MH Went Running with Part Man Utd Owner and Endurance Athlete, Sir Jim Ratcliffe
The South African bush isn’t exactly your typical London marathon training ground, particularly when it’s 42°C in the midday sun.
But the oppressive heat is just one obstacle to overcome in the Kruger National Park; there’s also the slightly more concerning issue of the potentially lethal creatures that linger in whatever shade exists. From crocodiles and elephants to cheetahs and lions, there’s a reason most people don’t stray too far from camp while on an African safari. Still, none of that seems to stop Sir Jim Ratcliffe – owner of petrochemicals giant Ineos and fitness fanatic – from squeezing in a few trails on his latest adventure.
‘Come on, we’ll run to the airstrip and see how we get on,’ he calls back to me, already disappearing down the camp’s dirt drive at a steady pace in his Nike singlet and shorts.
At 71, Ratcliffe is barely showing his age. Despite recovering from a hamstring injury, he’s keen to get back in shape for his second London Marathon in as many years and wastes no time in donning his kit moments after we’ve touched down in the wilderness. A 42km run around the capital is just one of many current occupations; having amassed a portfolio of business interests spanning everything from chemicals to sports clubs and cars, Ratcliffe is currently ranked the fourth richest man in the UK with a total worth of £23.5bn, according to the 2024 Sunday Times Rich List.
Despite catapulting himself into the limelight after purchasing a quarter of Manchester United football club, he doesn’t go looking for celebrity. The straight-talking ‘northern lad’, as he refers to himself, has kept himself out of the public eye for the majority of his working life, despite the size of the business empire he’s presided over since 1998. He’s jovial, with a preference for action – or running, in this case – over lengthy discussions. ‘He doesn’t hang about,’ says an Ineos executive as Ratcliffe’s towering, 6ft 4in figure disappears into the distance. ‘He’s like a diesel engine, he just keeps on going.’
Men’s Health has been invited to tag along on Ratcliffe’s latest expedition – a rare opportunity to join him and his family on a road trip from the Kruger National Park to the Okavango Delta in Botswana. While much of our mammoth journey is done behind the wheel of Ratcliffe’s latest venture, the Ineos Grenadier off-roader, he ensures running remains a constant, whenever possible.
Far from ruling from a distance, Ratcliffe prefers to remain in the details of his many business interests. With up to two weeks of every month spent in board meetings and the rest seemingly on adventures, there’s not much time for chat. It quickly becomes apparent that joining Ratcliffe on a run might just be the best way to secure time with a man who’s constantly on the move.
Setting off, we head down the trail at a steady pace. We’re in the middle of nowhere, but he strides around every corner with conviction – picking his way through the bush as if he’s been here before. We’re joined by his son, George, another keen endurance athlete, and a few members of Ratcliffe’s executive team. The pack surrounding him already know the score – you either work to the septuagenarian’s pace or get left behind.
‘I start to really miss it if I don’t run regularly,’ he says, around the firepit back at camp, allowing himself a brief feet-up moment with a non- alcoholic beer at the end of the day. ‘Ultimately, it becomes a bit addictive – it becomes a habit.’ He claims he’s lost count of the number of marathons he’s run, but Ratcliffe guesses he’s ticked off more than 40 since his first in 1978, aged 27. ‘We did the Isle of Wight Marathon for charity, just for a bit of a kick, really – we were all young lads,’ he chuckles. ‘I don’t even think running shoes existed in 1978. In those days, when it came to marathon running, no one had any idea about nutrition, so all you got for the whole race was water, so at about 22km, everyone just fell over – we literally just hit the wall.’
Since that formative experience, Ratcliffe has built up an enviable record of physical endeavours. Having reached the North Pole with his sons George and Sam in 2009, Ratcliffe returned to the ice in 2011 to tick off the South Pole, making sure his expedition took place on the 100-year anniversary of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen planting a flag there for the very first time. (That was one of the more miserable experiences of his life, he says.)
Ratcliffe built up to the adventure by previously conquering the Matterhorn in the alps, again with his sons, who were just 13 and 15 at the time. Despite the trip almost ending in tragedy when his youngest son, George, slipped on the way down, Ratcliffe’s appetite for adventure has only grown over the years.
‘The human species is an adventurous one if you think about it – we climb mountains for the sake of it, but animals don’t,’ he reasons. ‘Perhaps it’s the reason we’ve been so dominant in the world, but I think adventure and challenge is part of our DNA. Sure, it’s more evident in some people than others, but I’m in for me, and I enjoy it.’
