Welcome - To the World Record Row blog

Current (and final) Location – Amazingstoke, England

40075 km rowed… O km remaining – and a new world record of 934 days for fastest row around the earth’s equator on a static rowing machine.

I can’t believe it guys – that’s it, we’re all done. I’m heartbroken, pretty teary, physically relieved and just a few days after the row has been completed, missing it too x It’s been just over two and a half years of tough plodding but I’ve just had the most incredible time - an emotional, physical and virtual journey that’s changed me quite a bit as a chap, I’m not convinced my knees will ever want to work for me in the same way again! I’ve been lucky to row in the best town in the world and completely priviledged to have been a little part of Basingstoke’s wonderful community – I have met, been looked after and carried by incredible people, I can’t thank you enough for putting up with and reading these nutty posts and please accept my apologies for all the buttock related comments… on my life, this is the last one you will have to endure!

As I so desperatley hoped, we had a brilliant flurry of donations for Breakthrough through the last few days of the challenge - I’m thrilled to say that we’ve passed the £20,000 marker for Breakthrough thanks to many incredible gestures of generosity. A huge thank you to Fay for holding the collection bucket on the last rowing day and helping to sell the last 19 copies of The Breakthrough Album – 100 CDs have now been sold raising over £1000 for the charity which is fantastic and a massive testament to all the musically talented guys and girls on the album. A huge thank you to Mark, Alex, Andy, Gem, Toby, Dougie, Darren, Joost, Emily, Andrew, Harry, David, Mary, Anna-Leigh, Jason, Stephen, Emma, George, Matthew, Craig, Dominic, Ben, Chris and Nigel for all donating via the justgiving page. A very special thank you also to Colin and Debs for donating £250.47 (a penny for every mile rowed). The producers of South Today received a phone call during a live interview on the row on the Monday from an incredible chap called Barry who donated an outstanding £1,750 to Breakthrough – just amazing and such a lovely guy to talk to. Kate and Mark very kindly the £60 we needed to take us to the £20,000 marker – brilliant, just bloomin’ brilliant, and for a wonderful cause – thank you everyone for your incredible generosity.

If the grotty weather made it impossible to pop down on the last day (thank you to everyone who did x) – please click on the youtube link to watch arguably the longest thank you speech in the world! Mark thank you so much for doing all the recording on the last day.

So here we are me hearties – a final flurry of snaps taken from the the last rowing day – bless you all for braving the snow!

Having a lovely cuddle with Mary just before the start of the final 15km – Mary lost her beautiful daughter Kelly to breast cancer on Boxing Day last year. I felt very proud to dedicate the challenge to Kel’s son (and Mary’s grandson) Finley who turned 5 just a few days ago. Fin is gorgeous (he has his mum’s good looks) and is the bravest and most courageous person I have ever known.

My fiancee Lara very happy in the knowledge that I have run out of excuses to not work on her mum’s utility room!

Having a cuddle with Mia and her big brother Jake – the guys came to see me on the first weekend of the row at the start of June 2008 and have just been so brilliant throughout, I kind of love them both an awful lot!

Just a few minutes in to the longest thank you speech in the world! The lovely Sue from The Malls is just to the right of the picture.

Very proudly holding up my little silver cup (thank you Stu!!)

The Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane kindly holds up a cheque for £17,031. Both he and the Mayoress have been incredible supporters of the challenge and I’ve always felt very proud and priviledged to be in their company. The total on the cheque was the amount raised for Breakthrough up until the start of the final day (18th December) - an additional £3,000 was donated to send the total over £20,000 in the week leading up to Christmas.

Amazing cuddles, amazing support, amazing people, amazing town…. Amazingstoke x

A proper champagne soaking from the Mayor.

…. and unfortunately a very soggy cuddle for the kids! Watching them grow over these last two and a half years has been the loveliest part of the rowing challenge for me.

Preparing to send the pink and white Breakthrough balloons into orbit!

And they begin their ascent above Amazingstoke x

I just have so many people to thank for carrying me through this challenge, so deep breath and here we go!!

Paul and Sue, the wonderful management team in The Malls

Craig, Jax, Ian, Rob and all the brilliant boys and girls at The Escape for designing the challenge website www.WorldRecordRow.com

Simon, Paul, Vince and all the guys at Raycon for their great promotion of the challenge in London and on the corporate front

The brilliant Mark Fitchett and his lovely wife Kate  – Mark’s facebook and twitter campaign in support of the row has help raise hundreds and hundreds of pounds for Breakthrough

The lovely Debbie Collins at the Mayoral Office

Felicity, Nina, Jane, Mike and the tremendous team at Destination Basingstoke – their promotion of the challenge and the town itself is outstanding x

Mark, Simon, Chris and all the guys and girls at The Gazette for their fantastic reporting on the row continuously over the last two and a half years.

Adam and his team at the Basingtoke Observer for exactly the same reason!

