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Kyle Greig

Hip pain stops Greig a few hours short in world record treadmill attempt

'Broken' ultrarunner forced to abandon fundraising challenge after 18 hours

The GB and Scotland ultrarunner Kyle Greig was forced to abandon his attempt to break two world treadmill records due to problems with his hip in the early hours of Saturday morning.

While breaking the 24-hour world record of 164 miles was Greig’s primary target, the Metro Aberdeen club member had also hoped to break the 100-mile record (12:09:15) along the way.

Greig started his challenge on Friday morning at Aberdeen Sports Village, watched by hundreds of supporters in person and via a live feed on Twitch. 

But after five hours on the treadmill – and the first marathon mark passed after just three hours and eleven minutes – Greig’s hip began to hurt.

Reflecting on his experience, Greig wrote on Facebook: “I would've stopped at this point but this challenge was never going to be about me – with or without a world record. I was willing to get through another 18 hours of excruciating pain as I knew my efforts will literally change children's lives who, unlike me, don't get the choice to suffer.”

At that point, Greig renewed his focus on his original 24-hour goal, but the ‘buffer’ he built up through his earlier speedy pursuit of the 100-mile goal began to shrivel.

In the end, Greig ran at or quicker than 24-hour world record pace for 16 gruelling hours, clocking 62 miles at the eight hour mark, 74 miles at the 10 hour mark and 87 miles at the half-way point.  

But 17 hours in to his epic effort, unresolvable problems with his hip meant a clearly pained Greig was no longer able to sustain the pace. He and his support team decided that it would not be safe for him to proceed beyond 18 hours. His hip, however, had other ideas, forcing him to abandon the treadmill just short of his revised time limit – at 17 hours and 58 minutes – and with an undeniably impressive 111m (180km) complete.  

Before starting his challenge, Greig spoke to runABC Scotland online about the real motivation behind his decision to push his body to the limit: to raise funds for Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS) and the Gathimba Edwards Foundation.

Although debilitating pain meant he only completed 67% of the miles he hoped to run, as of Monday afternoon, the Alford-based runner’s impressive and determined efforts had raised more than double his original target of £5000.

Greig wrote: “I have no regrets not getting the record. What [everyone has] done to support me in this BHAG [Big Hairy Audacious Goal] is one of the proudest moments of my life.

“I am so thankful for everyone's incredible support – couldn't have done this without each and every one of you – and these funds truly will change the lives of children for the better during this unprecedented time.”

Image courtesy: Kyle Greig (Facebook)

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