Meet the Racer - who is Dr. sarah Ruggins

Sarah Ruggins

Shot Wheels (follow car), sponsored by MOJU

Sourcy Film Crew

James Busby Images

The Fuel Mule (crew RV), sponsored by Precision Hydration

Words fail me, what a ride! She got the record, she got the funds for the charities. She asked for 10.000 pounds and got 14.818 when crossing the finish line, she has beaten the previous record by around seven hours (her time is roughly 5d 11hrs and 14min). She conquered the last kilometers with all her strength and determination and a team that did everything possible to support this effort. There was fatigue, relentless climbing along the coast, headwind and after the cold night the heat of the day. We only can imagine the rollercoaster of emotions Sarah and the team went trough on this homestretch. You have done great and by getting to the iconic signpost you became a legend. I am certain we will hear a lot more of the experiences once it all has sunk in. For now congratulations, a full recovery and maybe a pint or two for all of you (it might be a ginger shot). Thank you for making us part of this endeavour.
![The Words on Sarahs Stem](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/61uAafExeHM1TeIJ3krKxc/4df119e5ebe99333a1dbdc910eb44097/497737741_18011380541737237_6057880914563898243_n.jpg) Pictures by [James Busby](https://www.instagram.com/jamesbusbyimages/)

Stay safe and cycle on.

Focus, discipline, gratitude - Dr. Sarah Ruggins set a new record

This is the rythm of the coastline to Jon o'Groats. Sarah is coling in but it is a gruelsome ride. A literal rollercoaster as the road climbs and descends and climbs again. The team is fantastic and the people along the road as well. Cheering her to the iconic signpost. She might have had her fdinal pitstop already which happens to be the same spot (well opposite) they had their first one on Sunday. Temperature is up to 15 degrees and the headwind is 4,63 m/s. I am glued to the screen and try not to breathe - what a ride. 

Photocredit James Busby

Up - down - up - repeat

Just saw an update on instagram which I have to embed here in case you missed it (spoiler swipe to picture number 8). Sarah got cheered up by a pole dance in the Cairngorms - beyond hilarious. The team goes above and beyond and gives everything no matter how crazy it seems.

[The post with a pole](https://www.instagram.com/p/DJtaalmsJRX/?img_index=8)

Stranger things 

At the time of writing, Sarah is cycling through the Cairngorms. However, a dramatic series of events unfolded yesterday. The tracking dot showed her moving up to Scotland, crossing the bridge over the Firth of Forth in Edinburgh, and then pausing unexpectedly, which deviated from her usual rhythm. What had happened?

Firstly, upon examining the "windy" layer on followmychallenge, it became evident that she faced a headwind for most of the journey, which was undoubtedly exhausting. Adding to this, the cycle lane on the bridge was closed for construction. Fortunately, the team received this information from vigilant dotwatchers. Remarkably, the construction workers moved the barriers aside and allowed her to pass, a commendable gesture.

After crossing the bridge, Sarah had to dismount her bike, marking the aforementioned moment. She suffered a severe physical collapse due to exhaustion and low blood sugar levels. The team, as always, provided immediate care, and she gradually recovered. A heartwarming moment came when young Maisie and her mother Hannah came to the spot and presented Sarah with a handmade sign with encouraging words, offering a significant morale boost. Rejuvenated, Sarah continued her journey into the Highlands, braving the cold night with temperatures plunging to the very low single digits.

She has now passed Aviemore and is heading towards Inverness. Although the temperatures remain low, the sun is shining, and conditions are expected to improve. With 227 kilometers remaining, Sarah holds a comfortable lead over the current record.

> May the road rise to meet you. May the wind always be at your back.

