ON October 24, 1901, American adventurer Annie Edson Taylor celebrated her 63rd birthday by riding over Niagra Falls in a barrel, so becoming the first person to survive such a mission.
Fitness expert Rob Edmond yesterday successfully completed a challenge involving a whisky barrel that was not so much death-defying as life-affirming.
Mr Edmond rolled the object 12 hours a day from Perthshire to Tidworth in Wiltshire - a distance of 517 miles - to raise money for Help for Heroes, the charity dedicated to helping those wounded in the service of our armed forces.
Ms Taylor's feat was accomplished almost in the blink of eye. Mr Edmond sweated, staggered and strained his way through nine gruelling days.
There was some light relief during the Bell's Barrel of Laughs trek when he was joined by veterans and comedians including Fred MacAulay, Mark Dolan and Rufus Hound. Actress Joanna Lumley helped start the challenge last week at the Blair Athol Distillery and Olympic eventer Zara Phillips and her husband, former England rugby player Mike Tindall, were at the Tedworth House Help for Heroes recovery centre to see him cross the finish line.
Mr Edmond was the personal trainer on the ITV show The Biggest Loser. This morning, he can be hailed as one of the country's biggest winners.
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