The reality of the modern age is that records are for sponsorship, little more than a means of financing an adventure. There was a time when records were meaningful, when they redefined the limits of human endurance and endeavour, but with rare exceptions those days are long gone. The first ascent of Everest proved it was possible and Messner and Habeler's oxygen-free success redifined the possible but what does the highest golf shot tell us? Does being the first married couple of first father and son to stand on top of the world advance human knowledge a single millimetre? Perhaps there's an argument for the father/son combination if it's linked to medical research on genetics and the ability to handle altitude but I doubt there's anything to gain from hitting a golf ball at 8000m.

Of course there are still records that still have meaning, like the first double amputee to climb Everest, because they extend our boundaries and act as inspiration to others but they extend our boundaries not because they're records but because they show something we thought impossible to be possible. If you can climb the world's highest mountain then there's no reason to think hitting a golf ball from the top is impossible so doing it means nothing! Likewise if we know a human can reach the South Pole does it matter one bit if it takes 50 days or 60 days? Sat reading The Ascent of Everest as a 9 year old I wasn't inspired by the number of days it took - I was inspired at Hillary and Tenzing achieving something no-one had ever done before and many had failed trying. I was inspired by Hillary's single minded focus not his age and I was inspired by the journey not the time from Base Camp to summit. I wasn't bothered if they were the first New Zealander and Nepali (or Indian), I was bothered because they had 2 arms, 2 legs, one head - they were people, they were like me. It's not records that inspire, it's achievements.

I could be wrong but I suspect that when Al Humphreys completed his epic cycle ride or when Ed Stafford reached the Atlantic coast the word record didn't enter their head for a moment, it wasn't setting a record that brought the emotions out of them but the completion of something they'd set themselves to do.  Something with an uncertain ending, something that tested them. Humphreys' and Stafford's adventures also had a goal beyond that of setting a record, a goal that was bigger and more...well more complete. Walking the Amazon means something, Cycling around the world means something....it's not Walking the distance of the Amazon or Cycling the distance of around the world, it's about the real adventure, the real experience, the real journey and the real completion not the statistics. That they set records along the way probably meant more to the money people paying the bills - because these days you need that magic word "record" if want any help with costs.

Without the word record an adventure is precisely that, an adventure, but add the word and it suddenly becomes a marketing vehicle. The word record is something the corporate world can hang its advertising on, a means of sharing in the achievement and a means of selling more. "Record" doesn't make the task any harder, it doesn't add to the physical parameters of the task but it's essential fuel to the PR man (or woman). Without it being a record the PR man can't sell it, and the result is an ever increasing mish-mash of irrelevant records that are forgotten the minute the ink dries on the contract.

Don't get me wrong, I was suitably impressed at a 16 year old girl reaching the South Pole this week and no doubt I'll be impressed by Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton if she manages to ride a bike part way there on her forthcoming trip. At the same time I'll be following Felicity Aston's progress as she attempts to become the first person to cross Antarctica using only muscle power and the first woman to make it across the frozen continent alone but I am, and will be, impressed by what they've done rather than the fact it's a record. While the PR people go on about the records it's nice to see on Felicty Ashton's site the statement that "this journey is about more than records. The expedition aims to instil a spirit of adventure, aspiration and innovation as well as understand more about what motivates individuals to achieve."  Give me records if you must but please, please, please make them worthy of the term record and please remember it's that spirit of adventure and aspiration that will sell me your products not some fleeting marketing advantage.

Note: This article was restored from the archives. It's published creation date is inaccurate.