Page 52 - RADC Bulletin 2018

SPORT
Guinness World Record – ‘Fastest 400mh wearing a 40lb pack’. 69.82 seconds. Trafford AC Open, Stretford, Manchester June 2017
ever coaches. He also guided Colin Jackson and the fantastic quarter miler John Aki
Bua of Uganda to Olympic medals. Aki Bua was an incredible talent who in the 1970’s trained for the 400m Hurdles wearing a
15lb weighted vest running 500m intervals. For me this was the stuff of legend. Day dreaming, I did a quick bit of ‘Googling’ and read of 400m hurdles records completed whilst juggling and completed on a BMX! There were lots of records running with weighted packs – marathons/half marathons and even the 400m. I came up with the
idea of combining the two and running the 400m hurdles wearing a 40lb pack. I told my wife this as we made our way back
to the hotel room – she just glared at me as if to remind me that we were now on holiday time. The next day I submitted my proposal to GWR. To me it sounded like
a great challenge where running with 40lb
is a standard military classic. I had had modest success as a 400m hurdler over
the years and thought combining the two would set quite the challenge, and mark an appropriate retirement from the event that I had enjoyed for so many years. As it turned out it wasn’t until 2017 I decided it had to happen. I was 34 and on borrowed time and I was sure if I left it any longer parts of my body would not be able to cope. I scoured the track timetable and found a UK athletics sanctioned open event with electronic
timing held each year in June in Stretford, Manchester, that provided a consistent level of competition. I had competed in this meet in the past and so I contacted the organisers and they were happy for me to attempt the record. Six weeks prior, I jumped my first 3’0” hurdle with 18.5kg strapped to my back. Now (I choose my words carefully here) I am used to lugging various heavy loads on my back whilst running. I have carried my wife over hay bales and waded
through pools of water neck deep and even carried a 50kg sack of coal uphill in the 1km foot race that is the World Coal Carrying Champs.
The 400m Hurdles however requires you to clear 10 3’0” barriers spaced 35m apart under ever increasing fatigue. There is no head down and short shuffling of steps,
you need to attack each obstacle and demonstrate decent form, and execute with accuracy, at speed or its lights out. This was going to be tough. I eventually managed
to build up to a 300m effort in training
but no further. Securing the pack to sit ergonomically also proved challenging. I had chosen a civvy day sack to load up weight. My first long practice run saw the daysack rocking all over the place as I jumped and during one run the full 40lbs ripped clean through the bottom as the seams gave way. Although significantly lighter I realised this was not an ideal setup. It was back to the drawing board and after several prototypes
I had a pack good to go which was secured with bungees and good old black nasty. The requirements to successfully ratify a GWR are stringent. A full video recording of the
Hereford Garrison – BAWF Army Champions 2017
event, electronic timing with photofinish, timekeeper statements and witness statements all had to be collated in addition to a verified weighing of the pack before and after in one continuous clip.
It was perfect conditions in Manchester on the day with only a light breeze. It could have easily been raining and blowing a gale as I have so often experienced on so many occasions racing in the UK. We arrived at 1700hrs for a 1820hrs start. My brother in law (Mitch) had kindly offered to come and be videographer, and after recruiting three spectators to act as witnesses and warming up, Mitch started rolling. The pack weighed in at 40.24lbs and I made my way to the start line alongside two U20 athletes. The announcer reported to the small crowd in the stadium of my intentions and I quickly realised it was all or nothing. I sped off from a standing start when I heard the crack of the gun. I cleared hurdle 1 and made good progress down the back straight. I passed the athlete on my outside and pushed round the second bend. Each approach became more challenging as my hip flexors fatigued and as I entered the home stretch with two more barriers to clear I had to dig deep to raise my centre of gravity enough to avoid crashing. I touched down off the final barrier and dragged my trail leg through hard.
At this point, I’m sure I had my eyes closed. I raced to the finish line and dipped. 69.82 seconds flashed up on the electronic timing. Faster than I had expected! Mitch had taken the initiative and followed me in shot to the finish where I re-weighted the pack with a set of travel scales – 40.03lbs – phew! I drew a sigh of relief.
I submitted the video and paperwork and a few weeks later GWR contacted me and confirmed it was accepted as an official World Record.
50 RADC BULLETIN 2018