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Charity world-record attempt halted due to potholes

BBC Mike Land in a Superman T-shirt and beige shorts, with a black harness stood in front of a van. He is stood on a dirt track in between two fields. BBC
Doctors feared Mike Land might never recover after his 1993 accident

A man, who survived a bungee-jumping accident, halted his world-record attempt after pulling a 1.5-tonne van for nine hours.

Mike Land, from Swindon, pulled the vehicle for 10.5 miles (13km) but needed to beat 32 miles (51.5km) in 24 hours over flat ground.

He started the attempt at Down Ampney airfield on 4 October but had to stop on Saturday when potholes on the airfield became too challenging.

Mr Land, who is raising money for Wiltshire Air Ambulance, said he will look for a new venue to try again.

Doctors feared Mr Land would never make a full recovery when he fractured his pelvis after his bungee jump rope snapped in 1993, but has completed numerous challenges since and works as a fitness instructor and designer.

Mike Land Mr Land stood in a home gym in a black T-shirt, looking at the camera smiling, holding yellow and black weights.Mike Land
Mr Land has been training for several months, while trying to find a suitable venue for the attempt

He has been training for the world-record attempt for months and had hoped to tackle the van-pull sooner, but found it difficult to locate a suitable venue.

To qualify the location must be level with a 1:1 gradient and have some degree of public access, and former RAF base Down Ampney airfield met the criteria set by Guinness World Records.

But after nine hours of pulling the van he said: "The lumps and bumps beat me - even though I got down on my hands and knees to pull it out of a few potholes, I just couldn't maintain it.

"I feel great that I've got that far."

Mike Land pulling a white van on a concreted track, which has lumps and bumps on it, surrounding by green fields and blue sky. He is wearing shorts, trainers, superman t-shirt and a harness for pulling.
The airfield Mike Land used for the attempt had too much uneven ground to keep the pulling going

This is not the end though as Mr Land will search for a flatter venue, with "conversations" going with companies who might be able to help.

He is keeping his donation page up to update on his progress and has already reached more than £11,000 of his £12,000 target, which is equivalent to the daily cost it takes to run the Wiltshire Air Ambulance service.

Mike Land Mike Land in a bright yellow t-shirt taking a selfie with several members of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance, all in uniform, and standing in front of an air ambulanceMike Land
Mr Land (L) is aiming to raise £12,000 for Wiltshire Air Ambulance

According to Guinness World Records, the record for pulling a vehicle in 24 hours, is equally held by two British brothers-in-law, James Baker and John Darwen, who pulled a van for 32 miles in 2022.

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