The Times - UK (2022-04-13)

the times | Wednesday April 13 2022 25

News

For most people, one marathon per
lifetime would suffice. But so far this
year Kate Jayden will be able to count
no fewer than 100 marathons among
her achievements.
The 35-year-old athlete ran a mara-
thon every day for the first 100 days of
2022, covering 2,620 miles in total.
Jayden is thought to have set a new
world record with the feat, which raised
more than £26,000 for charities includ-
ing the Refugee Council, The Trussell
Trust and The Hygiene Bank.
According to Guinness World

French police have called for help to
determine the circumstances of the
death of a British man found outside
the Alpine ski resort of Flaine.
The 27-year-old man, whose name
was given only as Patrick F, was found
on March 31 in a gully by the road after
he had spent the evening at The Social,
a bar frequented by the many British
visitors to the resort near Chamonix.
Attempts were made to revive him.
Investigators believe that the man,
who was dressed in light clothing, may
have fallen. They released a picture and
asked for information from anyone
who had seen him.
He was said by police to have been on

Mystery of British man’s death at ski resort

a week’s skiing break with friends. An

investigating source told the Daily Mail

yesterday: “The deceased’s body was

found lying by a road. Efforts were

made to revive him, but he was declared

dead at the scene.

“We are for appealing for anybody

who might have seen him on the night

of March 30 — a Wednesday — to

come forward.”

The Foreign Office said: “We are sup-

porting the family of a British national

who died in France and are in touch

with the local authorities.”

In keeping with French practice in-

volving any accidental or unexplained

death, the local prosecutor is supervis-

ing the gendarmerie in its investigation.

Gendarmes from nearby Scionzier

are carrying out inquiries in the local

area, and the investigation is being led

by prosecutors and an examining

magistrate.

Dozens of Flaine’s residents have

shared a police report about the inci-

dent on social media, and officers hope

that this will encourage any witnesses

to come forward.

The incident is the latest in a string of

fatalities in the Alps in the past few

months to have involved Britons.

On March 12 a 35-year-old Briton

was found unconscious at the foot of a

rocky formation near the La Flégère ski

resort in Chamonix after he fell nearly

25 metres while skiing off-piste.

The emergency services were alerted

by the man’s friend, who had lost sight

who was said to have been going too

fast. Ophélie, who lived in the area, was

airlifted to hospital but died from her

injuries before she could be placed in

intensive care.

The man was later charged with

reckless skiing and it was reported that

he had ignored a warning sign referring

to children at a ski school..

In the same month Gaspard Ulliel, 37,

a French actor, died in a collision at the

nearby resort of La Rosière.

The star of Hannibal Rising and A

Very Long Engagement, who was not

wearing a safety helmet, suffered brain

injuries after colliding with a Lithuani-

an man at the junction of two slopes.

The Lithuanian, who was wearing a

helmet, was unhurt.

of him at about 11.25am. Minutes later a

doctor and two members of the Gen-

darmerie High Mountain Unit from

Chamonix spotted the body as they

searched the area by helicopter.

A judicial inquiry was opened to

determine the circumstances of the ac-

cident.

Eight days later the body of a 29-

year-old unnamed British man was

found in the Meribel-Mottaret area,

triggering a police investigation.

Local police said that he had died of

a trauma while skiing on a medium-

difficulty blue run but did not give

further details.

In January a five-year-old British girl,

named only as Ophélie, was killed in

Flaine by a 40-year-old French skier

Charles Bremner Paris

No stopping fundraiser who has run 100 marathons in 100 days

Miranda Bryant, Charlie Moloney feat. Next week she will start training
for her next challenge, the Deca Tri-
athlon in Allerthorpe, East York-
shire, in July, for which she will swim
24 miles, cycle 1,120 miles and run
262 miles.
Jayden, who could now face
a wait of close to a year to
have her record attempt
confirmed, was back on
her treadmill at home yester-
day. “I”ve been asked quite a few
times, did I even think of quitting,

but how could I even think of doing

that?” she said.

“Yes, my foot hurts, but a refugee

would also be taking this journey. Don’t

ever let anyone tell you you can’t make

a difference, because you can.”

Women’s marathon tactics tend to be

better then men’s when it comes to ne-

gotiating the 26 mile, 385 yard course.

An analysis of running habits shows

that men’s tactics suffer because they

set off too quickly.

Typically, a man will start at such a

reckless pace that he will have to slow

down by an average of 17 per cent in the

second half of the race.

to highlight the challenges faced by

refugees. She later realised that if

she managed to complete the dis-

tance in 100 days it would set a new

world record, which she said

kept her going.

