Smashing a World Record (Not once, but Twice!)
By James Baker and John Darwen
“The farthest distance pulling a vehicle in 24 hours is 51.499 km (32 mi), and was achieved by James Baker (UK) in Elvington, UK, on 25-26 August 2022. This was equaled by John Darwen (UK) in Elvington, UK, on 25-26 August 2022.”
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John and I are both brothers-in-law and we’ve known and supported one another since John was diagnosed with Leukaemia over 14 years ago. Neither of us have had a background in sports or athletics, but we both have a determined spirit and a grit to succeed. We’ve both been are inspired by each other and have formed a strong bond with one another over the years.
Each year we have aimed to raise money for charities by completing half-marathons and marathons (as impressive as they are!), but we wanted to do something completely different for a change; something that involved both strength and endurance. We searched through the Guinness World Record website, and eventually we landed on the title, “farthest distance pulling a vehicle in 24 hours as an individual”… this is where it all started out.
We originally decided on the idea together of attempting this record back in 2019 when the record currently only stood at 2.1 miles. When the record had been broken and updated to 21.1 miles, we decided to knuckle down and plan out our training in more detail.
This is where Neil came in. Neil was highly recommended by a friend of ours who was currently receiving coaching from him, and his background in training endurance athletes peaked our interest and we got in touch to explore options.
With Neil’s help, both John and I individually broke this record on 23rd October 2021 by going one extra mile to the previous record making the new title stand at 22.1 miles. We both stopped at exactly the same distance to jointly claim the title together.
10 months later, we attempted the record again and managed to set a brand new record of 32 miles exactly, and both stopping at the exact same distance again. This took our previous record a further 9.9 miles making this a mammoth achievement indeed!
During the attempt we were also joined by our friend, Daniel Callaghan who was also attempting for the record himself. Daniel achieved 14 miles on the day and had to concede due to a pulled ligament in his left ankle.
We all wanted to attempt this record to help raise awareness and funds to support two charities that have made a big impact in our lives, ’Redeeming Our Communities’ and ‘Cancer Research UK’. Together raised in excess of £2,500 which will be divided between both charities.
In preparation for the attempt Neil provided professional insights to aid our training, covering everything from nutrition, workout phases, detailed plans, and sessions we loved to hate (because Neil didn’t go easy on us!). Our training involved 3 main stages including strength development, hypertrophy, and endurance. Within our programme we practiced pulling 1.5 tonne vehicles around fairly flat, and quiet industrial estates. Our final practice session saw us pull for 9.5 hours and achieved a total of 15 miles. Throughout our practices, we had gained lots of volunteer support and a fantastic team to help on the day of the attempt. Neil introduce his knowledge of sports science and did series of tests to help us get the most out of our performance, including speed tests, force tests with the harness, blood glucose tests, and high accountability with our individual nutritional plans.
Neil’s insight and support was exactly what we needed. As ‘long distance vehicle pulling’ isn’t really a recognised sport… Neil did a tremendous job to interpret the needs of the event and to break this down into a manageable training programme. We had a high level of commitment to this programme, and we knew we needed to pull out the stops, because we were looking to break a Guinness World Record.
On the day itself in August 2022, both John and I wanted to show a sign of solidarity and brotherhood, and planned to not only break the world record independently of each other, but also to finish at exactly the same distance to jointly hold the record together as well. On the day I broke my previous record in just 12 hours(!) followed shortly less than an hour later by John. I remained ahead but during break times we both passed each other. At the 30th mile John’s feet were severely blistered during the attempt and both his big toe nails had been badly bruised. This made the final few miles much harder. I could have kept the lead and take the title for myself, but instead I pulled my van alongside with John and we went the final two miles together. John was ready for giving up at the end of mile 31, but persevered to make it 32. I finished ahead of John, but I put my harness down and walked with John (and joined by Daniel and many other supporters) to cross the final lap line together.
This was more than a record attempt, but show of love, brotherhood and solidarity right to the finish.
We have more crazy challenges and records to attempt this year and we may attempt this record again if it is broken in the near future. Either way, we’ll be working with Neil for the foreseeable future.
Triathlete success
By S. Hall
Having competed in many ‘Sprint and Olympic’ triathlons over the last few years I wanted to step up to middle distance 70.3. Long term I aim to complete a full distance triathlon 140.6.
Training for the shorter distances I have found programs and workouts online and took part in local triathlon training club session. These have got me some success. So why choose and pay for the service that NSSNPRO provides?
