Johnny's done a runner and crowned 4th fastest Brit...

Half man/Half machine it’s our Chief Johnny...

For those of you who have been walking around with blinkers on, our founder and Chief Panda Johnny is a dedicated runner. That is putting it lightly; if it were up to him we would all have treadmill desks and the Spartathlon would be our annual company trip.   

On Friday 27^th September , he took part in the Spartathlon. It’s a 153 mile course in Athens. Johnny completed the gruelling 153 mile course in 33 hours 30 minutes and 41 seconds. He came 54^th out of 332 ultrarunners and he was the 4^th fastest Brit! We’re very proud of our Chief, his dedication, commitment and feet no know bounds.

Here’s what the legend had to say about it “It feels amazing that I finished the race and in a better time than I was expecting, the overall and British positioning are a real bonus. It’s a properly tough race in many ways and I’m just really pleased the training and planning paid off so well.”

Johnny on his toughest moment: “I’m pleased to say there was no really tough moment when I had to battle with my mind. The worst time was around 8am on Saturday morning, so 25hrs in with 30ish miles to go, and I’m thinking “ok, all I need to do is stick to a pace for a 7.5hr marathon!” It took me a while to think that 30 miles was going to take so long, how is that possible? Then loads of hills came and the heat as we got to Sparta just rocketed so at the end a 4mph pace was actually pretty good!

The only other weird bit was sleepwalking. My legs felt fine, my body had energy but when I walked my eyes would try and shut and this went on for about 7 hrs. Coffee helped for an hour then it would start again and when I ran it stopped. Very odd.”

If you’re as in awe of this superhuman, as much as us pandas, please part with some cash! We wouldn’t normally ask, but Johnny is extremely modest and it’s for a cause close to his heart.

Johnny is fundraising for the charity Multiple System Atrophy Trust in memory of our co-founder Joe’s step-mum Sara, who sadly passed away from the condition earlier this year.

To donate visit Johnny’s Virgin Money Giving fundraising page and give whatever you can afford – donate even if it’s a handful of panda pounds, and show some love by sharing the article!