A cricketer is attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the longest ever run-up prior to bowling a match ball.
Sam Bodoano, from Worplesdon, near Guildford, will cover 62 miles (100km), starting at Lord’s Cricket Ground in north London at midnight on Saturday.
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He will complete the challenge by delivering the first ball at Valley End Cricket Club (VECC) in Woking at 14:00 BST on Sunday, with the attempt raising money for UK cancer charity The Ruth Strauss Foundation.
“I saw a video of the current record holder, who managed 24km (15 miles), and thought, ‘I’ve got to give this a go’,” said Bodoano.
Speaking to BBC Radio Surrey, he added that, in order to make the record attempt official, he has to run the 100km whilst holding a cricket ball and dressed in full cricket whites.
“I’ve then got to go straight into playing a proper match, with umpires, scorers and two teams of 11,” said Bodoano, who regularly posts offbeat athletic challenges to his 30k followers on social media under the monicker @ironbodz.
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“The run beforehand is going to take me 14 hours or so and my dad will be the batsman facing me when I finally get to bowl that first ball.
“So, a little bit of extra pressure there for me. But I might actually get him out, you never know,” he added.
The event has been backed by VECC, with supporters encouraged to follow the cricket game live and to donate and contribute prizes for a fundraising raffle.
The Ruth Strauss Foundation set up by former England cricket captain Sir Andrew Strauss after his with Ruth died, aged 46, from a rare lung cancer, leaving behind two young children.
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The current holder of the record for the longest bowling run-up (male) is Tom Dunn who ran in full cricket whites whilst holding a match ball from Bethnal Green in east London all the way to Wandsworth Common in south London – a distance of 15 miles (24km) – in August 2024.
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