The History

Reproduced with many thanks to The End to End Gazette

http://www.endtoenders.co.uk/index.php

 

Travelling from Land's End to John O'Groats (or the other way) - an 'end to end' - is not a totally modern idea, we have records dating back to the 1800's. Over the years, the trip has been done by many tens of thousands of people and in a number of amazing ways, however, it is a unique challenge and quite an incredible achievement.

 

Many will remember hearing of Dr Barbara Moore and the Billy Butlin walks of the 1960's, Jimmy Saville completed a journey, Ian Botham did it twice and in March 2005, BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles in support of Comic Relief and James May from BBC's Top Gear in support of the RNLI.

 

Methods of Transport

The most popular forms of transport are walking, driving or cycling but it has also been done by a Harrier Jump Jet, turbo charged JCB digger, wheelchairs, 'celebrity cars' and a motorised bath tub. Someone even posted himself and literally became 1st class mail!

 

Record Breakers

 

Cycling Records

The fastest male solo rider was G Butler in 2001 who completed the journey in 1 day, 20 hours, 4 minutes and 20 seconds. The fastest female solo rider was L. E. A. Taylor whose time was 2 days, 4 hours, 45 minutes and 11 seconds. The fastest tandem team were PM Swindon and W. Withers who in 1966 posted a time of 2 days, 2 hours, 14 minutes and 25 seconds. The fastest person to complete the route on a tricycle was R. Dadswell in 1992 with a time of 2 days, 5 hours, 29 minutes and 1 second.

Unicycle Record

The unicycle record for the Lands End to John O' Groats journey as far as my records show is held by Michael Arets and Mike Day who traveled 880 miles, in 14 days 12 hours and 41 minutes between 27th August and 10th September 1986.

 

Youngest Cyclist

To date the youngest known end to end cyclist is Bow Jango Cann aged seven and nine months who on the 21st July 2002 took the record form his brother Capability Jack Cann aged eight who had earned the title only ten seconds before. They did the trip in 22 days unaided using their own bikes, they rode with their teenage sisters and their parents Jim and Sam.

 

Recumbent

A Wilkinson who also holds the mixed tandem record currently holds the record for a recumbent end to end; he completed the trip in 41 hours and 2 minutes.

 

Records by Foot

Running Record

Andi Rivett holds the record for running from Land's End to John O'Groats; he completed the journey in an amazing 9 days and 2 hours knocking a whole day off the record.

 

In July 2004 Bryce Alford who competed on TV's Hercules (BBC) attempted to break the record for the Land's End to John O'Groats record. His aim was to complete the journey in 8 days and 20 hours. Unfortunately after completing the equivalent of 4 marathons in 24 hours he had to stop due to hip and knee injuries.

 

Youngest Walker

As far as the available records show the youngest person to walk the journey is Joe Lambert, who was only nine at the time and suffering from diabetes. He did the walk with his parents and his brother in 1993, it took them 40 days averaging 22 miles a day. They raised £5,000 for diabetes research.

 

Motor Bike Records

Land's End to John O'Groats without stopping

Wayne Booth from Lancaster became the first person to do the journey by motorbike without stopping; the 37-year-old completed the historic trip in 15 hours on a modified 1,000cc Honda Varedero trial bike, complete with a huge 74 litre petrol tank. To avoid the need for breaks, the bike was fitted with a drinks dispenser and built-in liquid disposal system. Mr. Booth, from Lancaster, took months painstakingly planning his route to prevent queuing at heavily congested roundabouts and traffic lights. He almost missed out on a place in history after hitting a massive traffic jam on the M6 before managing to keep his motorbike moving. He said: "This really was a team effort and I would like to thank the people who helped me on the way." The teacher raised £2,000 for Macmillan Cancer Relief and the National Childbirth Trust.