Jezz Beware

[jameshill]

Here's a story that I hope will capture your imagination: On Thursday this week Rob Thompson finished a run, the equivalent of 6 marathons in 6 days. To anyone reading this forum that might seem some achievement but certainly possible and certainly one that had been done before. The difference this time is that Rob is a 15 year old school boy! On being asked to raise money to pay for a school trip to Bolivia he came up with the idea himself to run the length of the Thames from it's source to Tower Bridge in London during his half term. Not surprisingly nearly everyone he knew including his doctor advised him against it. He did it anyway. I was privileged to be invited to run the last day with him, which was a 22 mile leg(some of the others had been longer) in 3 hours 18 mins,so he was'nt exactly hanging about. It got me to thinking, are there any age limits to WHWR and does anyone know of the youngest or oldest finishers? Would this information make an interesting addition to the web site? Finally(and this is really not the point of this post) if any one had a few quid to spare and wanted to contribute to his sponsorship his address is: Brentor, Hazelbury Hill, Box, Corsham, Wilts, SN138LB.
His local T.V. covered the story:
http://www.itv.com/westcountry-west/6-m ... days37281/

[Duchess]

Currently ...

The oldest finisher is Jim Robertson, not sure about the youngest.

There isn't an upper age limit to enter the race but it is self-selecting in a way through desire and belief. There is a lower limit of 21 although subject to the committee's discretion - as is every entry. As the runner above found out, there's a lot of reluctance to allow young runners to take part in endurance events due to the unknown and unpredictable effect on their physical development which may not yet be complete.

See some of the debate here:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=501&start=20

[aka Johny Smash]

There's plenty of teenagers who are members of the Bob Graham 24 club......

[Lord of the Bridge]

I understand that but while the possibility of harm exists in the minds of our medical advisors, the advisory limit of 21 years will remain in place.
I happen to think that our threshold is a wise one that is both cautious and relatively sensible.
I'd rather that a number of strong, adventurous youngsters have to wait an extra year or two, than cause irreperable damage to the one who didn't know that they weren't yet ready.

[Debs]

John Malcolm must be among the youngest finishers. Or at least the youngest looking. Actually, has anyone seen his birth certificate

[KeithH]

John Malcolm must be among the youngest finishers. Or at least the youngest looking. Actually, has anyone seen his birth certificate

Yes - John has done the WHW and the UTMB all before his 18th birthday.. Amazing achievement..