“Mental grit and tena-

city has got me through

and to pick myself up and

go again each day,” she

said. “My motto has been, ‘don’t

let anybody ever tell you that you

can’t make a difference.’”

Despite having completed her

goal, Jayden will have little time

to recover from her athletic

Records, the world record for a woman

is held by the American runner Alyssa

Clark, who ran 95 marathons in 95 con-

secutive days.

After crossing the finish line of her

100th marathon in Brighton on Sunday,

Jayden, from Hartington, Derbyshire,

said she was “feeling geriatric mostly”.

“I was just overwhelmed. I feel very

privileged that I was able to take that

journey and so many people have been

in touch to say they have been inspired

by it to,” she told the BBC.

She started running with the aim to

complete 2,620 miles — the distance

between Aleppo, Syria and the UK —

Time’s up

for printed

Time Out

Charlie Moloney

Time Out London will stop publishing its

print magazine in the capital this June,

becoming the latest major publishing

name to move entirely digital.

The media and hospitality business

said that it would be focusing on digital

channels, live events and its Time Out

Market spin-off, which runs street food

venues in seven cities around the world.

Chris Ohlund, the Time Out Group

chief executive, said: “Time Out needs

to make sure it’s creating the right con-

tent, on the right channels and plat-

forms where our consumers are now.

Our content celebrates the very best

things to do in London and around the

whole of the UK across culture, enter-

tainment, travel, food, drink and all the

other things we and our audience love.

“We will continue to innovate and

grow our digital channels, especially

across social media and video. We have

already made progress with this transi-

tion with huge success in the USA.

“The Time Out London magazine re-

mains a big success, but we’re currently

seeing the most exciting growth, en-

gagement and innovation on our digital

channels. That’s why we’re making the

bold move to a digital-first model based

on robust consumer insights, which is

an exciting plan to keep Time Out rele-

vant and thriving for years to come.”

The magazine’s founder, Tony

Elliott, started the business in 1968

while on a summer break from Keele

University with a £75 gift from an aunt.

He remained involved with the com-

pany until he died in July 2020.

Time Out now claims a global

monthly audience of 76 million people

across 59 countries.

A

n army

captain

who broke

his neck

playing

rugby in 2019 has

embarked on an epic

solo challenge to

kayak, walk and swim

from Land’s End to

John o’ Groats (Lucy

Bannerman writes).

However, having

been ejected from his

kayak in stormy seas

off the Cornish coast

on the first day of his

journey, the biggest

challenge facing

George Bromley, 36,

may well be deciding

when a straight line is

not a straight line.

His aim is to be the

first person to travel

the length of Britain in

as straight a line as

possible between the

most southerly and

northerly points of the

mainland. So-called

“beeline challenges”

have become the new

frontier in exploration,

with adventurers using

hand-held GPS to

follow a linear route

between two points.

Bromley, a father of

two from Bath, feared

he would never regain

his mobility after

breaking his neck

during an army rugby

match. He made a full

recovery, however,

and came up with the

idea of doing a beeline

challenge the length of

Britain to raise money

for five charities: the

SSAFA, an armed

forces charity; Blesma,

a charity for limbless

veterans; Rugby for

Heroes; Help for

Heroes; and the Royal

British Legion. His

original plan was to

kayak as the crow flies

from Cornwall to the

Isle of Man before

heading to Scotland.

However, he is now

recalculating the best

straight line through

England and Wales

after “eight foot swells”

last weekend put paid

to his plans. “I got

thrown around quite a

lot, and kicked [out of

the kayak] a few

times,” said Bromley

who eventually swam a

mile back to shore.

After licking his

wounds, he decided to

continue on foot

where kayaking was

too dangerous. First,

he just needs to work

out how to cross the

Bristol Channel.

“Maybe I’ll sweet-

talk a fisherman. I’m

still keeping to the

spirit of the

challenge,” he said.

Once in Galloway,

he plans to walk 250

miles across Scotland,

traversing Ben Macdui

and swimming across

the Moray Firth. He

hopes to complete

his challenge within

35 days and has so far

raised £1,755 of his

£5,000 goal.

Captain

lines up

an epic

journey

Start

Land’s

End,

April 9

End

John

o’ Groats

Beeline

Britain

Intended

route

Captain George Bromley

plans to kayak, walk and

swim in the straightest

possible line from Land’s

End to John o’ Groats

h

Kate Jayden said that she did not

contemplate giving up her quest

C