“You tend to find that the people who are happy in life -
who truly have that sense of fire in their belly and are in the driving seat - have
partnered their skill set with the confidence to take it in the direction of
their choosing,” said Scottish cyclist Mark Beaumont.
Adding: “Those who have less contentment and happiness can
be brilliantly bright, but they don’t feel in control.”
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| Mark Beaumont at his 'Around the World in 80 Days' talk at Edinburgh Napier University. © Edinburgh&Us |
Hundreds of guests gathered to hear Mark’s ‘Around the World
in 80 Days’ talk at Edinburgh Napier University’s Craiglockhart Campus.
The free talk was the most recent in a series of ‘Chancellor
Talks’ at the university which were introduced to allow the experiences of people
who inspire others to be heard.
Dr David Eustace, Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier, said: “Mark’s
global adventures and epic documentaries have thrilled us all and his records
are phenomenal.
“He’s done things that others could only dream of and it was
a privilege to welcome him to Craiglockhart for what was the fifth Chancellor
Talk in the series.”
Mark has cycled around the world twice, in 2008 and 2017 - breaking
the circumnavigation world record on both occasions.
Last year, on September 18, he completed the 18,000-mile
route ahead of schedule in 78 days. During the ride the cyclist slept only five
hours per night and cycled 16 hours a day in four sets of four-hour phases.
The 35-year-old said: “What I’m always keen to share is that
every project I’ve ever built is like a start-up and my entire career has lived
in one- or two-year cycles. You consider - the idea, what is possible, how to
fund it, recruit a team and how to give yourself a chance to get to the start
line. Then think about what is possible and absolutely doing what you set off
to do.”
Mark started and finished his trip in Paris, crossing Russia
and Mongolia to China. He pedalled across Australia, New Zealand and North
America. The final section was through Portugal and Spain to France.
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| Mark Beaumont shows a slide of himself reunited with his family. © Edinburgh&Us |
“If you look back at last year’s project it looks
professional, sure-footed and inevitable, but trust me, it didn’t feel any of
those things at the time.”
A support team of around 40 people helped him to prepare and
complete the challenge. This included Napier’s School of Applied Sciences
Lecturer, Dr Lesley Ingram who spend a year as his fitness coach.
“She was at the heart of my performance team for the 80
days. I’ve gone from what was a wild man cycling adventure as a teenager living
in a tent to someone who has tried to push the boundaries of what is possible
in terms of endurance sport. That takes a lot of science, thought and planning –
so I needed good people like Lesley,” explained Mark.
At the talk Lesley said: “As a team we sat down and thought
what was achievable and what wasn’t. There was a lot of things we had to bend
rules on because we didn’t know how far we could push Mark, but we put all of
that into motion when we were conducting the training. We had practice runs of
everything so by the time we got to ‘Around the World’ the team were as confident
as we could be.
“We were all working together continually to try to make
sure that he was never going to start this challenge in any form of decrement
and he was going in there, absolutely, all guns blazing, let’s try and nail
this.”
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| Mark Beaumont with coach Dr Lesley Ingram. Image credit: The Edinburgh Reporter. Image source. |
His passion for activities including cycling developed at a
young age. He talked about first proposing a cycle from Land’s End to Joan O’Groats
at 11-years old having read about it in the Dundee Courier.
“My dad was a bit grumpy about highlighter pen all over the
map and my mum suggested doing something smaller first because I hadn’t really
cycled off the farm in Dundee before. I recruited a buddy and we cycled from
Discovery Point to Oban over three days.”
The thrill of this led to many other amateur and solo
expeditions – each one Mark was able to learn from and use to plan his next.
Later, after completing an Economics and Politics degree in
Glasgow, he began planning to cycle around the world.
“I couldn’t have imagined it was to be the start of a career
and my aforementioned father still doesn’t think that it is.”
Mark set the record of 194 days and the tour was made into a
BBC1 documentary: ‘The Man Who Cycled the World’.
“It took me from, before that, pulling pints in my local pub
to coming home and being offered book tours, talk tours and documentaries. Suddenly
I realised I’m not going to be an accountant.”
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| Mark Beaumont. Image source: https://www.dusa.co.uk/blog/5-reasons-why-mark-beaumont-is-the-coolest-rector-in-the-scotland/. |
He muses about his journeys: “I spend half of my time on
expeditions wishing I was at home and half of my time at home wishing I was on
expedition. We are fickle animals, aren’t we?
“There is something very addictive about that space and routine.
I have never found anything else in life that has that incredible clear sense
of purpose and momentum. The addictive part of expeditions when you have
planned them so carefully, is that you have taken choice out of the equation.
“One of the most paralysing things with the world we live in,
is that we are spoiled by choice. We do very little because we have too many
options. That is a real discipline – especially with young people when they start
their careers. Committing and cutting the noise to create that simple feeling
of purpose.
“You gain efficiency through being task-orientated. People
think they are wonderful through multi-tasking but don’t realise how
inefficient that is. When you have a project, a simple process and you are at
the heart of it, you find clarity and purpose.
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| Mark Beaumont 'Around the World in 80 Days'. Image source. |
“If that doesn’t make sense, I would encourage you to go on a
journey - you can walk, cycle, whatever you wish. Create an A to B, where you
have a simple routine to go through, unclutter, and live that - it’s
incredible. Build momentum in – it intensifies the experience and you achieve
greater connectedness with the world around you. That intensity becomes your
fondest memories. It is something I have tried to write about.”
Mark’s new book ‘Around the World in 80 days: My World Record
Breaking Adventure’ which documents his latest feat is on sale now.
“I love the idea of going out and doing stuff that’s not
been done before or first or fastest and the psychology of pushing yourself
through these challenges.
“The greatest emotion related to any great success is relief.
A bit of an anti-climax, but these things mean so much and you’ve put so much
pressure on yourself and your team it is the best feeling. You look around and feel
a great deal of pride for the team that have made it possible with you.”
To see full footage of Mark’s talk at Edinburgh Napier
University visit: https://www.napier.ac.uk/about-us/chancellor-talks.
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