We really know so little about most of the runners who started out on this great adventure a little more than 24 hours ago. At the very least we can read a few sentences in the bio section of the race program. Most often we simply look up at the results board and take some small measure of their accomplishments, at least to that moment in time.
Yet so much of who and what they are we do not know or can ever really appreciate. As the race evolves we all gradually can catch glimpses of at least some of the pain and joy each is experiencing along the long hard way. But so much about these runners remains enigmatic and sometimes a little unreachable. Everyone is entitled to their privacy even if they are on public view for 18 hours a day.
The first time William Sichel came to run a Sri Chinmoy marathon team race was in the spring of 2012. At age 58 he was on a serious quest to attain the holy grail of Scottish distance running and still the oldest untouched record in the world. Standing remote, and seemingly unattainable after 130 years was the Scottish 6 day record set at Madison Square garden in 1882, of 567 miles. Set by a man oddly named Noremac ( Cameron spelled backward…. which he thought there were already to many of).
With the capable assistance of his handler Alan Young, he managed to complete 461 miles, a great accomplishment but not what he had sought. He said at the time, “I think I will remember this as very very hard probably one of my toughest ever 6 day races. (this is number 5) “They threw everything at me. As you can hear I have an infection and some very tough opponents as well. Put that into the mix and made it a very very hard race. So to come out with a podium position I take that as a bonus.”
Back in the Spring of 2012 William was 58 years old. Noremac, the man who made set the record had been much younger and accomplished the feat on an indoor track, and did not have to contend with the cold, the wind, and the rain of Flushing Meadow, though there was lots of betting going on back then. When William left New York that cool spring day he had his eyes now set on another goal. One that was going to be incomparably and supremely more difficult to accomplish. That was his running of the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 mile race.
In the soft brightness of dawn he prepares himself to run on this his second day here, in those dim precious minutes before 6am. He quietly moves about his table with precision and calmness, organizing all his bits and pieces, which aren’t many. He has no helper for this race, at least for now.
Many of the other runners are a generation younger than he, who turned 60 on October 1st last year. His small slender frame and curly brown hair give no hint at his age or more importantly, just what an incredible athlete he is. For William just may be the greatest multi day runner that the United Kingdom has ever produced. But he is just the quiet and humble kind of man who is comfortable and at peace with himself. He is not interested in promoting and talking about all the things that he has done. For now you can see he is more interested on focusing all his thought and energy instead on what he has in front of himself right now, running the longest certified race in the world.
With just a few key board clicks however all that William has attained over an impressive career can be revealed. In all his years of competitive running he has accomplished a truly illustrious resume of ultra running achievements. To date he has achieved 95 records, which are recognized as Scottish, or UK, or even World records. When he completes the 3100 mile record, some time still a long way off right now. He will not only be the first person from Scotland and the UK to do so, he will also be the first person at the age of 60 in the world ever to accomplish this feat.
After which he doesn’t plan on taking it easy any time soon, because before he reaches age 65 he is challenging himself to complete a grand total of 165 records.
Early this morning I jog beside William as he moves along with his light economical whisper soft strides. It is a little after 7am, a crazy time for most interviews, but kind of par for the course if you are a multi day athlete on the course for 18 hours a day, and also one who ran 71 miles the day before. For someone who has accomplished as much as he has in his running career he is incredibly modest and thoughtful. He describes that just to get to the starting line here was a real accomplishment for him.
He is also using the race here this summer to help raise money for a charity that helps those with cancer in North East Scotland.
Click to See Charity Site:
“I said before I came, just to stand on the starting line I needed a medal. (laughs) Stapling my name to the starting list was an undertaking.” For like all the runners he also had to organize in advance for 2 whole months of his life. “So that you can disappear. That was all part of coming here.”
Another interesting aspect as well about William Sichel is also where he comes from. Like many of the runners here from foreign lands, running the 3100 mile distances is sometimes nearly enough mileage to get them back home again. According to Google the distance from New York to Edinburgh is almost that number. Perhaps an additional 100 miles more.
Google has also very generously offered an air fare of just over 1000 dollars should anyone of Alan’s friends or supporters would like to come for a visit. But arriving in Edinburgh would still leave William with still a very long way to still yet go. For he lives on Sanday in the Orkney islands. A place inhabited by about 540 people, which perhaps has more sheep than humans.
A place, that has something like a little less that 50 miles of paved road, that is including all the streets, cul-de-sacs and lane ways. In other words a place that is just about as remote from Queens New York as it is possible to be.
I was born
To go far beyond
Impossibility-confines.
Sri Chinmoy, Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees, Part 38, Agni Press, 2004
