Robert Garside
Encyclopedia
Robert Garside, calling himself The Runningman, is a British runner who is credited by Guinness World Records
as the first person to run around the world. Garside began his record-setting run following several aborted attempts from Cape Town
, South Africa
and London
, England
. Garside set off from New Delhi
, India
on 20 October 1997, completing his run back at the same point on 13 June 2003. While his run was challenged by some ultra distance runner
s and some members of the press, Guinness World Records, who spent several years evaluating evidence, declared it authentic and the record was officially bestowed on Garside on 27 March 2007 at a ceremony in Piccadilly Circus, London, England.
, England
, Robert Garside had pursued several academic courses and worked a number of jobs, including in the Merchant Navy when he began running. But it was later, while studying psychology at London's Royal Holloway University, that he decided to attempt to set a record as the first person to run around the world. Garside had become obsessed with running in the late 1980s, and when he noticed that there was a record on file for walking the world, but not for running it, decided that this was his record to set.
, in early 1996 was abandoned in Namibia
. In a second, begun on 7 December 1996, the 29-year-old Garside started from London's Piccadilly Circus
on a planned 42,000-mile run. This attempt was abandoned in Russia
due to the civil war in Afghanistan
, and a third effort was initiated on 20 October 1997 from the monument of India Gate
in New Delhi.
Garside later indicated that it was his habit to jog seven to eight hours a day, covering an average of forty miles a day when running on flat ground, outfitted with a video camera to record his journey and a fifteen-pound backpack.
During his run, he updated his website with a portable computer, describing an arduous journey complicated by human and natural hurdles that included physical attacks and imprisonment as well as grueling climate extremes. He met with considerable assistance, as he was offered lodgings around the globe in such diverse settings as five-star hotels and private homes to prison cells and police stations. In addition to corporate sponsorship of £50,000, he indicated he received £120,000 in donations from individuals. One donor in Hong Kong
agreed to back Garside in return for a share in future profits. Along the way, Garside also found love, meeting girlfriend Endrina Perez in Venezuela
.
Garside completed his world-traversing journey on 13 June 2003 at the monument of India Gate, at which time The Independent
reported the total miles run over five and a half years at 35,000 (approximately 56,000 kilometers), covering territory in 30 countries. Near the end of his run, Garside indicated that the worst experiences he'd encountered were three days spent running without any food and five days spent in jail in China because he lacked proper documentation. He described running over the Himalayas
as "fantastic" in spite of freezing temperatures, "the most spiritual of mind journeys."
Steven Seaton, then editor of Runner's World, also pointed out Garside's lack of previous experience with ultramarathons, saying, "Some of the things he has claimed to have achieved would constitute world records for ultrarunning, which is nonsense for somebody who is claiming to have run almost every day. He went into this with no outstanding ultra-credentials, which makes it difficult to believe what he claims to have done." The Daily Telegraph
claimed that Garside had admitted to skipping five countries and 2000 miles, before flying back to India to relaunch his attempt.
, Japan
, Australia
, South America
, North America
, Africa
, southern Europe
, the Middle East
. Garside used his video camera every 20 minutes while running to take a four-minute clip of his location, and routinely requested signed, dated documents from local officials. Before authenticating the record, Guinness World Records spent over three years evaluating Garside's evidence, which included those time-coded tapes, credit-card receipts, and independent witnesses.
In 2007, Guinness recognized Garside's run, formally listing him as the first person to run around the world. In its press announcement, Guinness World Records declared itself quite satisfied with the evidence evaluated, stating that "We are very cautious to accept records like this because they are difficult to certify, however Robert has provided us with full evidence which enabled us to authenticate his amazing achievement." According to Guinness' endorsement, Garside ran through 29 countries on six different continents over a period of 2,062 days.
After the authentication, The Guardian quoted Ian Champion of the UK Road Runners Club, who had been called upon to judge the uncompleted supervised 24 hour road test, as indicating he was "stunned". The Guardian
was more critical in its commentary, stating that Garside "did not complete the challenge" to "run 130 miles on a track for 24 hours, under observation".
Garside had also apparently admitted to shortening his route by 1300 km by taking an airplane. According to 2009's Getting Into Guinness, Guinness permits rest days and ship or plane travel across bodies of water in epic journeys.
In 2003, Garside indicated his intention to follow up his record-setting run by running across the Antarctic and swimming around the globe, with intentions to embark on the latter in June 2004. Garside married his girlfriend in London in 2004, having met her in Venezuela
in 2000.
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
as the first person to run around the world. Garside began his record-setting run following several aborted attempts from Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Garside set off from New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
on 20 October 1997, completing his run back at the same point on 13 June 2003. While his run was challenged by some ultra distance runner
Ultramarathon
An ultramarathon is any sporting event involving running longer than the traditional marathon length of .There are two types of ultramarathon events: those that cover a specified distance, and events that take place during specified time...
s and some members of the press, Guinness World Records, who spent several years evaluating evidence, declared it authentic and the record was officially bestowed on Garside on 27 March 2007 at a ceremony in Piccadilly Circus, London, England.
