.30pm & on course to beat @MarvellousMimi time of 12d15h46m #touchingdistance pic.twitter.com/OmfzILf85f

— Adrian Stott (@TaritTweets) August 2, 2019

During the JOGLE journey, Gayter ran 87 miles (140K) the first day and never ran less than 49 miles (almost 79K) in a day. She was supported by a crew on bikes and in a truck, who kept her supplied with food and provided a place for her to rest.

Gayter was also running to raise funds for the mental health organization MIND.