Tom and Kelly

An extreme endurance runner supported by experts from the Human Performance Unit at the University of Essex has successfully completed his run across the length of Britain in under 16 days.

Fundraiser Tom Boother took on the challenge to run from Lands’ End to John O'Groats. The challenge put Tom to the test by forcing him to run an average of just over 54 miles a day.

He said: “The run was challenging but it felt great when I completed it. It took real dedication and a lot of support from the Human Performance Unit experts but I am really happy with how well it went.”

Thanks to his challenge Tom raised an astonishing amount of over £10k for Great Ormand Street Childrens Hospital, which helped him when he was a child, and East Anglia's Children's Hospices.

Before his run Tom worked with experts from the Human Performance Unit who provided him with guidance about his training, dietary habits and performance nutrition. Alongside help with training, Kelly Murray from the Human Performance Unit travelled with Tom’s support team making sure he achieved his goal.

Sports Scientist Kelly said: “Playing a vital role in helping Tom achieve his challenge was really exciting. I was there every step of the way and managed to gather a lot of useful data.”

At the end of each day of running, Kelly provided further support to aid Tom’s recovery by giving advice on dietary strategies and daily recovery.

Human Performance Unit Manager Chris McManus added: “Our involvement in this challenge is one of the many examples of how we enable athletes to get to the start line and go on to realise their goal. We’ve helped competitors ahead of the Tour Divide, which is an unsupported mountain bike race from Canada to Mexico, Olympic race walking, Olympic sprinting and 26 marathons in 26 days to name a few.”

The Human Performance Unit is the premier sport science facility in the East of England, offering physiological testing, endurance coaching, Retul bike fitting, performance nutrition and training services. To contact the HPU please call 01206 873290 or email hpu@essex.ac.uk