Background
Born in CheshireCheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Robert Garside had pursued several academic courses and worked a number of jobs, including in the Merchant Navy when he began running. But it was later, while studying psychology at London's Royal Holloway University, that he decided to attempt to set a record as the first person to run around the world. Garside had become obsessed with running in the late 1980s, and when he noticed that there was a record on file for walking the world, but not for running it, decided that this was his record to set.
The run
His first effort from Cape Town, South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, in early 1996 was abandoned in Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
. In a second, begun on 7 December 1996, the 29-year-old Garside started from London's Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster, built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly...
on a planned 42,000-mile run. This attempt was abandoned in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
due to the civil war in Afghanistan
Civil war in Afghanistan
The Afghan civil war began when the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan took power in a military coup, known as the Saur Revolution, on 27 April 1978. Most of Afghanistan subsequently experienced uprisings against the unpopular Marxist-Leninist PDPA government. The Soviet Union...
, and a third effort was initiated on 20 October 1997 from the monument of India Gate
India Gate
The India Gate is the national monument of India. Situated in the heart of New Delhi, India Gate was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, inspired by the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It was built in 1931...
in New Delhi.
Garside later indicated that it was his habit to jog seven to eight hours a day, covering an average of forty miles a day when running on flat ground, outfitted with a video camera to record his journey and a fifteen-pound backpack.
During his run, he updated his website with a portable computer, describing an arduous journey complicated by human and natural hurdles that included physical attacks and imprisonment as well as grueling climate extremes. He met with considerable assistance, as he was offered lodgings around the globe in such diverse settings as five-star hotels and private homes to prison cells and police stations. In addition to corporate sponsorship of £50,000, he indicated he received £120,000 in donations from individuals. One donor in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
agreed to back Garside in return for a share in future profits. Along the way, Garside also found love, meeting girlfriend Endrina Perez in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
.
Garside completed his world-traversing journey on 13 June 2003 at the monument of India Gate, at which time The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
reported the total miles run over five and a half years at 35,000 (approximately 56,000 kilometers), covering territory in 30 countries. Near the end of his run, Garside indicated that the worst experiences he'd encountered were three days spent running without any food and five days spent in jail in China because he lacked proper documentation. He described running over the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
as "fantastic" in spite of freezing temperatures, "the most spiritual of mind journeys."
Dispute
Even before Garside completed his run, some ultra distance runners and some members of the press began challenging his achievement. David Blaikie, editor of now-defunct Canadian website Ultramarathon World and former president of the Association of Canadian Ultramarathoners expressed disbelief stating "I do not believe ... that he has fully run any of the major sections of the world he has claimed, or even a substantial portion of any section." Blaikie also cited the lack of any helpers to help him carry food and water and his lack of experience with ultramarathons as reasons to doubt Garside's claims.Steven Seaton, then editor of Runner's World, also pointed out Garside's lack of previous experience with ultramarathons, saying, "Some of the things he has claimed to have achieved would constitute world records for ultrarunning, which is nonsense for somebody who is claiming to have run almost every day. He went into this with no outstanding ultra-credentials, which makes it difficult to believe what he claims to have done." The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
claimed that Garside had admitted to skipping five countries and 2000 miles, before flying back to India to relaunch his attempt.
The record
When Guinness began considering evidence of Garside's record, they evaluated the journey that began in Delhi on 20 October 1997, after his detour to spend time in the UK with his girlfriend, including ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, southern Europe
Southern Europe
The term Southern Europe, at its most general definition, is used to mean "all countries in the south of Europe". However, the concept, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional political, linguistic and cultural context to the definition in addition to the typical...
, the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. Garside used his video camera every 20 minutes while running to take a four-minute clip of his location, and routinely requested signed, dated documents from local officials. Before authenticating the record, Guinness World Records spent over three years evaluating Garside's evidence, which included those time-coded tapes, credit-card receipts, and independent witnesses.
In 2007, Guinness recognized Garside's run, formally listing him as the first person to run around the world. In its press announcement, Guinness World Records declared itself quite satisfied with the evidence evaluated, stating that "We are very cautious to accept records like this because they are difficult to certify, however Robert has provided us with full evidence which enabled us to authenticate his amazing achievement." According to Guinness' endorsement, Garside ran through 29 countries on six different continents over a period of 2,062 days.
Post-authentication
The record was officially observed on 27 March 2007 at a ceremony in Piccadilly Circus, where representatives of Guinness endorsed the record. Garside said, "I'm really happy about this, this run cost me everything."After the authentication, The Guardian quoted Ian Champion of the UK Road Runners Club, who had been called upon to judge the uncompleted supervised 24 hour road test, as indicating he was "stunned". The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
was more critical in its commentary, stating that Garside "did not complete the challenge" to "run 130 miles on a track for 24 hours, under observation".
Garside had also apparently admitted to shortening his route by 1300 km by taking an airplane. According to 2009's Getting Into Guinness, Guinness permits rest days and ship or plane travel across bodies of water in epic journeys.
In 2003, Garside indicated his intention to follow up his record-setting run by running across the Antarctic and swimming around the globe, with intentions to embark on the latter in June 2004. Garside married his girlfriend in London in 2004, having met her in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
in 2000.