Orkney-based ultra marathon runner, William Sichel (58) kicks off his 2012 season by travelling heads to Evreux, in northern France, as an invited participant in the first 48 hour treadmill race to be held in the EuroFitness Centre from Wednesday February 22nd to Friday 24th.

Six established ultra distance athletes have been invited to this event, called the “World Challenge 48 Hour Treadmill” the first of its kind.  William will join three Frenchmen, a Swiss and a Spanish lady.

The brain child of local organiser Gerard Cain, this unique event will start at 4pm UK time and herald a new type of competition which the organiser thinks will become a popular event for athletes and spectators. The main focus of the athletes will be on the existing world 48 hour treadmill record, set by Ireland’s Tony Mangan, of 251.80 miles/405.22kms.

Ten years ago, William set a Guinness World Record for the greatest distance run on a treadmill in 24 hours, at the Pickaquoy Centre in Kirkwall.  William covered 112.46 miles on that occasion.

“I have to admit I have done nothing like that since and I’m not sure how I will respond to 48 hours on a treadmill. I use a treadmill regularly in my training but never for longer than a few hours.  I’m fully fit and willing to have a good shot at it and see how I get on.”

In William’s last event in November, he won the Monaco 8 Day road race becoming the first person in the event’s history to surpass 1000kms or 621.37 miles in the 8 days.

William plans to provide full coverage of the treadmill event on his blog www.williamsichel.co.uk/blog thanks to Shaun Brassfield-Thorpe of UltraFitnessTraining.com

William is a member of the Orkney Athletic Club and is currently engaged in Project 60@60 in which he is attempting to have set 60 ultra distance records, at World, British and Scottish level, including age-groups, before his 60th birthday on October 1st 2013.  Currently William has set 58 records, including 6 World Age-Group records. The records must be set on road, track or indoor surfaces.

Fancy a career change or adding another qualification to your skill set? Become one of a select few, ‘Newton Certified Natural Running Form Coach’!

Mike Trees & Alex Drummond will be teaching a “Natural Running Form Coaching Certificate” workshops at the Drummond Clinic in Maidenhead, Berkshire.

There will be a maximum of 12 people per course.

Dates: 10-11th March

The courses costs – £350 (each participant will receive a pair of Newton Running shoes.)

Lunch and refreshments will be provided each day.

Those interested can find out more at www.drummondclinic.co.uk.

Newton Running UK have announced a series of Limited Edition Shoes in their Distance and Gravity shoe designs. The shoes, designed for Newton’s Japanese distributors, in four bold colourways, are now available, and are expected to sell out fast due to the launch of the Newton Brand Ambassadors Competition.

Newton shoes are quickly building a reputation on the UK running and triathlon scene as lightweight training and racing shoes for midfoot runners. Their unique Action/Reaction Technology™ absorbs and returns energy back to the runner when the foot lands on the trademark lugs, giving a boost of forward energy with every stride.

Two of the designs, are being made exclusive to established UK retailers. B2P Sports, based in Windsor, will be selling GB-coloured Newton Gravity, and Lanson Running in Kingston have the Special Edition Distance Performance Racer in red, blue and yellow.

Other designs are available at www.newtonrunning.co.uk.

MELBOURNE, January 19 2012 – 2XU, Australia’s leading technical sports and Compression apparel brand, continues its power charge into elite cycling.  This time, the acclaimed Compression brand has been appointed the exclusive Official Compression Partner of the prestigious BMC Racing Team; a UCI-registered ProTeam.

The comprehensive Agreement will see 2XU’s highly acclaimed Compression apparel worn by all BMC Racing Team athletes, including 2011 Tour de France yellow jersey winner Cadel Evans of Australia and two-time Tour de France points classification winner Thor Hushovd of Norway. All cyclists will wear 2XU Compression for training and recovery to enjoy critical physiological benefits including improved circulation, heightened agility and reduced muscle fatigue and damage.

