One of the most common questions people ask on hearing about my Tube Challenge fundraising attempt for Asthma UK (after ‘are you out of your mind?’) is ‘how do you prove you have done it?’
Well, as it is a bona fide Guinness World Record, there is a lot of evidence to collect during the day. We will need to record the time of arrival and departure from each station and the number of each train we catch (No, I didn’t know they had numbers either). This information can then be cross referenced with London Underground’s timetabling system (Now I definitely didn’t know they had one of those!).
Then there is ‘additional proof’ to gather in the form of video footage, tickets for buses or trains used to commute between lines, and photographs taken at various recognisable points (and in front of clocks!).
Every hour (all 17 of them) we need to persuade a fellow passenger or a member of London Underground staff to witness our quest, and confirm their name and the time and place they saw us.
As for the all important timing, Guinness insist that a ‘master stop watch’ is started by an independent witness at the start (when the doors close on the first train) and stopped by another independent witness at the finish (when we step onto the final platform).
This watch can not be carried by us on our journey – so somehow we will need to arrange for it to be transferred between our witnesses during the day! Helpfully, Guinness state that ‘a separate stopwatch may be carried by the participants for their own reference if required.’
The question of providing evidence of our attempt does not seem to have deterred the kind people who have sponsored us. Incredibly, we have already raised over £2,500 for Asthma UK’s work to improve the health and well-being of people with asthma. Thank you all!
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