Work Hard, Play Hard
Growing up in social housing in Failsworth, Lancashire (now in Greater Manchester), Ratcliffe was focused on his career – not to mention his favourite football team – from an early age. After obtaining a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Birmingham, he found work in the chemicals business, with a brief stint at BP, followed by posts at Courtaulds and Exxon, where he completed an MBA in London. Shortly after, he received an offer ‘too good to pass up’ by American private-equity firm Advent International – a turning point in his career and fortunes.
But while the remuneration package was a hefty one, so too were the hours. Long days turned into nights behind a desk and, like many other City workers in the 1980s and 1990s, health wasn’t high on his agenda. Ratcliffe was in a state far from the rude health he finds himself in today.
‘I went skiing with a bunch of mates and, by Wednesday of the week, I couldn’t keep up with the group... I was working really long hours, I didn’t do much. It seemed that by 37, I’d run out of my natural fitness – it was a real wake-up call for me,’ he admits.
He signed up to the New Forest Marathon the minute he returned home. Ratcliffe had his previous time of 3:38 in sight, but despite a decade between the two attempts, he finished 15 seconds faster. After that, the marathon bug had bitten hard and, by 42, Ratcliffe had completed five more.
Having run them all in the same time of 3:38, Ratcliffe is clearly as consistent as he is determined. ‘I needed hospital attention after the New York City Marathon,’ he recalls. ‘I remember being really cold and shivering and the doctor offered me a blood transfusion to warm me up. I said, ‘Just give me a blanket and a bloody cup of tea!’ he chuckles.
With five 26.2-milers under his belt, the Ineos boss was just getting into his stride – in running but also in business. His 40th birthday marked a watershed moment in his life when he left the comfort of a well-paid job in private equity and established the foundations of what would become the Ineos empire.
Despite the ever-increasing demands and pressures his business commitments imposed on him, Ratcliffe managed to simultaneously conquer his fitness ambitions, too. There are tales of him closing deals while out on his mountain bike. Evidently, little has changed. For the Lancashire- born billionaire, business never stops – not even in the African outback.
‘My quickest ever marathon, bizarrely, came when I was 57. It’s a bit of a weird time to have a breakthrough, right?’ Refusing to settle down, Ratcliffe’s run entry record became more ambitious as the years rolled on. He went on to complete the 250km Marathon des Sables across southern Morocco in 2013, ahead of the 88km Comrades Marathon across South Africa, which he did to celebrate his 60th birthday. Continuing the trend, Ratcliffe embarked on his very first full Ironman triathlon at the age of 64.
‘I think it helps my head – it’s a great contrast to working hard,’ he reasons, about his love of running. ‘When you work hard, you need a bit of a break from it where you can give your head a rest and move into a different space. I just feel better if I’m fit and healthy, and I’ll probably live longer.’
While Ratcliffe is rapidly running out of other ‘big ticket’ runs to enter, he’s still pounding his way through plenty of ‘ordinary’ marathons in the meantime. Having tackled the London Marathon in 2023, the Ineos boss took on the challenge again this year (finishing in 4:30:52).
Alongside his personal efforts, Ratcliffe and his Ineos brand made history in 2019 when he and a team of experts, including lead coach Sir Dave Brailsford, helped Eliud Kipchoge become the first person to break through the sub-2:00 marathon time in Vienna in October 2019, with a time of 1:59:40. Labelled the Ineos 1:59 Challenge, the event cemented Kipchoge’s place among the global league of sporting elites. Even now, Ratcliffe still runs with a pair of Nike Pegasus trainers, finished in green and red as a nod to the Kenyan runner. ‘It was a super- emotional moment,’ he recalls. ‘Everyone was in bloody tears when he crossed the line, it was so extraordinary,’ he says.
Now at an age when most men would have settled into retirement, Ratcliffe is still actively seeking ways to break out of his (admittedly large) comfort zone. ‘Our life is very manicured,’ he explains. ‘We lead our lives these days with our head in our iPhones, in a very civilised world.
‘You’re seldom in a place where you’re not in control. But that isn’t how it used to be – we used to spend a lot of time where we weren’t fully in control of a situation. It sets you alive,’ he says with a wry smile. ‘Maybe I’m old, but at the end of the day, it all gives you something to talk about!
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