With a 2014 fundraising target of £1 Million for Help for Heroes, Swindon’s endurance athlete and former soldier Mike Buss is ready to break his fourth world endurance record. He has been training hard for this challenge of 546 miles comprising 3 marathons (78 miles) a day, on seven consecutive days starting on Saturday 9th January 2010 at noon and ending Saturday 16th January. Zoe Tyler from ITV’s ‘Loose Women’ will arrive at 11.30am to start him off this coming Saturday in Swindon’s Brunel Shopping Centre. Swindon Wild Cats and the Heart FM Angels will be there to sell Help for Heroes merchandise and 29 Regiment Royal Logistics Corps will see Mike through 20 hours running, two hours rest and two hours sleep daily. He hopes to raise £5,000 from this event and if you would like to sponsor him, go to www.justgiving.com/mikes-worldrecords or turn up to encourage him.
Ambitious Mike Buss is on a mission to break 20 world endurance records in just 12 months; a feat that has never been achieved before! Since November 2009, Mike has already broken 3 world records and raised £4,000 for Help for Heroes. The record Mike is going for this weekend is ‘The furthest distance covered on a treadmill in seven days by one man’. It currently stands at 468 miles which was set last summer by Lee Chamberlain, also a former soldier. Mike admits it is his toughest record attempt to date!
On a mission to break 20 world endurance records in just 12 months (a feat that has never been achieved before) Mike hopes to raise £100,000 by the end of 2010 and just over £1,000,000 by 2014. He plans to break 20 world records each year by taking on many of the world’s toughest challenges including the Marathon Des Sables across the Sahara desert in 2011. He will finish a world record breaking 5 yr campaign by climbing Mount Everest in 2014.
To counter the monotony of running for seven days on the spot on a treadmill, Mike is extending an open invitation to members of running clubs and the general public to help him beat this world record. He says ‘It’s a great challenge but could be really, really boring so I’m hoping to encourage members of the public to do their bit for Help for Heroes by running beside me on another StarTrac treadmill. We want them to sign up for 15 mins, 30 mins or an hour-long slot to create some variety. It will be a steady pace and in exchange for a donation, we will give each person a photo and a certificate to say they helped break this world record!’ So if you would like to have a go in aid of Help for Heroes, call 07791 545550 or email activelifeuk@hotmail.com to book your slot. Please turn up wearing suitable footwear and loose sports gear.
Mike’s world record-breaking 7 day run ends at 12 noon on Saturday 16th January 2010 when it is hoped that fellow soldier Matt Croucher will see him cross the finishing line. www.helpforheroes.org.uk is a charity close to Mike and Matt’s hearts.
Mike was discharged from the army on medical grounds after a bomb in Ireland permanently damaged his hearing in 1997. Lance Corporal Matthew Croucher, 24, from Solihull, West Midlands hit the headlines in February 2009 when he triggered a trip wire in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He dropped to the ground, covering the grenade but was blown into the air. His quick-thinking saved his companions. He survived with horrific injuries and was awarded The George Cross, one of the highest military decorations for acts of gallantry. Matt Croucher will be available to sign his new book entitled ‘Bullet Proof’.
If you would like to receive the Mike Buss newsletter to track his world record-breaking and fundraising progress just email info@mike-buss.com The new official website is www.mike-buss.com
