Retired Inverness firefighter runs 24,901 miles in eight years
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A RETIRED Inverness fire officer has just completed an amazing eight-year running feat – covering just over 24,901 miles – the equivalent distance round the world at the equator.
David Gill (62) is obviously as keen on statistics as he is on running as he meticulously worked out his distances on a spreadsheet at home.
And for his final stage to finish his mega “global circumnavigation” distance, he actually travelled with his wife Wendy to a city in Indonesia that is on the equator.
David said: “This has been a phenomenal feat of planning, even though I say so myself. I’ve ran 24,905.14 miles over 2923 days at an average daily distance of 8.52 miles.
“I did 3028 different runs, sometimes twice a day. I have had injuries and hangovers and I’ve gone through wind, rain, snow and blisteringly hot conditions and I loved it!
“I also managed to finish on the exact day I started, eight years ago, on November 27, 2015 – and that took some serious mathematics and hard graft on the road to make that happen.
“I finished by crossing the equator on my very last mile, with my mathematics and an Excel spreadsheet at work again!”
And now that he is back home, David is not putting his feet up too much – the veteran of several Highland Cross biathlons has simply reduced his daily run from eight miles to six.
After a spell as a coal miner in Yorkshire, David joined the fire service and later moved with his family to Inverness where he continued in the fire service that saw him travel around the Highlands and Islands as a senior fire officer.
It was his fire service background that led him to make the final part of his global running challenge for the Fire Fighters Charity, and has raised more than £1250 so far through an online crowdfunding page.
David added: “I crossed the equator in my Fire Fighters Charity running vest and with my Highland Cross ‘necker’ proudly on my wrist.
“Thank you so much for all who have sponsored me. We must have raised enough for an injured firefighter to get some really good professional treatment.”
The running feat was a gradual thing, explained David. While he and Wendy were touring Australia in a camper in 2015 he ran eight miles every morning to ensure he saw as much of the country as possible.
“When I got home I kept running every day and after I had completed a full year I set my sights on running for 1000 days,” he said.
“I knew that I might have to miss the odd day so my rule was that I could only miss one day for travel or for tapering down for a running event, but only one day. I then had to do two runs on the previous day, one in the morning and one in the evening, both of eight miles.
“After I managed 1000 days, I upped my target to 2000 days.
“I have always loved to travel and I have always wanted to visit the equator so the thought came to me, around the 1200-day point, that I ought to work out how long it would take me to run the distance of the equator which is 24,901 miles.
“With that in mind I set myself the task of running the equator, and at 2000 runs I knew I could do it.
“In February this year I worked out that I would complete the mission in December, sometime around the 17th. This was far too close to Christmas so I upped my daily rate to bring it down.
“Then something else occurred to me, if I set my mind to it I could complete the mission on November 27 – exactly eight years since I started, with eight miles per day!”
He chose the city of Pontianak because it is on the equator, and because it seemed to be a safe place to run.
“When I booked the trip I thought that I would use this opportunity to raise funds for the Fire Fighters Charity,” he added. “The Fire Fighters Charity helped me on two occasions before as I am sometimes blighted with sciatica and I was treated at one of their rehabilitation centres where I received excellent care and support.”
To donate, visit https://tinyurl.com/28jjueuf
