Donald Ritchie
Scottish ultra-distance runner who held 14 world records
DONALD RITCHIE, who has died aged 73, was one of the world’s greatest ultra-distance runners.
Ritchie notched up a remarkable list of ultradistance achievements, holding no fewer than 14 world records. These ranged from “tiddlers” such as the 50 miles, to ultra-marathons including a 24 hour race on an indoor track at Milton Keynes in 1970 when he left the rest of an international field behind, achieving a final distance of 166 miles 429 yards – equivalent to six back-to-back marathons.
Ritchie set his first major record in October 1977 at the Crystal Palace athletic track when he ran 100 miles in 11hr 30 min 51 sec, a pace of under seven minutes per mile – an achievement which remains the longeststanding record in distance running.
The following year he returned to Crystal Palace and covered 100km in 6 hr 10 min 20 sec, equivalent to running a second or so under six minutes per mile continuously for over 62 miles – chopping more than 15 minutes from the old record and taking more than five minutes from the world 50-mile record en route. He might have done even better had he not been forced, due to an upset stomach, to make an extended pit stop.
Only a handful of spectators turned up to witness these performances, and although Ritchie set more world records than many better known athletes, few outside the world of ultra-running had heard of him. There are no ultra-distance events included in the Commonwealth Games or the Olympics; indeed there were no recognised world titles of any description for ultra-distance running until 1987 when 100km became accepted as the standard for international competition.
By this time Ritchie was past his peak, though he continued to represent his country into well into his 50s, often running with athletes half his age. In 1989 he ran the 846 miles from John O’groats to Land’s End, raising funds for cancer research, in a new record time of just 10 days 15 hours and 27 minutes. He was 46 at the time and he recalled that it had taken him five months and seven courses of antibiotics to recover.
Donald Ritchie was born on July 7 1944 at Haddo House, near Tarves, Aberdeenshire, which had been converted into a maternity hospital during the war. His father, Alexander, was a dairy cattleman. At school he showed promise as a sprinter and after leaving school he worked as an electrician, later lecturing in electronics at Moray College, Elgin.
From 1962 he attended training sessions with Aberdeen Amateur Athletic Club and soon gravitated towards long distance events, running his first marathons in 1966. “Each time I ended a run I had plenty left inside me, so I entered longer and longer races,” he recalled. “Soon I was finding even marathons were not long enough for my liking, so in my late twenties I turned to ultradistance running.”
He competed in his first “ultra” event – the 36 mile Two Bridges race across the Forth and Kincardine bridges – in 1970, finishing 7th, and went on to set his first world record in early 1977 in a 50km event at Epsom. As well as his world records, he counted 10 Scottish and 17 British vests at international events and numerous world age best performances.
Ritchie admitted that he never used the portable lavatories provided at such events, but urinated en route, observing that due to dehydration few were likely to notice. “It helps if you are a little crazy,” he conceded.
He was appointed MBE in 1996.
In 2016 he published his autobiography, The Stubborn Scotsman.
He is survived by his wife, Isobel, and by two daughters.
Don Ritchie, born July 7 1944, died June 16 2018