Cricketer Runs 100km To Bowl First Ball, Attempts Guinness World Record

A cricketer has attempted to break the Guinness World Record for the longest run-up before bowling the first ball of a cricket match. Sam Bodoano, who hails from Worplesdon near Guildford in Surrey, ran 100km (62 miles), starting at Lord's Cricket Ground in London and finishing by bowling the first ball of a cricket match to his father at Valley Cricket Ground in Woking last weekend. Bodoano took 14 hours to complete the run, raising 6,000 pounds for the Ruth Strauss Foundation, the cancer charity founded in memory of former England captain Andrew Strauss's late wife, Ruth.

"I'm very tired. I lost a lot of sleep, but it was all for an amazing cause," said Bodoano.

Bodoano had to hold a cricket ball throughout the run, remain dressed in full cricket whites, and then play in the subsequent match for the record to count, having started his journey at midnight.

While Bodoano completed the attempt for the record for the longest cricket bowling run-up by a male, a Guinness World Records official said his application is subject to a formal evidence review and verification process, which could take up to two weeks.

"That review can take about two weeks, depending on the evidence submitted, so at this stage we wouldn't be able to officially recognise the achievement," the official said.

The current record for the longest cricket bowling run-up by a male is held by Tom Dunn, who ran 24km (15 miles) from Bethnal Green in east London to Wandsworth Common in south London in August 2024.

Shortly after the death of his first wife, Ruth, Strauss founded the Ruth Strauss Foundation in her memory in 2019. The charity supports families and funds research into non-smoking lung cancers.

The foundation's annual Red for Ruth campaign is now a regular fixture in English cricket, taking place during an England Test match each summer.

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