Episode 34: How to break an outright Guinness World Record with Dr Sarah Ruggins

What does it feel like to be completely sleep deprived while taking on a Guinness World Record? 😲

This week on the Passion Stories podcast, Emma is joined by Dr Sarah Ruggins, who recently smashed the LEJOGLE there and back overall record - cycling from John O’Groats to Land’s End and back again in just 5 days, 11 hours, and 14 minutes.

That’s over 2,700 kilometres with 18,000 metres of elevation. Insane. 🚀

Sarah beat the men’s record by 6 hours 43 minutes, which was previously held by James MacDonald, and the women’s record by 4 days 17 hours 40 minutes which was held by Louise Harris. She also raised over £18,000 for @the_bikeproject and @bikes4refugees at the same time.

Sarah also pushed through a lot of pain - the night of Day 4 of the JOGLEJOG record attempt turned out to be filled with delirium and confusion due to the impact of sleep deprivation.

In this conversation, we dive into:

- How Sarah became an endurance cyclist 2.5 years after first picking up a bike
- What drove her to take on the outright record
- How she refined her mindset
- The highs and lows of the challenge (cue delirium and riding in circles)
- What’s next on her radar
- Sarah’s dream dinner party guest list and menu (spoiler: it’s hilarious)

It’s a wild and inspiring episode filled with grit, honesty and plenty of passion. 💥

Listen now to the full episode by searching ‘The Passion Stories’ wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Sarah on socials here.