Grandfather Completes the Entire Length of Iceland in Ten Days

Yes, your early morning run while there’s still a chill in the air is outstanding. Getting out of your duvet cocoon to pound the pavement? To be honest, it was a magnificent achievement. But we’re afraid that this grandad’s chilly challenge might just outlast your incredible endurance.

Glen Baddeley, 51, recently ran the entire length of Iceland in 10 days, 11 hours, and 26 minutes, breaking the current solo record by more than an hour.

After seeing a YouTube video of someone else completing the same challenge, the food manager from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, was inspired to take on the 460-mile ‘Project Iceman’ run.

He set out from the Hraunhafnartangi lighthouse in northern Iceland and ran for 14.5 hours a day through snow, rain, hale, and freezing temperatures.

‘I’m always on the lookout for the next personal challenge, I want to make sure during my time here I haven’t settled for normalcy but have sought the limits of what I’m capable of,’ said the father-of-two, who was completing the challenge for charity.

‘It was about three years ago that someone thought they had the fastest crossing in 14 days.’

‘Someone from England stopped it by saying it was being held by a friend and attaching a YouTube link to it.’ When I saw that video, I thought there were enough errors/issues in the run for me to beat it, but then Covid hit and delayed the attempt.

‘I chose Iceland because it was the subject of the debate, and I saw enough there to allow me to plan around and capitalize on the time losses.’

‘I’d never been to Iceland, but I’d heard it was stunning – what better way to combine my passion with an adventure?’

‘I’ve been running off and on since my early twenties, did all the T-shirt races, had kids, and stopped, gaining weight until I was 40.’ It was at that point that I decided enough was enough.

‘This is the most extreme in terms of overall distance and attempting to break a record.’ I’ve done Ironman triathlons, nonstop 100-mile runs, and a self-supported stage race across the Oman desert five years ago.’

The task was, as expected, difficult. Glen had to fight through a shin injury while dealing with extreme weather conditions that ranged from ‘ridiculously hot’ during the day to icy nights.

‘Day two, I was running in mist all day with little visibility,’ he explained. ‘Day eight brought heavy rain and hailstorms.’

‘Because the sun was so low in the sky, most other days were either benign or ridiculously hot.’

‘From the last two hours running until the sun rose the next day, the temperature dropped below zero every evening.’

‘I also developed shin issues from day seven to ten as a result of repeated movements, which forced me to resort to speed marching to allow active repair.’

‘The problem allowed me to run again for the last 1.5 days.’

Through the Project Iceman challenge, the runner has raised over £12,000 for his charity, the Boparan Charitable Trust.

“I’ve done it to raise money for the charity arm of the company I work for,” he added.

‘The trust will provide funding to children with disabilities, life-limiting illnesses, and those living in extreme poverty throughout the United Kingdom.’

‘The grants can be used to pay for specialized equipment such as wheelchairs, trikes, and sensory toys that are not available on the NHS, as well as treatments such as speech and language therapy and behavioral therapy.’

‘As the event was live tracked, I was extremely proud and humbled by the level of support from around the world.’

‘I always knew I needed things to go my way, and nature eventually gave me a pass.’

‘My family and friends are overjoyed; they understand the sacrifice I’ve made over months of training better than anyone else.’

Ratification for the world record can take up to 12 weeks, but Glen is confident that he has accomplished his goal, with data logs to prove it.

‘We are all far more capable than we give ourselves credit for, and when people say “I can’t do that,” they really mean “I don’t want to consider the possibility of doing that,” he said.

‘While I recognize that not everyone can be the fastest or go the furthest, I believe that if you do nothing else right now, a 5k is doable.

‘If you can run a half marathon, you can run a full marathon, and so on, always more than you can do now.’

‘I have a saying that the number of miles you can run is always x plus one, where x is the number of miles you’ve already run.

‘And never let anyone tell you that something is impossible.’ It may be impossible for them, but it does not have to be impossible for you.’

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