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@clubman
In my own case the requirement would have been never to have seen what happens to the riders around dawn and at the finish.
I did once daydream about the possibility of riding a 24 myself, but when I helped clubmates who were competing and saw the level of pain I put the idea out of my mind. Even the leaders, real long distance specialists like Nik Gardiner, looked like death warmed up at times. My club won the team prize in the 1998 championship - one of them was too knackered to get onto the stage for the prize presentation.
I don't know when the last 24 was won by a fixed wheel rider, but I happen to have a copy of 'Coureur' for December 1958 which reports that year's 24 Championship. The winner was Dennis White of the Swindon Wheelers who did 484.75 miles *on 79" fixed !
*Looking at the photos and guessing, I'd say he used 50 x17, and the rest of his bike looks extremely ordinary, even by late '50's standards - for example the chainset is a steel Williams C34.
Obviously I'm no expert, but if I wanted to ride a 24 I'd ride at least one 12 the previous year, then do a lot of miles in the six months before the race, but I'd rest for 10 to 14 days before the event. I'd say it's a very common mistake to come to the start line feeling tired. I would never have wanted to attempt such a ride without a support car.
From the journalism point of view I believe long distance TT's make much more interesting stories that the shorter distances, and since time trialling desperately needs good media coverage to keep people interested I can only say I hope forum members ignore my comments at the start of this post and get their entry forms completed asap.