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Okay, before poor Neil starts getting worried enough to stop taking photos of finished dinner plates (i'm actually starting to worry about him, it's quite bizarre...) we haven't broken the record (yet).

What this is really after is some general opinion.

Hypothesis: You attempt an All 275. You break the record with an amazing time of: 18 hours, 35 minutes, 12 seconds...

i.e. Only a matter of 29 seconds faster than Geoff and Neil.

In this circumstance - would you necessarily claim the record and submit evidence?

Personally i'd be inclined not to bother - firstly because with such a small margin, it would all be subject to detailed scrutiny and even a minor error on your part (not managing to get a single train number, having too large a gap between witness statements) could invalidate your claim. Secondly, it seems a bit petty to start getting into the realms of fighting over 30 seconds... Not so much with the current system closures but with a fully operational 275 it would seem quite arrogant to claim a record 30 seconds faster than the previous time...

What do you guys think?

Hmmm I have to say I'd put the claim in. If it's only a second faster then its still the fastest time ever and that deserves credit. Im sure Geoff and Neil wouldnt dispute being knocked off as long as its confirmed.

I second that..

Record time = Record time.

It sounds right.
100m records are broken by only 100th of a second at a time

hmm not sure that arguement stands up really. 100m is done in under 10seconds so of course it matters down to a 100th of a second. This is done in over 18hours.

So by those arguments a minute is the margin of error (If hundredths of seconds, which is 1000th of the time in 100m is used as the smallest significant figure)

eh?! thats only cos its sodding hard to be precise with 1000th of second. surely all opinions so far are that 1 second better equals a world record. Train times are logged to a second - so that should be our margin.

It's too innacurate, especially with the debate about when the clock ends & starts (Doors Opening/Closing, Pulling Off etc) for a second to be an incontestible new world record. (For the full challenge anyway)

Agreed. The exact time is debatable and, even though the challengers may insist that they started the watch whent he doors closed on the first train, they could easily have started them when the train pulled away.

The presence of the second stopwatch makes the time much more accurate (to within a second or two), as the two must be set off at the exact same time, which essentially would have to be the moment the doors close or the moment the train pulls away.

However if one record is set, starting when the doors close, and another is set starting when the train moves, then one will have to be a good 10 seconds faster than the other in order to be approved.

Probably.

Just to add my tuppence here, I'd be inclined not to bother submitting a claim unless I'd beaten the record by 5 or 10 minutes (i.e. getting to Upminster before midnight).

Cheers,

Barry

dr_chris wrote:with such a small margin, it would all be subject to detailed scrutiny and even a minor error on your part (not managing to get a single train number, having too large a gap between witness statements) could invalidate your claim.

You'd have to go through all that scrutiny no matter what your margin, and your claim would still be invalidated with either of the "minor errors" you mentioned.

Of course it's worth claiming, a record is a record.

I wouldn't say that it would be invalidatedi all they need is suuficient proof surely?
All the same I wouldn't want to risk it...

Just like to point out - don't forget Geoff and Neil missed a train number on their attempt, before the whole statement bullshit, and they still got the record approved - but I don't know if they'd necessarily let you off if you only broke the record by a minute or so!

If they're going to insist on every train number then that's going to slow you down as you wait for the train you ran onto to depart so you can see it.

That's another occasion where walkie-talkies come in handy - one person runs onto other platform to hold train whilst other person waits for train to depart, and can be told whether or not to leave the number and run for the next train or wait to get it.