Marathon legend Lloyd Scott on his most bonkers stunts as he prepares to do Three Peaks Challenge in deep sea diver suit
WHEN the virtual London marathon gets underway tomorrow the most famous ‘runner’ in the history of the race will be in Scotland at the start of another crazy adventure.
In 2002, ex-fireman Lloyd Scott took over five days to complete the 26-mile course wearing a deep sea diving suit weighing an incredible 130lbs.
Tomorrow morning he will be back in the famous suit for the first time in six years to become the first person ever to climb the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales wearing the diver’s suit.
Lloyd, who has already raised more than £5million for a host of charities, will climb Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon – scaling nearly 10,000 feet in eight days.
It would be an incredible achievement for a fit young man. But Lloyd is now 58 and suffers from a heart condition.
Drowning in mud
To make matters worse, the last time he wore the diving suit during a charity event in 2014 he almost died.
Taking time out from training for his Three Peaks Challenge, Lloyd says: “The Maldon Mud Race in Essex is just 400 yards long, so I thought what could possibly go wrong? It very nearly was my last-ever charity stunt.
“The diving suit was just far too heavy and I sank up to my knees in the churned up mud. Then I fell face-first and thick black mud was oozing into my deep sea diving helmet.
“Because of the the weight of the helmet I couldn’t get up and I was struggling to breathe. I thought I was going to drown in mud when seven guys came to my rescue. They tied a rope under my arms and pulled me around the course.
“A couple of thousand people were on the prom, all cheering as I was ignominiously dragged across the finish line. It wasn’t quite the way I wanted to go out for my final hurrah in the diving suit.”
Scuppered sewer marathon
So, Lloyd Scott MBE – which he says stands for Mad Bonkers and Eccentric – spent six years dreaming up a crazy stunt that would be a fitting farewell to the suit which catapulted him to fame 18 years ago.
Former professional footballer Lloyd says: “I spent a lot of time planning an underwater crossing of the English Channel.
“British Coastguards were fine with the idea and we got everything sorted our side of the Channel but the French changed the regulations and banned ‘unorthodox crossings’ so I couldn’t have got further than half way.
“Then I asked Thames Water if I could do an underground marathon through the sewers of London which would be quite an adventure but that got knocked back because of health and safety.
“I even contacted Hampton Court about doing a marathon in their maze where you didn’t actually know where you were going.
“Then I planned to do a seven-day underwater ultra-marathon down the crocodile-infested waters of the River Amazon.
“The flights had been booked and I went to hospital for a routine check-up because at times I felt a little bit tired and fatigued.
“Doctors discovered I had an irregular heartbeat which unfortunately put an end to that particular project.”
Freak house fire cancer diagnosis
School caretaker Lloyd, of Theydon Bois, Essex, underwent three procedures in a year including an ablation operation to control his ectopic heartbeat.
He says: “I was getting a little bit frustrated. I really wanted to do something to finish my diving suit challenges and we were thinking of moving the underwater ultra-marathon to the River Nile in Egypt.
“But then Covid came along so Plan B was to do the Three Peaks Challenge in aid of the Lords Taverners charity, which we would mean not having to quarantine and be more achievable.
“I’m back at full fitness now. My doctors know I am doing this and it is something they have encouraged me to train and keep fit, but I am not at danger.
“The last few years have been a little bit frustrating but now finally, unless there are any more restrictions, we will get to do the final challenge.”
Lloyd began doing hair-raising fund-raising stunts in 1989 when he was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia, which was only discovered after he rescued two brothers from a burning house.
When I undertake something I genuinely don’t know if it will work
Lloyd Scott
He says: “The remarkable thing was I wasn’t even meant to be at Dagenham Fire Station that day.
“I was due to go to be at another station and it was only because I had an interview with a senior officer that I had to swap my shift.
“Sometimes you just wonder if these things are preordained. It’s because of those two boys that started all this off.”
After the rescue Lloyd was sent to hospital to check his lungs had not been damaged by inhaling smoke from the house fire.
