‘Unbelievable effort’ as ultra-cyclist goes from John O’Groats to Land’s End and back
An ultra-cyclist put in an “unbelievable effort” to smash the record for pedalling from John O’Groats to Land’s End and all the way back.
Sarah Ruggins was so exhausted she could barely stand when she arrived at sunny Groats on Friday evening after completing the end-to-end route both ways.
The Canadian doctor’s achievement is all the more remarkable given that as a teenager she lost her ability to walk because of a debilitating illness.
She overcame strong headwinds and tough climbs as well as sleep deprivation to complete the trip just five days, 11 hours and 14 minutes after setting off for Land’s End. It added up to a distance of 2700 km, or 1700 miles.
Sarah (37) beat James MacDonald’s previous record, set in 2017, by about seven hours. The female record had stood at 10 days and five hours, set by Louise Harris in 2023.
The cycling website road.cc noted that Sarah had joined “the rarefied sporting air of female athletes who hold both men’s and women’s endurance records”.
It described her record as “inarguably one of the sporting achievements of the decade”.
Local businessman Walter Mowat, chairman of John O’Groats Development Trust, was among those who witnessed Sarah’s arrival back in Groats at around 7.30pm on Friday.
“She left John O’Groats at about eight o’clock on Sunday morning, cycled all the way to Land’s End and cycled all the way back,” Walter said.
“She basically had to get helped off her bicycle at the signpost because she could hardly stand. It was an unbelievable effort.
“I think her reasoning is that she had an illness when she was younger and had overcome that, and this is part of the extreme lengths to which she is going to try to prove what people can do if they put the effort in.”
Walter has watched the start or finish of many end-to-end challenges but this one was “exceptional”, he pointed out.
“I’ve seen quite a few of the record-breakers over the years,” he said. “I wasn’t aware of this record but she broke both the ladies’ and the gents’ records with her time, which in itself is an achievement.
“I also signed a form for Guinness World Records proving that I saw her arriving.
“I really wanted to go and speak to her and say ‘congratulations’, but they were holding on to her as they went past and she needed recovery time.
“Sleep deprivation was a problem for her, obviously, after five days. At the end of it, when she was helped into a motorhome, basically to go to sleep, the backup people all went down the pier, stripped off and jumped into the water.”
Sarah, now living in Cirencester, has raised more than £17,000 for two charities, The Bike Project and Bikes for Refugees.
In her childhood, Sarah was a promising track athlete and held national records in Canada. Then, aged 15, she suffered a life-altering autoimmune disease.
Writing on the lejogle.org website, she explains: “My future was bright, but I developed a disease where I lost my ability to walk and use my hands. I had gone from Olympic hopeful to requiring 24/7 care.
“My family was incredibly supportive and we were fortunate to find a charity that helped us stay together when I was transferred to another country for medical care. Thankfully, intense rehabilitation helped me recover.”
It was much later in life that she took up cycling: “In five months I went from novice to competing in some of the hardest ultra-endurance cycling races in the world.”
