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New Guinness World Record 18h20m26s

Posted: 19 Dec 2007, 20:18
by Soup Dragon
We finally received confirmation from Guinness and the certificate arrived in the post today :D

So anybody wanting to beat the current record has two days left to do so. :lol:

Anyone who would like to join the GWR holders for a glass of champagne to celebrate should meet us at Kew Gardens this Saturday prior to the South of London challenge start. :wink:

Image

Posted: 19 Dec 2007, 20:45
by palkanetoijala31
congratulations i was beginning to think they would never confirm it i raise my glass to the NEW WORLD RECORD HOLDERS.

Posted: 19 Dec 2007, 20:46
by editorsfoot
Congratulations!! :)

Posted: 19 Dec 2007, 21:08
by Garion
Well done. Good effort!!! :)

Posted: 19 Dec 2007, 22:32
by Starkey7
And isn't it a great thing that all the usual Browns were taking part on that day? We've had times when ping pon [sic] was otherwise occupied, and when I've been away at university, and the attempt has gone ahead with the others on their own.

Posted: 19 Dec 2007, 23:09
by Steeevooo
Firstly I'd like to congratulate the Brown + Stark Clan for claiming what is surely the final record to be set with the current configuration, I think the GWR "confirmation in a month or two" operates on the same time scale as a London Underground minute, as I also know :D Welcome to the select group of record holders though!

In reply to scrxisi, to be honest, when you start the challenge, you feel up for it, you have to set out with a positive outlook, although, personally, I find the main thought going through my head when I have waited at Amersham for that first train is mainly "Eugh, wheres my bed?" :P
During the course of the attempt, your moods will no doubt fluctuate as you hit good and bad times, during the bad times it's always good to have someone else to cheer you up, and as it is a marathon, there is always time to make up ground.
Regarding the final stages comment, for mine and Sam's attempt, we had worked out with about 3 - 3 1/2 hours to go that the way things had panned out, if everything else ran to time and there were no major incidents, that we would be on the same train into Upminster as Geoff & Neil were, so we had a bit of time to prepare ourselves knowing that it would be more than likely down to a case of seconds, which made that District Line seem very slow :D

Posted: 19 Dec 2007, 23:43
by Soup Dragon
When you first set out from Amersham it doesn't really feel like you are on a challenge. Everything starts so calmly and it's not until the first run of the day that it hits you what you are trying to attempt. Throughout the course of the day it is an emotional roller coaster and everyone in the team has high & low points, that's why I think it's great to do the challenge as part of a large team because you can pull each other through. Also it good having a large team because when things go wrong (as they always do) you can combine your ideas to come up with alternatives to work around problems (this happened at least twice in our record attempt). In terms of keeping up to date with our time versus the record schedule this is usually my job, it's easy when you stick to plan but if you have to change then it's hard to work out exactly how far ahead or behind schedule you are.

The weird thing when we did break the record, was that although it was looking doubtful for long periods of the day I tried to remain upbeat and positive, then when we got into the final furlong and it looked fairly certain we would break the record I moaned at Ping Pon for saying we would break the record and told him not to get his hopes up!

Although we now have the record it won't stop us going out and trying to set a new record, seeing as this record will be retired in two days time when the ELL finally closes.

Posted: 20 Dec 2007, 00:06
by tpfkar
Congratulations - glad your wait is over and enjoy your time on top of the world!

Posted: 20 Dec 2007, 00:08
by A2
Many many congratulations. Hope you've got a nice frame for the certificate.

Posted: 20 Dec 2007, 00:21
by Starkey7
Thanks for your messages of congratulations everyone! Here's my two penny'th. Contrary to Steevooo [sic], I'm generally feeling quite awake at Amersham, and there's a mixture of excitement and trepidation as to the task ahead. It's also nice to be with your mates and catch up on each other's latest news.

Throughout the day I often come over feeling very tired. Now I don't tend to suffer from muscular or other purely exercise-related problems, but I tend to have issues with sleep (as the Browns will testify, after the Oakwood Incident). Particularly late in the day, or after a lot of rushing about, I can feel very light-headed and slightly giddy on my feet.

Also I have toilet issues sometimes.

I'm generally quite realistic about our actual progress. If things aren't going well, I tend not to find it easy to be positive about it, whereas Antony seems to pull this off well. This happened on our second-last train of the day; I was convinced we'd missed our final change. We hadn't; the train we were trying to catch was six minutes late!
However I'm not into this whole let's-not-tempt-fate business: if things are going well then I'll say so! This happened on our last train of the day, when I was convinced that we had broken the record, and in the event we did indeed break the record.

Antony generally keeps us posted on how well we're doing against the original plan, whereas I always concentrate on how far inside the record we still are. My mind is also always on the next change and how long we'll have to do it. There was a horrible moment at one interchange, when we had to decide whether to stay on the train or attempt a risky change. In the event it came down to seconds: had we had twenty seconds more we'd have made the change, but to Dr Who's dismay (he knows why!) we stayed on the train.

It's all good fun. In a bizarre sort of way.

Posted: 20 Dec 2007, 00:44
by sven945
Congratulations to all of you!

Posted: 20 Dec 2007, 07:25
by hwolge
Congratulations! It's been a long wait for the confirmation but I never doubted it would come through eventually!

I and Lars are planning a new attempt in the spring so - beware!

Posted: 20 Dec 2007, 07:35
by ping pon
I still cant belive we done it because half way i wanted to give up because i thought it looked hopless but the more i carried on the better it looked then some how we done it :D

Well done!

Posted: 20 Dec 2007, 09:06
by jbom1
Well done, all of you guys!

Posted: 20 Dec 2007, 10:07
by gasman
Congratulations! Must be a very nice early Christmas present for all of you :-)