Tears, fatigue and a little girl - crossing the bridge and into the Cairngorms 

We are entering the fifth night of the world record attempt and Sarah is still going strong despite the hills, the cough and the exhaustion. She has entered Scotland via Gretna Green and crossed the Firth of Forth already. If you look at the race flow analysis she sticks to her plan of short rests every 4-5 hrs of riding. She has still a very comfortable lead of about 160 to 170 km over the current record which translates to 8 - 9 hrs. People are cheering along the route and she reached her goal of 10.000 GBP in donations when crossing into Scotland and exceeded it by 1.399,6 GPB at the time of posting. We hope this boost will help carrying her through the last night with about 420 kilometers left. Stay tuned and ride on (if you want to boost her, head to the homepage for a donation).

[picture by James Busby](https://www.instagram.com/jamesbusbyimages/ "James Busby Photography")

Back in Scotland

Quick update on day 5: 

After relentlessly pushing through four days the race starts taking its toll. The team reported that she came into her penultimate stop in the night slightly confused. One can hardly imagine the necessary effort and strength to get to where she is. Saddle sores came up a day ago, sleep deprivation despite all the care that is taken to mitigate the effect and still going fast! My humble words are not able to describe the magnitude of her achievement. 

When she woke up she was in higher spirits and went back into the cold night. The latter did not help with her cough which makes it hard for her to breathe. Not enough as she had some shifting problems which made Pete the mechanic race after her to fix it, as he was taking a nap further back on the road. With everything fixed and the sun warming her she was joking again. 

So send her all the power - "let's get this record" 562 km to go at the time of posting.

picture kindly provided by James Busby https://www.instagram.com/jamesbusbyimages/

Rollercoaster through night and day - "let's get this record"

Whilst Sarah is riding towards the scottish border for the second time let me fill you in on this remarkable woman. She is of canadian origin, more specifically from Montreal but has been all over the country due to her fathers work. She became a runner and competed on national and internationally level successfully with 10k becoming her distance. She was well on her way tot he commonwealth games and the olympics when she was struck by a rare disease. Following surgery of her feet it set on shortly after and spread trough her body. She sufferd from Complex regional pain syndrome CRPS which is  severe form a neuroinflammatory and dysautonomic disorder. 
> „So I went from being fully functioning, highly independent, top of my game … to basically needing 24/7 care. I could’nt feed myself independently“ – Dr. Sarah Ruggins  in the Cool Conversations podcast. 
> 
And this as an teenager! Being paralysed for several years and treated in various top end medical facilities she slowly regained control over her body. But what about the nonphyscial wounds and scars left in her soul? She almost inevitably developed PTSD. Not being well and knowing, that she might never compete in running again she struggled for a direction. As time passes she eventually she started doing long walks again and finally mustered all her courage for a 5 K run. Building on that over time she dived deeper and deeper in endurance activities. But behold, not only that, she also became top level student, holding now fou different degrees and got her PhD at the university of Edinburgh with the Thesis:  „Building blocks: A historical sociology of the innovation and regulation of exchange traded funds in the United States, 1970-2000“ in 2017.

Over time she gained more and more fitness and had the plan to run from Land’s End – John o‘Groats and raise money for charities when she was struck with injuries that made it impossible. So this mishap eventuelly made her buying her first bike in 2022. And being her trueself she went big and paired up with John Fowler for the TCR No.9 with just six months of cycling experience. Racing for over 3300 Kilometers they had to scratch in Greece, but what a statement! So inevitably she came back in 2024 to TCRNo10 which she finished in 13 days 11 hours and 58 Minutes. Her partner had to scratch very early in the race while still in Germany, so she went on on her own. Unfortunately she was later disqualified. But who cares? She was one of the fastest women in the race. From now on, so she said, no more races but records – and she lives up to that commitment having cycled 2111 Kilometers just now and with a comfortable lead on the current record she just needs an average of 20 kph to succeed.

So much for now, just to give you a brief glance of [Dr. Sarah Ruggins](https://dotwatcher.cc/profile/Sarah%20Ruggins). If you are curious, check the podcast mentioned above to listen to her story.

