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Phil starts his ‘Lejog’ cycle challenge

Phil Morcom with his bicycle at Land's End in Cornwall at the start of his 1,000-mile ride to John O'Groats on March 1, 2025.
NO LOOKING BACK: Phil Morcom with his bicycle at Land's End in Cornwall at the start of his 1,000-mile ride to John O'Groats in northern Scotland on March 1, 2025. Picture: Phil Morcom.
NUJ stalwart Phil Morcom is to spend some of his spring cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats to raise money for two charities.

NUJ stalwart and former Leeds and West Yorkshire branch chair Phil Morcom is to spend some of his spring cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats to raise money for two charities – the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and Medecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Phil Morcom with his bicycle outside an RNLI lifeboat station.
SHORE SUPPORT: NUJ member Phil Morcom outside a lifeboat station as he cycles from Land’s End to John O’Groats to raise money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 2025. Picture: Phil Morcom.

When he was young, Phil lived near Porlock in Somerset, where – in January 1899 – RNLI volunteers dragged their lifeboat 13 miles so they could launch it to rescue 18 seafarers adrift on a sailing boat in a storm.

“RNLI lifesavers are our lifeline,” he says. “They’re the lifeboat crews who provide 24-hour search and rescue right around the UK and Ireland with lifeguards keeping watch on 240 of the busiest beaches in the UK and Channel Islands.”

He is supporting MSF because, he said, “We all know there are awful events in many countries at the moment where medical help is needed.”

MSF say they provide emergency assistance to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics and natural or man-made disasters, without discrimination and irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation, working in more than 70 countries and going to places where others cannot or choose not to go.

Despite the distance, Phil won’t be away from home – or work – for too long at a time, as he plans to take the 1,000-mile journey, often known as “Lejog”, in stages.

“I haven’t got a clue when I’ll finish …”

“I’m no Bradley Wiggins,” he said, “so I won’t be matching the 43 hours, 25 minutes and 13 seconds Michael Broadwith did in 2018. Also, I won’t be using a unicycle, nor even a penny farthing.”

The Lejog challenge was first completed in 1886, when Victorian cyclist George Pilkington Mills completed the journey in five days and one hour.

After ending February with a long train journey from Yorkshire to Cornwall, Phil set off from Land’s End on Saturday March 1, on a first stage of about 350 miles.

“I haven’t,” he said, “got a clue when I’ll finish – hopefully by May.”

After the first 100-mile day, the other stages will be about 250 miles each, with trips away from Yorkshire lasting about a week, including a day at each end for him – and his trusty bicycle – to get from and to each finishing and starting point by train.

Phil has set up two Just Giving pages, one for those who want to donate to the RNLI and the other for donations to Medecins Sans Frontières.

 https://www.justgiving.com/page/phil-morcom-rnli

 https://www.justgiving.com/page/phil-morcom-msf