Lloyd Scott

Lloyd Scott, MBE (born 13 October 1961) is an English former professional football goalkeeper and charity fundraiser, best known in the UK for his charity marathons. He is notable for competing in the 2002 London Marathon in a deep-sea diving costume. In 2003 Scott also completed the world's first underwater marathon in Loch Ness and in 2004 cycled a Penny Farthing across Australia. In 2020, between COVID-19 lockdowns, he completed the 3 Peaks Challenge wearing his deep-sea diving suit.

Scott holds a number of Guinness World Records and can be found as one of the characters on the cover of the 2024 edition of the Guinness World Records book.

Scott has undertaken his challenges with a background of overcoming chronic myeloid leukaemia (1989) and has been battling a rare form of cancer, called synovial sarcoma, for the past three years.

On 2 July 2012 the BBC reported that Scott, wearing a 130 lb (59 kg) diving suit, was the first person to complete the 2012 Olympic Marathon Course in a time of six days.^[1]

Football career

Between 1978 - 1983 Scott played as a goalkeeper for Leyton Orient Watford and Blackpool.^[2] He also played for Dagenham FC (now Dagenham and Redbridge FC).

Charity challenges

After surviving leukaemia, Scott has raised more than £10 million for a number of charitable causes, through what he calls "alternative charity fundraising events", including the following:

April 1989: London Marathon – Just three weeks before life saving bone marrow transplant for leukaemia
April 1990: London Marathon – Less than a year after transplant to show there is 'life after leukaemia'.
October 1992: Snowdonia Marathon – Britain's toughest marathon
November 1993: Everest Marathon – Staged 18,000 feet up the world's highest peak
August 1995: Abseiled down a giant piece the size of Blackpool Tower
September 1995: Complete Olympic distance triathlon
March 1996: Firewalk over burning coals
April 1996: Completed London Marathon in polar expedition gear
May 1996: Sahara Marathon des Sables – 150-mile ultra marathon carrying all equipment.
Oct – Jan 96–97: Scott 2 the South Pole – Expedition to the South Pole
March 1997: 125-mile Devizes to Westminster canoe marathon
July 1997: Fastnet yacht race
September 1997: Climbed Kilimanjaro
July 1998: Completed 135-mile Death Valley ultra marathon in 140 degrees of heat
April 1999: Expedition to the North Pole.
Feb 2001: Climbed Aconcagua, Argentina (22,841 ft)
October 2001: 168 km Jordan Desert Cup ultra marathon – dressed as Indiana Jones
April 2002: London Marathon in deep-sea diving suit – Taking 5 days, 8 hours, 29 mins and 46 seconds to complete
November 2002: New York City Marathon in deep-sea diving suit – again finishing on the sixth day
June 2003: Edinburgh Marathon in deep-sea diving suit – this time taking 6 days 4 hours, 30 mins and 56 seconds
August 2003: Completed the Marathon of Britain – 175-mile ultra marathon
September 2003: Completed Great North Run in deep-sea diving suit
October 2003: Completed the world's first underwater marathon in deep-sea diving suit in Loch Ness – taking 12 days, raising £1.1 million.
Feb 2004: First person to watch a film underwater, watching 'Finding Nemo' DVD in tank at the London Aquarium
July 2004: Sport Relief Challenge – walked to top of BT Tower London in deep-sea diving suit
Oct–Dec 2004: Cycled penny-farthing across Australia – Perth to Sydney, nearly 3,000 miles taking 50 days
May 2005: 'Swam' from John O'Groats to Land's End in swimming pool on back of a lorry, taking 12 days
September 2005: Completed Great North Run in Apollo 17 spacesuit on bouncy stilts
April 2006: Completed London Marathon as St George in 100 lb suit of armour, pulling 200 lb dragon, taking over eight days. Helped Sir Steve Redgrave break world fundraising record of £1.8 million
April 2007: Completed London Marathon as Indiana Jones – 'chased' (but really pulling) 350 lb boulder around course
May 2007: Trekked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu
April 2008: London Marathon as Iron Giant – 9 feet tall robot, weighing 70 lbs, on stilts taking 6 days
April 2009: London Marathon as The Beatles (Sgt Pepper uniforms) in the Yellow Submarine
July – Sept 2009: Land's End to John O'Groats walk with life size tyrannosaurus rex – 'T-Rex Treks' taking 72 days, raising £175,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust
June 2010: World's deepest underground marathon, 12,000 feet down at bottom of world's deepest mine in, South Africa – severe heat and humidity over two miles underground
April – May 2011: Magic Marathon – dragged around London Marathon as Brian the Snail from the Magic Roundabout, taking 27 days
May – June 2012: Completed Diamond Jubilee Marathon in deep sea diving suit on behalf of The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, becoming the first person to complete London 2012 Olympic Marathon course.
Oct 2013 - Completes climb of internal staircase of the 'Gherkin' building wearing deep-sea diving suit in 2 hours 53 minutes - a Guinness World Record.
May 2014: Completed the Maldon mud race in a deep-sea diving suit.
March - Sept 2018 Suffers from heart arrhythmia and undergoes ablation
October 2020 - Completes 3 Peaks Challenge (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon) wearing deep-sea diving suit, taking 10 days, raising £163,000 for The Lord's Taverners.
March 2021 - Undergoes throat surgery - diagnosed with synovial sarcoma
Aug 2022 - Sarcoma recurs - undergoes extensive surgery (13 1/2 operation) to remove sarcoma
April 2023 - Completes London Marathon as 'resconstructible' Captain Scarlet
May 2023 - Completes London - Essex 100 mile bike ride
Sept 2024 - Diagnosed with synovial sarcoma in lung and leg - immediately completes London Vitality 10K as Indiana Jones

Scott has been injured during some of his events. For example, he injured his shoulder during the underwater marathon when he fell off a 15-foot (4.6 m) ledge while in the loch.

After being awarded an MBE in 2005, Scott joked that the award should stand for "Mad, Bonkers and Eccentric". He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from the University of East London in 2003 and the Freedom of the London Borough of Havering in 2009.

In total Scott has undergone over 30 operations for a number of injuries and also life-saving surgeries.

References

^ "London 2012: Olympic marathon course finished by diving suit man Lloyd Scott". London: BBC. 2 June 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
^ "Former Watford footballer's snail's pace for charity". 11 May 2011.

External links

[1] "London 2012: Olympic marathon course finished by diving suit man Lloyd Scott". London: BBC. 2 June 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.

[2] "Former Watford footballer's snail's pace for charity". 11 May 2011.

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