By using the service, Neil enables me to get to the start line in the best physical and mental state as an individual ready to race. The program that Neil sets gives me the following.
Structure – The program takes out the thought of how to manage my time and how to achieve maximum gains in a phase and weekly timetable.
Flexibility – The program is set taking into consideration other life commitments such as work and family.
Injury prevention – A big one for me. Before using Neil, I was injured a lot. Now I have never felt so good. The main reason being more strength and conditioning to compliment the swimming, biking and running by building the foundations my body requires to race.
Enjoyment – The program does not feel like a chore. Simply put I enjoy what I do, so it makes you more motivated to do it.
Accountability – Having to report back on what I found easy or hard from my training plan was helpful, but especially with my nutrition. In my first year I weighed 93kg (14.6 Stone) and got to the start line at 75kg (11.8 Stone). Having to track my nutrition highlights what foods are not so good and what you can have more of. It’s not dieting its more about making the correct choices.
For my first middle distance event I aimed for under 6 hours. I would have been over the moon with 5hrs30mins. I finished in 4hrs51mins!! I needed to check my watch as it must have been a mistake, but no the official result was 4hrs51mins. Couldn’t believe how far I had come. Since then, I have competed in other middle-distance triathlons again performing better than expected. Mainly focusing to improving areas like the bike fitness.
I have also completed in sprint and Olympic distance events as ‘B’ races and gaining age group podium finishes.
Going forward I have no hesitation in recommending NSSNPRO being professional, helpful, friendly, reliable and contactable.
Becoming a professional footballer.
By T. Wilkinson.
I first met Neil when I was just a young boy at the local athletics club. Neil came to the club about two years after I joined, and he really brought the fun and motivation that all kids need to their training. Across a number of years Neil helped me to become an athlete that was able to compete to a very high standard in a number of different athletic events. However, when I was 13 I stopped athletics to pursue my lifelong football dream.
During this time, I had still stayed in contact with Neil as he become a very close friend to not just me but my family from the many hours of training I received at the athletics track.
It was during the first lockdown where I felt, like many others, that I was losing all my fitness and physical attributes that I worked so hard towards. So, I contacted Neil and asked whether he would help me to devise a training plan that I would work towards to be able to gain muscle mass whilst also improving my cardiovascular and muscular endurance to be able to come out of lockdown in amazing physical shape.
From this, Neil took numerous amounts of baseline scores from me to test where I was currently at and recorded them in a spreadsheet. Once this was complete, he created me a training plan to follow each week which consisted of strength training, speed training, endurance-based training and mobility exercises. Alongside this Neil also created me a diet plan that allowed me to consume the correct things I needed for my high intensity programme to be able to gain muscle mass.
Neil consistently reviewed my progress on a weekly basis to ensure that I was fulfilling my goals effectively. This review process was a big motivation factor for my training as I knew that what I was doing was working for me.
After being guided by Neil’s expertise over numerous years I have been able to fulfil my lifelong dream of becoming a professional footballer.
Ultra Marathon Dream
By C. Whiteside
My journey started in February 2021 with the dream of running ultra-marathons one day. I approached Neil with the aim of doing two things:
- To run an ultramarathon
- To become a better overall runner
I have had to postpone my main goal a few times due to circumstances outside of my control such as: birth of child, discovering my father had stage 3 stomach cancer and a few other things. We have instead focused our attention on the 2nd part instead throughout the whole time. I may not have achieved my main goal ‘‘yet’ but, what has happened on the journey thus far has been nothing short of incredible for me personally. Even despite the multiple times we’ve had to change plans or programmes I have always been met with understanding, encouragement, support and most importantly a belief in me.
Whilst working on goal number 2 I have managed to do just a few things such as:
- I have run and completed multiple half marathons both on the road and on the trail
- I have run a trail half marathon one day followed by a road marathon the next day – this was my first ever marathon as well. Both completed
- I have run smaller races and placed top 10 overall in one so far.
- I have beaten personals best in all distances up to half marathon multiple times and still am, most of which have happened whilst training.
- My overall strength has improved
- My nutrition has improved
- My overall mobility has improved
- My mindset has has improved – this has been a big one for me. I’ll never forget this saying: ‘Train hard, race easy!’
I am now in the process of training for my first ultramarathon next year in May 2023, but can honestly say that even if somehow for whatever reason I cannot do it, through Neil’s ongoing help and support I will continue to move from strength to strength both in running and in life.
