PHOTOCALL: Friday 15th January, approx. 9.30am, Brunel Shopping Centre, Swindon, Wiltshire, United Kingdom – Six days and 440 miles into his latest challenge, Swindon’s endurance athlete and ex-soldier Mike Buss looks set to smash his fourth world record. His challenge is to ‘Run the furthest distance on a treadmill in seven days covered by one man’. He is running 3 marathons (78 miles) a day at between three and six miles an hour at the Brunel Shopping Centre in Swindon. Having started at noon on Saturday 9th January, Mike has already completed 440 miles, with 28 left to go to match the current record of 468 miles set last summer by former soldier Lee Chamberlain.
When Lee Chamberlain kindly popped into the Shopping Centre yesterday to give Mike some encouragement, the morale boost meant Mike even got ahead of his target pace for the day! Mike is due to set a new world record at noon on Saturday 16th January. If you want to follow his progress go to twitter.com/mikebuss. Mayor of London Boris Johnson is already one of Mike's Twitter and email buddies and says the man is 'Inspirational'
Gloucestershire’s 29th Regiment Royal Logistics Corps will see Mike through 20 hours running, two hours rest and two hours sleep daily, with the aim of matching Chamberlain’s record on Friday at 9.30am, and setting a new record when he finishes on Saturday 16th at 12 noon.
Burning around 550 calories per hour, (ten thousand a day) Mike has already lost 7lbs from his starting weight of 82.5 kilos (13 stone 1lb) after just four days.
Staring at the same view running on the spot for seven days is monotonous so Mike needs all the help and encouragement he can get. He is happy to talk to people so please come along and say hello. Better still, Mike is asking everyone to help him and ’do their bit’ by running beside him on a second treadmill in exchange for a donation to Help for Heroes . You will receive a certificate to say you helped him break the world record. Some members of running clubs are even using this as an indoor training opportunity to beat the snow!
Even though the record snowfall last week means fewer shoppers seeing him running, Mike says: ‘The public support has been overwhelming. People have been incredibly generous and we’ve raised nearly £2,400 since I started this challenge. I’m urging everyone to continue donating to raise a total of £5,000 by Saturday.’ If you cannot get in to see him, Mike is making a BIG appeal to people to sponsor him online at www.justgiving.com/mikes-worldrecords.
If you would like to track Mike’s world record-breaking and fundraising progress, you can follow him on Twitter or receive the Mike Buss newsletter. Just email info@mike-buss.com or see www.mike-buss.com.
You can buy some lovely Help for Heroes items from the stand and other fundraising ideas include a raffle, 30-minute sports massage worth £35 in exchange for a donation of around £10, and a cash prize of £30 for guessing the new world record distance Mike sets on Saturday afternoon. For £10 you can have a 10” x 8” photo of you running beside him with 50% going to Help for Heroes.
Lance Corporal Matt Croucher will stop the clock at noon on Saturday 16th January. Matt, aged 24, from Solihull, West Midlands hit the headlines in February 2009 when he threw himself on a live hand grenade to protect his companions. He is lucky to be alive, surviving with just a few bad bruises, though his rucksack was shredded. He was awarded The George Cross, one of the highest military decorations for acts of gallantry. Matt will be available to sign his new book entitled ‘Bullet Proof’.
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