Norman and James Beech have become the fastest father-son duo to complete the Race Around Ireland, one of the toughest endurance cycling events around.

The Beeches, who are from Coniston, had 132 hours to complete the round-the-clock challenge and they did just that with plenty to spare, finishing the 1,310-mile course in 102 hours and 18 minutes.

Doing so will have come as great satisfaction to Norman, 59, and James, 28, as they had to pull out of the event a few years ago whilst riding a tandem after James fell ill.

Their race wasn't without its setbacks this time, either, as they suffered four punctures during it, while James' bike needed a damaged derailleur gear replacing one night, and they both had to brave unrelenting rain while riding up Ireland's west coast.

With the clock ticking even when competitors had to eat or sleep, the latter was in short supply, with the 'Beech Boys' riding through the first 30 hours straight, doing 45-minute shifts.

After this, they managed to get a couple of hours' sleep each night, which equates to around nine hours out of the 102 that they were in competition, during which they climbed 22,000 metres and averaged a speed of 13.1mph.

They also managed to raise a terrific amount of money for Crisis UK - donations can still be made at www.beechboys.co.uk.

Norman Beech said: "We're nearly up to £4,000 now. We're up to around £3,850, so we're not far off our target for Crisis UK. We're really pleased to have been able to do that.

"It's described as one of the toughest endurance events out there, so we were really chuffed by the end to have completed the whole thing.

"You have some difficult moments within it, so we were very reliant on the support team backing us up over the course of the whole event."

Completing the Race Around Ireland adds to Norman and James' list of achievements, which includes cycling from Land's End to John o'Groats and rowing the Atlantic Ocean.