Jim Ochowicz, BMC Racing Team General Manager, said “Compression technology is becoming increasingly important in endurance sports, making our partnership with 2XU critical to the performance of our athletes.  We are very excited to launch this partnership in 2012.”

2XU Director of Sales and Marketing, Aidan Clarke, is equally thrilled with the new partnership.

“Working with world-class athletes and a program of BMC Racing Team’s calibre is integral to 2XU’s high performance formula,” said Clarke.

“BMC and its commitment to brand passion and ongoing research and development with the BMC Racing Team are sentiments equally echoed by the 2XU brand.

With our 2XU mission to multiply human performance, this new partnership is set to ignite some thrilling joint ventures.”

With roots in Europe, the United States and Australia, the BMC Racing Team is a logical ally for 2XU, whose international brand presence is slated for rapid growth in 2012.

As the existing official supplier of Compression to the Australian Institute of Sport, Rowing Australia, Triathlon New Zealand, international triathlon powerhouse teamTBB, GreenEDGE Cycling, the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team amongst many others, formal alliance with the BMC Racing Team marks an intelligent sponsorship for 2XU.

Thanks to its relentless commitment to engineering world-class garments from fabrics delivering tangible benefits to the wearer, 2XU sets the benchmark in high performance compression.  Ongoing testing, research and consultation with professional sporting bodies of such caliber as BMC Racing Team are key to the brand’s winning formula.

TCL Sports are proud to have received an award for 2XU Compression Tights in the inaugural Running Bug Gear Awards for ‘Best Tights, Shorts or Tracksters’.

A reviewer for The Running Bug said they had a “great look, the compression felt very good and they had a flattering fit”, awarding them 5 out of 5 stars!

Mike Trees, Managing Director of TCL Sports said “We’re really pleased to have been given this award on behalf of 2XU. We’re grateful to all the members of the Running Bug community that voted 2XU Compression Tights the best and are proud to be given the accolade of Best Run Tights in recognition of a great product“.

2Xu Compression Tights are powerful and breathable compression garments featuring the added benefit of graduated engineering for extra support, comfort and more efficient delivery of oxygenated blood to fatigued muscles. Using PWX Flex to deliver optimal flexibility and movement, they have a high power denier to support hamstrings, quads, abductors, gluts and calves, helping to reduce muscle fatigue and damage.

The Running Bug Gear Awards go to the apparel, hydration and nutrition products that have impressed the members of The Running Bug community over the course of 2011. Excellent design, materials and features have all contributed to the winners in the clothing categories.

View 2XU Compression Tights – here

Visit The Running Bug – here

MELBOURNE, January 10 2011 – Leading technical sports and Compression apparel brand, 2XU, has forged forth in elite sporting circles yet again.  This time, the acclaimed performance sportswear label has been appointed the exclusive Official Compression Partner of Australia’s first ever ProTour road cycling team, GreenEDGE.

The comprehensive Agreement will see 2XU’s highly acclaimed Compression apparel worn by all GreenEDGE Team members for training and recovery to enjoy an array of critical physiological benefits including improved circulation and heightened agility through to reduced muscle fatigue and damage.

Shayne Bannan, GreenEDGE Cycling General Manager, said the Team has been very specific in which equipment suppliers it has aimed to work with, and as the brand that has set the benchmark in compression apparel, 2XU is the ideal partner.

“Because of the quality of their garments, 2XU has played a major role in creating the compression market and we’re delighted to be working with them,” Bannan said.

“The key to our riders maximising the benefits of their training is how quickly they recover and 2XU Compression will play an important role in that.

“When we’re putting our riders like Matt Goss, Stuart O’Grady and Cameron Meyer on the road to go head-to-head with the world’s best, we have to send them out there knowing we’ve given them the world’s best equipment on and off the bike. With 2XU Compression we know we’re doing that.”

