After a lot of emails flying between Orkney & Hungary I can now report on the latest situation with William.

Some readers have noticed that it has been rather hot in Balaton, for example it reached around 26-27 degrees C or about 80 degrees F  earlier in the race (rather warmer than the 11 c / 51 F here in Orkney at present, which, no joke, seems like a pretty nice summer day by local standards).

Although William did his usual pre-race heat training sessions to try to prepare himself for the hotter weather likely at the race in Hungary, the heat in the race did effect him badly – one has to remember that most of us in the UK would regard getting on for 80 F as pretty hot for laying on a beach, so it will come as no surprise that running a 6-day race in these conditions is apt to be a bit tiring by anyone’s standards…

Unfortunately William has been suffering from the effects and after effects of Heat Fatigue (basically a milder form of Heat Stroke). He and crewman Alan have taken all sensible measures to counteract this, cooling William, taking extra rest and changing planned work and rest periods accordingly. For much of today William has been able to continue walking but has been unable to run.

Thankfully William now seems to be over the worst of things and after another break has been able to start running again. As I type, William is still in 3rd place with a current distance of 271.8 miles / 437.42 km.

Contrary to what was reported earlier, South African runner Johan van der Merwe has not left the race, rather he took an extended rest break and then rejoined the race, now laying in 4th place overall.

Ahead of William in 2nd place in Trond Sjĺvik of Norway, who set a new national record for 48hrs during the race. The current race leader is still Wolfgang Schwerk of Germany who has just passed the 500 km point.

While it is naturally disappointing to report on the downs rather than the ups of William’s performance, I’d like to reassure everyone that he is feeling fine, just unusually tired due to the effects of Heat Fatigue, and that he intends both to finish the race and to complete it with the best possible distance under the circumstances.

I often joke that there are only 23 letters in William’s alphabet, because D-N-F seems to be missing from his vocabulary…

More news as I get it and of anyone wishes to send William a message please comment and I’ll pass it on

Shaun