Racing is Life - The Beryl Burton Story

RACING  IS LIFE: THE BERYL BURTON STORY – 127 mins BVE0382
 
‘Racing is Life… anything else before or after is just waiting’
Steve McQueen from the film ‘Le Mans’.
 
A quote that sums up Beryl Burton, OBE (12 May 1937 – 8 May 1996) the Yorkshire housewife, who, despite a severe illness in childhood, became a cycling phenomenon, the most successful British female cyclist ever.
 
A time trialing legend, she was the British Best All-Rounder for 25 years in a row and yet she was also a Seven time World Champion and a National Champion twenty five times, in the 3,000 metres pursuit and on the road. All this, as well as being a mother, housewife and working part-time on the rhubarb and fruit farms of West Yorkshire.
 
Given her of lack of financial backing, expert coaching, or any guidance on sports science and diet in a sport that makes relentless demands on the mind and physique, her achievements are more than remarkable, they are simply amazing.
 
Featured in this special film are daughter Denise, a National Cycling Champion in her own right, husband Charlie, Brother Jeffrey and Sister Maureen, Malcolm Cowgill of the Morley CC, author Peter Whitfield, journalist Roger St Pierre, former National Champion Lisa Brambani and ’82 World Road Race Champion Mandy Jones.
 
The film contains unique and previously unseen archive footage from the collections of the Jackson and Turner Brothers, as well as extracts from a Yorkshire Television profile on Beryl, who we learn, did hard manual work on fruit farms and who in her spare time loved knitting, as she had no television or radio in her home.
 
A beautiful mural graces her hometown of Morley, a tribute to a champion cyclist, who despite her success, remained a shy and ordinary down to earth Yorkshire lass all her life. Her passion for both the sport and simple pleasure of cycling remain an inspiration to both amateur and professional cyclists today.
 
A short introduction can be viewed in "Event Videos" below. 

RACING FOR LIFE : THE BERYL BURTON STORY IS AVAILABLE NOW ON DVD FROM:
 
BROMLEY VIDEO, Ten Acre Farm, Stonehill Rd, Ottershaw, KT16 0AQ 
Tel : 01932 879940 orders@bromleyvideo.com