Leamington Archery Society member’s world record attempt was not in vain

The father-of-three, 49, from Fenny Compton, was aiming to break the Guinness world record for marathon archery which currently stands at 27 hours and wanted to dedicate the feat to his late granddaughter Jess, who died in a car accident in July.

He did, however, raise £800 through sponsorship for the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity which he had chosen to support after an air ambulance crew had first saved his son’s life ten years ago and then his daughter-in-law’s after the accident this year.

Mr Roberts said: “After starting on time at 9am on October 11 I shot through till 08:20a, the next day before I missed the target. Under Guinness` rules that ended the record attempt. Having seen the sun set, and then rise again I really thought I was in the home straight and that I was going to manage to make it.

“I felt fit and strong still after all that time, and was only suffering discomfort in the back of my knees from standing so much. I don’t know why I missed but I suspect I flinched slightly upon loosing the arrow.

Mr Roberts made the attempt at Trinity School’s sports hall this month.

During the attempt Mr Roberts, a member of Leamington Archery Society, shot a total of 1150 arrows, walked a total of 9.6 miles and pulled a cumulative weight of 23 tonnes.

He said: “Although I was bitterly disappointed to shoot for so long, and then still fall short, I was heartened by the fact I raised a lot more money than i had anticipated for the air ambulance. the final total will exceed £800.

“I am already making plans for another attempt next year. I will approach it then with a little more understanding of the task ahead, and some valuable experience of how to combat it.

“After all, if it was an easy task the record wouldn’t have stood for nine years now.”