What a ride! The dot is flying. Sarah has not only completed the first half of the journey but is well on her way back to John o'Groats having just passed Birmingham and encountered the dot of the current womens record. But let's go back a bit.

The original plan was to start from Land's End and make it LeJogLe which is, by the way, the name of the [website](https://www.lejogle.org/). But due to weather considerations the team decided on last Thursday to do it the other way and go JogLeJog, which is maybe a bit weirder to pronounce but does not make any difference to the record attempt.

The first day went well except some bowel issues but she managed it with the help of ginger shots and went full speed to the scotish border. [Full speed nto the first night](https://www.instagram.com/p/DJjOuxgMffu/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==) I am personally very happy she got through this unscathed as she was forced to scratch from last years Race around Rwanda due to stomach issues. So after a power nap she finally crossed the border to England on May 12th at 6:30 am and hitting the first 24 hour mark at 8 am having ridden 609 Kilometers in 24 hrs. Absolutely incredible! [The first 24 hrs are done](https://www.instagram.com/p/DJjR2m6MH6j/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)

She is supported by her crew which takes care of food, encouraging words (including loud music) and shielding her from cars. Kudos to all of them! Later that day, coming out of Stockton on Trent she hit a massive rain (well rather cycling in a shower than on a road) but got through it unharmed. [Thunderstorm and Lightning](https://www.instagram.com/p/DJkHISMM05h/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==) What helped was the amazing whooping support she got along her route with people cheering regardless of the hour. So cool to see the excitement!

Day three started with 1125 km on the clock and she had another 90-minute nap. Full speed to Land's End on the A30 and well ahead of the mens record dot which is about 200 to 300 km behind her. And then she was finally there, [Land's End](https://www.instagram.com/p/DJmkCgyMBCb/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==) After 57 hours and 52 minutes she became the 4th fastest ever on the JogLe leg. No time to celebrate, after 30 sec she turned around and went back. Unfortunately she faces some headwind for at least 60 km. Godspeed to her. While writing she has now done 1881 km with an overall average speed of 21.47 kph and the headwind is 5.23 m/s. 

Sarah is a remarkable athlete and a warmhearted, lovely person as we experienced ourselves in Rwanda. So if you are not out there on the road cheering, head over to the website and support by donating. The goal is 10.000 GBP and the funds are not there yet. Take care wherever you are and cycle on.


Sarah is eating up the miles - JogLeJog update

Importantly, before we begin, Sarah has gone for a JOGLEJOG attempt, which whilst an identical ride, just starts from John O'Groats. So she seems to be at the finish but is in fact half-way through.

## The Ride

In May 2025, Dr. Sarah Ruggins will embark on an record-breaking challenge: cycling from Land’s End to John o’ Groats and back again. This ride is a 2,700 km and 16,000m route that takes her up and down the entirity of the mainland UK. Her goal is not only to beat the women's record of 10 days, 5 hours from Louise Harris but, also to beat the overall record of 5 days, 18 hours,  held by James MacDonald.

Whilst racing track at 15 years old, Sarah had aspirations of a pro-cycling career that was stopped when she was left paralysed after developing a rare autoimmune conditions. Turning to Endurance sport, Sarah did the 2024 TCR and carried on the mammoth 4000km route after being left without a pair after only 650km.

Sarah plans to ride 500–600 km daily, this is a fully supported event, something you don't often see on DotWatcher, but we felt our audience would appreciate this monumental ocassion.

Sarah is raising funds for The Bike Project and Bikes for Refugees, UK-based charities that provide bicycles to refugees, offering them access to essential services and opportunities. 

Photos by James Busby

Sarah Ruggins' LEJOGLE Attempt

Roland Bartmuss

Sarah Ruggins will attempt to set a new world record by cycling the length of the UK and back—2,700KM in total. If successful, she’ll make history taking the overall LEJOGLE record.

DotWatcher.cc

Sarah Ruggins: LEJOGLE World Record Attempt

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