A FUNDRAISER from Salisbury has broken the Guinness World Record for pushing an occupied wheelchair 100 miles after being denied recognition for completing the same 24-hour challenge last year.

Graham Inchley pushed a wheelchair 109 miles last September in poor weather conditions – only to be told his record claim was invalid because his video malfunctioned and one of his witnesses failed to show.

He said: “It was rather a disappointment as a lot of people had supported me through the whole event, especially those that had been in the wheelchair during horrendous weather.”

But Graham soon bounced back by booking Thruxton Race Circuit in Hampshire and making sure he had ten witnesses and three cameras to give indisputable evidence.

He said: “The Guinness World Records office insisted I use a standard wheelchair as opposed to the one I had designed specifically for last year’s challenge.”

Although he was allowed to modify the chair to give it extra strength, he said it still was harder to push than last year’s model.

“One thing I was sure about was the event strategy which was to complete two laps of the 2.3 mile circuit and then rest for about ten minutes.”

Graham broke the previous record by going past 63 miles in 14 hours but he was determined to carry on.

“I was feeling it a lot more than last year and considered that a total distance of around 80 to 90 miles was a realistic distance to aim for,”

he said, and was surprised to find he was able to go past this target.

“I don’t know where the energy came from, but I felt absolutely fired up to reach 100 miles or 44 laps.

“This was achieved with ten minutes of the 24 hours left to spare and one blister on my right foot.”

Graham sent off the evidence to Guinness World Records and, after three weeks, it was finally confirmed that he had a Verified World Record at 100.408 miles.

To donate visit justgiving.com/WheelchairWorldRecord-NationalAutisticSociety.