William Morley Sichel (born 1 October 1953 in

Welford, Northamptonshire Welford is a village and civil parish in England, on the River Avon border between Northamptonshire and Leicestershire. At the 2011 census, the population was 1,043. Location It is on the main A5199 road connecting Northampton and Leicester ...

) is a British long-distance runner.

Biography

He is a science graduate of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1976. He is now an International ultra distance runner and has the distinction of having won his debut races at 100 km, 24 hours, 3 Days, Six Days, 7 Days and 8 Days. He was world number one for the Six Day event in 2006 and has represented Great Britain eleven times since 1996. He is a former British 100 km champion, world 100 km champion for his age group, and world record holder for treadmill endurance. Sichel moved to the

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

island of Sanday in 1982. In November 2019 he moved to the Orkney capital,

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

. He won the Monaco Six Day race in 2006 and 2007, and also in 2006 came 7th in the 135 mile (216 km)

Badwater Ultramarathon The Badwater Ultramarathon describes itself as "the world's toughest foot race". It is a course starting at below sea level in the Badwater Basin, in California's Death Valley, and ending at an elevation of 8360 feet (2548 m) at Whitney Portal ...

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in a record time for a British runner, becoming the first Scot to complete the event . In 2007 he became the Scottish 48-hour record holder, and achieved the best British performance since 1998 in the

Spartathlon Spartathlon is a ultramarathon race held annually in Greece since 1983, between Athens and Sparti, the modern town on the site of ancient Sparta. The Spartathlon is based on the run of Pheidippides, who ran from Athens to Sparta before the Ba ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. In 2008 Sichel set an All-Time Scottish 6 Day track record of 857.070 km/532.56 miles when winning the Hamm 6 Day race in Germany. In the Athens 1000 Mile World Cup race held in March 2010 Sichel was runner-up in an age-group world record of 13 days 20 hours, 8 minutes and 1 second. Average of over 72 miles (2.8 marathons) a day. Sichel became the oldest British person ever to have completed a 1000 miles in under 16 days. He also set intermediate age-group world records at 6 Days and 1000 km. The last time a British male runner completed a 1000-mile race, in under 16 days) was in 1991. In May 2011 Sichel set an overall 6 Day Great Britain road record of 834.190 km/518.34 miles when winning the International 6 Day road race in Balatonfured. In the Monaco “No Finish Line” 8 Day race in 2011 (which had over 6,000 participants) Sichel won the event outright, set a new course record and became the first person to cover more than 1000 km during this event. In 2014 Sichel competed in the World's Longest Certified Footrace - the Self Transcendence 3100 Mile race in New York. He finished in 50 days, 15 hours, 6 minutes and 4 seconds becoming the first person from Britain to complete the event inside the 52-day time limit] and also the first person aged over 60 to finish the race since it started in 1997. He accomplished these achievements despite having previously had

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. In April 2019 Sichel became th
first person to run
the North Coast 500 mile tourist route around the Highlands of Scotland. He completed the route in 8 days 19 hours 7 minutes and 7 seconds. Sichel was a founding director of the Sanday

Development Trust Development trusts are organisations operating in the United Kingdom that are: *community based, owned and led *engaged in the economic, environmental and social regeneration of a defined area or community *independent but seek to work in partners ...

2004–2011, and was nominated for Orkney's Citizen of the Year award in 2006 and 2007.

References

External links

williamsichel.co.uk
Personal website {{DEFAULTSORT:Sichel, William 1953 births Living people Alumni of the University of London People associated with Orkney People from Welford, Northamptonshire English male long-distance runners British ultramarathon runners