Why?

It all started a few years ago.  My sister-in-law’s father Bill Fielding from Leeds was inspired to take up running by the Three Peaks Race when he was 50. 10 years later in April 1988 he ran the race in 3 hours 38:33 when he was 60, and he was the 1st over 50 veteran finisher. As far as we know this time still stands as the over 60s record. Sadly, Bill died a couple of years ago.  We found a photo of him crossing the line of the Leeds Marathon in October 1985.  The time was 2 hours 47 minutes, and he was 57.  We wondered if it was the fastest marathon time in his age group.  After some research, we think it may briefly have been a British record time.  What an achievement and he never knew.  His last race was the Leeds Half Marathon 2002 when he was 74 and he did it in 1 hour 56 minutes.

I started thinking “I wonder if there’s a record I could set”.

Wind the clock forwards to December last year and I learnt of Steve Abraham’s attempt at breaking the record for the most miles cycled in a year.  The record is astonishing.  In 1939 Tommy Godwin cycled 75,065 miles, an average of 205 miles per day.  Of course I had to see what the women’s record is.  In 1938 Billie Fleming rode 29,603.7 miles, an average of 81 miles per day.  After a few glasses of real ale and wine I thought “I could do that!”.   However, after sober thoughts, I decided that committing to a whole year of cycling wasn’t fair on my family, and it would require a huge amount of organisation.  But what record could I attempt?  That’s when I found out that there is currently not a record for one month’s duration.  I spent the next few weeks pondering the challenge and finally in February I decided to send the email to Guinness World Records, telling them of my attempt.  If I do set the record, I’m not expecting it to last long, but someone has to do it first!

Please look at www.tributetobillie.co.uk which gives many details about Billie Fleming and the Tribute to Billie Cycle Ride 2015.  This started on 1st January 2015.  Each day this year a woman or group of women will ride the distance Billie Fleming cycled on that day in 1938, until 29,604 miles have been cycled over 365 days.  This is a great tribute to Billie Fleming’s achievements.  If possible, please join in and ride for Billie.