THE Batley woman who won the Gawthorpe Coal Carrying Championships has broken the World Record. Catherine Foley, of White Lee Road, battled to victory in the time-honoured village tradition, carrying 20kgs of coal on her back in an uphill slog.And Catherine, a physical training instructor for West Yorkshire Police, has smashed the world coal carrying record and will go into the Guinness Book of Records with her time of 4 minutes 45 seconds – on her first attempt at the race.
She said: "I fancied a different challenge and it's completely unique. A work colleague and a friend of mine's step-dad take part so I got involved through them."
Catherine, 27, was confident she could carry the weight of the coal after a few attempts training with a bag of gravel which was 5kgs heavier, but she found the hardest thing about the race was getting a handle on the bag.
She said: "The bag of coal was smaller than I thought it was going to be and it hung down my back quite a lot so I had to lean over more when I was running than I did in training.
"I was quite nervous before the race so I think I burned a lot of nervous energy. I got out in front from the start. I thought it was best to attack it from the beginning. I knew once I got to the top of the hill if I was in the lead I could pick up the pace for the finish.
"I was relieved to see the finish line and really happy I did it in my first go."
Not satisfied with her record-breaking in the coal race, Catherine is putting herself through a number of other challenges this year, including the Tough Guy in July, which will see her run 10kms followed by a two-mile assault course.
And in September she is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
