Northampton runner, 68. forced to call off charity race from John O'Groats to Land's End after Covid-19 threats

"We had a meeting and none of us really wanted to go on in that climate ... with hindsight, we wouldn't have started"
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A 68-year-old running nut had his attempt to race from John O'Groats to Lands End in aid of charity kiboshed by the coronavirus outbreak.

Michael Williams, from Northampton, was in a four-man field for the Jogle20 when it was scrapped on Sunday night amid threats from locals furious at the runners still being on the roads.

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The quartet were raising around £16,000 for charity during the race.

Michael Williams crosses the line in last year's Snowdonia MarathonMichael Williams crosses the line in last year's Snowdonia Marathon
Michael Williams crosses the line in last year's Snowdonia Marathon

Yet Mr Williams said: "The race organiser posted a race report each night and on Sunday he took more than 100 negative comments. Some of them were really shocking.

"We reached Drumnadrochit, near Inverness, and were due to run to Fort William the following day. That's where a lot of the comments were about, threatening what would happen if we got to there.

"We had a meeting and none of us really wanted to go on in that climate.

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"As it turned out we could only have run one more day and, with hindsight, we wouldn't have started. But I'd travelled up on Tuesday and everything was still a bit confusing during the build-up to the start from John O'Groats on Friday.

Michael was tackling the gruelling 17-day John O'Groats to Lands End raceMichael was tackling the gruelling 17-day John O'Groats to Lands End race
Michael was tackling the gruelling 17-day John O'Groats to Lands End race

"There weren't any restrictions in place and the roads we were running on were quite isolated. We had hand sanitiser with us and we always stayed more than two metres apart.

"The hotels were all pre-booked and they were being very supportive. If they hadn't been, then the race could not have gone ahead anyway."

Mr Williams, a member of Northampton Road Runners, entered the race covering a gruelling 860-mile route in 17 days to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer UK. His sister June Locke died from the disease aged 52 in 2002.

Jogle20 racers kept their distance even during breaks from racingJogle20 racers kept their distance even during breaks from racing
Jogle20 racers kept their distance even during breaks from racing
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The semi-retired electrician added: "I was 50 when June died and I took up running to help me cope through an awful time. I joined the Road Runners three years ago and they've been a fantastic support to me.

"I've got two more races in July that I hope can go ahead. One is the Endure 24 in Leeds where you run for 24 hours -- it's on a five-mile loop around the countryside, they call it the Glastonbury of running, thousands do it. And there's also the Lakeland 100 in the Lake District.

"I fear those may be cancelled now. But after that, in August, there's the UTMB, which is 100 miles around Mont Blanc. You start in France, go through Italy and Switzerland and back into France.

"Fingers crossed that one can go ahead."