2XU Director of Sales and Marketing, Aidan Clarke, is equally thrilled with the new partnership.

“Working with the world’s finest athletes and sporting institutes is integral to 2XU’s high performance formula,” said Clarke.

“We’re delighted to add GreenEDGE to our enviable list of respected sporting partners.  With its underlying passion for elite performance and clear goal of seeing Australia perform on the world-class ProTour platform, GreenEDGE shares much common ground with 2XU.

As the existing official supplier of Compression to the Australian Institute of Sport, Rowing Australia, Triathlon New Zealand, international triathlon powerhouse teamTBB and UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team amongst many others, formal alliance with Australia’s highly anticipated GreenEDGE marks a logical next step for 2XU.

With a relentless commitment to engineering world-class garments from fabrics delivering tangible benefits to the wearer, 2XU sets the benchmark in high performance compression.  Ongoing testing, research and consultation with professional sporting bodies of such caliber as GreenEDGE are integral to the brand’s winning formula.

Academy-Award winner Sandra Bullock is spotted in a pair of Newton Terra Momentus shoes in New York. Read the article here.

The Terra Momentus is an off-road trainer designed for all types of terrain, from groomed bridle paths and roads to technical mountain trails. The outsole features a protected stretch membrane and increased traction, while the upper is designed with a closed mesh to keep out debris and medial and lateral webbing to provide increased upper stability. Whether you follow Chi, Pose, Evolution, barefoot running or just want to run better, this low profile, high-durability shoe allows you to run naturally on the trails. Recommended for any distance and terrain, as well walking or hiking.

The TCL Sports office and warehouse will be closed between 23rd December 2011 and 03rd January 2012. During this time orders will not be processed or despatched.

We will process orders received during this time as quickly as possible when the office opens again on 03 January 2012.

TCL Sports would like to wish all of our customers, suppliers and retailers a very happy Christmas.

This year as part of ‘Movember’ four of the TCL Sports team grew a ‘mo’ to raise awareness of men’s health.

Steve, John, Nick and Lander spent the month cultivating their moustaches in support of this annual event that aims to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.

On Sunday 27th November Lander and Nick took part in the Battersea Park 5k ‘Mo Run’ and it was great to see other ‘Mo Bros’ and ‘Mo Sisters’ taking part in the event wearing 2XU and Newton Running shoes!

Orkney-based ultra marathon runner, William Sichel (58) won the “No Finish Line” 8 Day race in Monaco last weekend with a new course record of 622.6 miles/1002kms, breaking the previous record by more than 48 miles and becoming the first person to surpass 1000km on the difficult Monaco course.

William now becomes the most successful runner associated with the ‘No Finish Line’ event, having the won the 6 Day events in 2006 and 2007 and now the full 8 Day event with a massive course record in 2011.

Averaging 77.8 miles a day – that’s almost 3 marathons a day – for 8 days William battled sore feet in the final stages to stay on course and surpass the 1000km barrier for the first time.

“I found it an incredibly hard event, with the narrow twisting course, the cobble stones in some parts and the heavily crowded course at certain times of the day.  But this was balanced by the incredible crowd support, perfect weather conditions and the Royal Patronage which is unique in ultra distance running.”

Presented with a special trophy, for passing 1000km, by Albert II Prince of Monaco and Charlene Princess of Monaco, William is grateful to the Hotel Metropole, Monte Carlo for sponsoring the trophy’s transport back to Orkney.

William would like to thank his support crew of Alan Young (Brechin) and Tim Rainey (Manchester) who supported him selflessly throughout the eight days.  Also thanks to Shaun Brassfield-Thorpe who was the blog master throughout the event.

William is a member of the Orkney Athletic Club and is currently engaged in Project 60@60 in which he is attempting to have set 60 ultra distance records, at World, British and Scottish level, including age-groups, before his 60th birthday on October 1st 2013.  Currently William has set 55 records, including 6 World Age-Group records.

William wears 2XU.