Blue Peter's Helen Skelton breaks world record

Helen Skelton has reached the halfway point in her South Pole challenge and looks to have added another world record to her haul. The Blue Peter daredevil attempted to set a record for the fastest 100km kite surf, covering the distance across Antarctica in seven hours and 55 minutes. Helen, 28, has completed the equivalent of heading from London to Northampton in temperatures which plunged to -48degC and she has completed the journey through tummy troubles, snow storms, blisters and dehydration. The Guinness World Record officials have clarified that she has broken the World Record with her kite surfing stunt. The 500-mile dash to the South Pole for Sport Relief has now passed the 250-mile mark in seven days. Helen's heart pumping and enthusiastic journey sees her skiing without a kite and pedalling a bike, which is believed to be a world first. Helen has previously set two records for her solo kayak along the Amazon for Sport Relief in 2010 and added: "250 miles down, 250 miles to go. I know I've got a lot of hard work still to do, but at least I am closer to the end than the beginning now. Every single day here is tough so all I can do is take each one at a time and get through it."

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.