It was then medics discovered he was suffering from leukaemia and would most probably die without a bone marrow transplant.
Crossing Oz on a penny farthing
After finding a bone marrow donor through the Anthony Nolan Trust, Lloyd decided he wanted to do something to show his gratitude.
He ran his first marathon just three weeks before the transplant, and after he was medically retired from the fire brigade he began to take on more daft and dangerous fundraising challenges.
In 1994, Lloyd was nearly killed when he slipped down a ravine while trekking to the South Pole.
Since then he has also had 20 operations, including two hip replacements, due to the stress that his fundraising has put on his body.
He says: “When I undertake something I genuinely don’t know if it will work. The walk to the South Pole was a disaster. I was in over my head.
Hero Lloyd's wacky stunts
April 1989 – London Marathon (three weeks before bone marrow transplant).
Oct 1992 – Snowdonia Marathon.
Aug 1995 – Abseiled down Blackpool Tower.
March 1996 – Completed firewalk over burning coals.
March 1996 – London Marathon in polar gear.
April 1996 – Saharan Marathon des Sables (150 miles).
Dec 1996 – Scott II: The South Pole Expedition.
Sept 1997 – Climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.
July 1998 – 135-mile Death Valley Ultra Marathon.
April 1999 – Expedition to North Pole.
Feb 2001 – Climbed Mount Aconcagua in Argentina.
April 2002 – London Marathon in deep sea divingsuit.
Nov 2002 – New York Marathon in deep sea divingsuit.
Sept 2003 – Underwater Marathon in Loch Ness, Scotland.
Oct-Dec 2004 – Penny farthing ride across Australia.
May 2005 – John O’Groats to Land’s End challenge.
September 2005 – Great North Run in Apollo 17 space suit.
April 2006 – London Marathon as St George & Dragon.
August 2006 – London Triathlon using divingsuit, penny farthing and armour.
April 2007 – London Marathon as boulder-pulling Indiana Jones.
April 2008 – London Marathon as Iron Giant – 9 feet tall robot, weighing 70 lbs, on stilts taking 6 days
April 2009 – London Marathon in a Yellow Submarine
July – Sept 2009: Land’s End to John O’Groats walk with life size tyrannosaurus rex
June 2010: Ran underground marathon, two miles down at the world’s deepest mine in South Africa
April – May 2011: London Marathon as Brian the Snail from the Magic Roundabout, taking 27 days
May-June 2012 – Completed London Olympic Marathon course in diving suit
May 2014 – Maldon Mud Race, Essex, in diving suit
“But the hardest challenge I have done was a penny-farthing ride across Australia. After the first couple of days my support team and I were all wondering how the hell I was going to do it.
“The temperature reached 40C, the terrain was rough and the Victorian bike had no suspension. It was tough but I took it day by day and after 50 days completed it.”
Racing Captain Sir Tom Moore
Charity work has also taken an emotional toll. In 2006 Lloyd and his wife Carole divorced after 19 years.
As a single dad he looked after daughter Amy, now 32 and working in a bank as well as twins Luke and Elliot, now 27.
Luke who works in IT and PE teacher Elliot will be Lloyd’s support team on his mountain marathon.
He says: “When I finally finished the London Marathon in 2002 after five days and eight hours there were 14 television crews there, more than there had been on race day.
“I remember looking through one of the holes in the side of the diving helmet and the kids were playing in a garden on the Mall pulling up the Queen’s flowers.
“They weren’t really interested then, which just shows you that they are really quite grounded like, unlike their father.”
Last week Lloyd did his final training for the Three Peaks Challenge – racing against Captain Sir Tom Moore on one lap of his home in Bedfordshire.
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Lloyd says: “A hundred-year-old man racing a man wearing a suit that is over 100 pounds in weight – we were evenly matched.
“When I get to the top of Snowden I will literally be going out on a high. There will be no Frank Sinatra comebacks for the deep sea diving suit.”
You can donate to Lloyd’s Three Peak Challenge here. Funds will go to The Lord’s Taverners charity which supports disabled young people.