(and no, it was not for pie eating)

Believe it or believe it not the world record for individual continuous bowling was achieved at the HMS Neptune Bowling Centre, Faslane,Helensburgh Scotland on 1^st to 3^rd May 2002 by Ian West when he bowled continuously for 47 hours 15 mins.

Well, Fred ‘Windy’ Miller of Runcorn, -( yes the same Fred Miller, who, when demolishing a wall on his own at work about 18 months ago, suffered an injury which cut off the end of his bowling index finger, who picked up the severed piece, wrapped it, put it on the dashboard of his car and drove to hospital to have it successfully fixed back on,) - decided to have a go at beating this record to raise money for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer foundation.

Having made the decision to do it Fred, some months ago, started to prepare. He set himself a training regime to get in shape, although anybody who knows Fred is aware that he keeps himself quite fit with his work as a builder. This training involved being at the gym twice a week at 6.30am for a work out before going to work. He obtained the services of Phil Tuer a British Kick Boxing Champion to help with his training and Jane Flaherty as his fitness instructor. He enrolled the help of Anton Flaherty, Penny Martin and Andrew Flaherty to write letters, design and send out posters all over the North West to get publicity and sponsorship for the world record attempt. In preparation for the day Fred went to the supermarket and bought himself carrier bags full of raisins, nuts and isotonic drinks.

On Friday morning of the 28^th February, the day the attempt had been organised to start, Fred being Fred decided to go into work at 6.30am for an hour before going to the bowl. This did however make sure he arrived in good time at AMF Wigan bowl where the management, who were one of the sponsors of the event, had got all the staff and technicians in place and ‘The Wishing Well’ caterers had prepared a buffet for all the guests and helpers not forgetting Fred.

The Mayor and Mayoress of Wigan Cllr Geoff Roberts and Betty Roberts, officials from Lancashire area BTBA along with Jenny Brady from the Roy Castle Foundation arrived and joined many of Freds friends, sponsors and well wishers to see the event begin. The Mayor rolled the first bowl just before 12 noon and was followed by the first of dozens of volunteer pacers, Rachel Jennings (nee Aldersley) a member of the 1999 – 2001 Ladies Team England Squad.

This was the commencement of the long challenge ahead of him. He bowled at a regular pace through the rest of Friday, during which he was supported for a time by the rather large Terry OConner the rugby league professional from Wigan Warriors RLC. Into the quiet of the night and early morning hours, all through the busy Saturday and Sunday his dedicated army of pacers turned up to bowl against him with committed regularity. To make things more interesting, Fred insisted that all his pacers bowled at least one game with the opposite hand to their normal one. As a result some real fun and laughter was heard during unearthly early morning hours. Fred also did the same and by the end of his mammoth session became quite proficient with his left hand. Some of his local taxi driver friends broke off from their night shift to come and pace with him. On the Saturday morning the normal YBC was turned into a fund raising session when the youngsters set up a ‘Tenpin Challenge’ which challenged anybody who came in the bowl to a match against one of the juniors. They won 24 and lost 6.

Fred has kept the scores of his pacers although he did not register his own. During his steady bowling he ate only the energy rich nuts, bananas and raisins with his isotonic drinks. The rules allowed a 15 minute break every 8 hours. This break he initially used to get a massage from his very committed St Johns Ambulance attendant Paul Caffrey, who is also a full time paramedic. He had volunteered to assist Fred and showing amazing dedication remained with him throughout the entire weekend.

Paul later proved to be absolutely vital when Fred really started to suffer with tremendous pains in his feet and legs. It became apparent that the problem was his toenails, which were too long and consequently being pushed into his big toes by his bowling shoes. He was suffering so badly with this pain during the early hours of Sunday morning he was ready to give up. However with excellent treatment on his feet by Paul during the 4am break and some strong words of encouragement from John Barter, who was pacing him at the time, he gained renewed strength and determination and continued. Although he says he could have carried on, he decided to stop at 4.05 pm on Sunday afternoon, making a total of 52 hours and 5 minutes, beating the previous record by a massive 4 hours 50minutes. He wanted to make it as difficult as possible for anybody to beat his record. His last pacers on Sunday afternoon were junior bowlers Rebecca and Andrew Wilson. Laurie, their dad, who with Rebecca and Andrew had been pacing Fred during his difficult, very painful times in the early hours of Sunday, said that when they returned to see Fred pass the record at about 11am, he was amazed, Fred looked a different man completely rejuvenated. When asked how it went Fred said in true style "It was a breeze really"

Fred decided to have a well deserved break after it so he stayed at home on the Monday with his feet up.!!! For all those who know Fred you will guess how true that is! He is now busy collecting written documentation to substantiate his record for inclusion in the Guinness Book of Records. So if you were there and have not already provided written statements please contact Fred directly or through Wigan Bowl or Wigan YBC.

I am sure Fred would wish some mention to be made of all his sponsors but especially the sterling effort and support of the staff at AMF Bowl Wigan who kept the bowl open the whole time with staff on duty and mechanics on hand in case anything went wrong, not forgetting the welcome they provided at the start and all the way through the event to all those who came to support him.

Finally I know all Fred’s friends and supporters are joining together and saying

"WELL DONE FRED, WE KNEW IF ANYBODY COULD DO IT YOU COULD AND YOU DID"