All the boys at MJF – Nige, Graham, Til, Shaun, Andy, Luke, George, Mick, Chris, Jeremy, Tony, Brian, Ian, and Chandra – for guarding the Malls both day and night

Our magnificent fundraisers – The Basingstoke Writer’s Circle, Basingstoke Amateur Operatic Society, The Escape, Raycon, Manorfield Junior School, Farnborough Hill, Aldworth Science College and 1st Lychpit Guides

Anna, Nicy, Viv and all the amazing boys and girls at Breakthrough Breast Cancer – the work  you do is incredible, as are you all and the support you have given me – thank you so much guys x

My wonderful family and my beautiful fiancee Lara – thank you for putting up with all my daft ideas! La, I would be lost without you sweetheart, thank you for holding me up when my legs physically could not x

To all the kids who are such brilliant ambassadors for this town – for your inspiration, incredible and tireless fundraising, wonderful hugs, company and support – to Khalid, Danni, Nate, Faith, Jessika, Hayley, Brooke, Tom, Rach, Ben, Becca, Syd, Natasha, Kallum, Connor, Stu, Phil, Harry, Martin, Rhianna, Sam, Jamie, Hayley, Kirsty, Stacey, Josh, Dan, Ferne, Lottie, Ben, Nikki, Torin, Aston, Mary, James, Harry, Fred, George, Robyn, Mikey, Zoe, Tom, Helen (Molerat), Lauren (Skunk), Jake (of the Normanicii), James (tree kisses), Dave, Dani D, Hannah, Tom, Spence, Graham, Rich, Vicks, Ash, Olly, Mia, Jake, Tom, Geni, Bronwyn - you have made this row for me, watching you grow as babies into toddlers, and young teenagers into the wonderful men and women that you now are – I can’t thank you enough for carrying me x

All the big kids – Mark, Kate, Si, Paul, Craig, Jax, Harv, Carol, Fay, Albert, Sam, Sarah, Sanj, Mick, Sue, Helena, Jan, Christine, Sian, Laura, JC, Kla, Dan, Jenny, James, Mel, Karen, Andy, Keith, Dana, Karl, John, Dougie, Barbara, Mary, Tony - thank you x

To everyone who has said hello, thrown me a smile, dropped pennies in the bucket both online and at home by the rower, bought me a packet of fig rolls (I promise I’ll go cold turkey by new year!), asked me where I was in the world, asked if I’d seen any mermaids or struck any icebergs, grown a beard alongside me, bought me a cup of tea on a cold day, kept me company – even if it was just for a few seconds, it helped so much, laughed at my silly hat or my silly jokes – thank you from the bottom of my heart x This row began as a solo effort and ended as a wonderful community project – I am just so tremendously proud that Basingstoke is my home town, of all the kids and the  wonderful people who live here - thank you for looking after me so brilliantly. It has been an absolute honour and priviledge to have had your incredible support – I don’t deserve you but I’m so very pleased I’ve got you x

For Fin, Kel and Mary, for everyone who has lost a loved one to breast cancer and for every incredible woman who has fought the fight and won – this challenge is dedicated to your strength and courage x

It’s now time for me to sign off and get working on mother-in-law’s fitted cupboards!

Thank you for everything – I don’t think I can ever thank you enough x

Dave x x

Current Location – Edinburgh, Scotland

39279 km rowed… 795 km remaining

Good grief - soooo close! Just a few more days and I’ve got my fingers crossed I’ll be able to hang up my bashed up rowing buttocks for good. It will absolutely break my heart when it’s done but in terms of the body it will just be lovely – the temperature in Basingstoke is really starting to drop and I have a feeling that the remaining days of the row will bring with it quite a bit of snow… trekking from Kempshott here we come!

From chilly climates to cracking fundraising and what a month thanks to Basingstoke Writer’s Circle and the girls from 1st Lychpit Guides. The BWC have been such fantastic supporters of the challenge and during the last 12 months guests and writers have donated money to the pot – last week I was honoured to be invited to their last meeting of the year where they presented Breakthrough with a cheque for a rather stonking £200…. not only that but they made me eat lots of food – I love them. A huge thank you to Joan and the guys for a great evening.

I was also thrilled to be invited to a fundraising night earlier this week by the very lovely Helen and Lauren (aka Molerat and Skunk) as the guides from 1st Lychpit put on a raffle, a cake sale (always a winner with fat boy rowers) and a cracking talent show. A huge thank you to Amy, Charlotte, Katie, Lucy, Elise,  Eleanor, Panda, Alice, Olivia, Anna and the rest of the girls for all their brilliance and hard work – I have to mention in particular Meggie, Amy, Charlotte and Sofia (aka Twitch and Flick), watch out for these fab four in a future Britain’s Got Talent!

I felt very honoured as a chap to be bestowed my own Guide name of Alpaca – effectively I’m a llama… a very hairy llama with a daft haircut… Helen told me the the similarity was purely coincidental.

Both Helen and Lauren were fantastic in compering the evening – thank you guys, it was just brilliant and a magnificent £130 was raised.

The start of the month also marked the Basingstoke Christmas lights switch on and I was chuffed to bits to be part of the parade through Festival Place. Dressed as a pirate I stood on top of a small trailer stradling the front end of the rowing machine (we couldn’t quite fit the end on!) and was pulled around by Stu (also dressed as a pirate). It was a slightly emotional experience for two chief reasons – the first being that the very unsteady trailer caused several rather violent clashes between the upright rowing monitor and my… well… you get the picture… and the second being that wearing green and black striped trousers I looked like a giant mint humbug. Stu, my younger and much better looking fellow pirate, did not look like a humbug in the slightest and I sort of hate him for looking so much cooler but also kind of love him too – thank you mate for dragging a bashed up rower and half a machine all through Festival Place x It was a brilliant night and thank you so much to the lovely Theresa for letting me be a part of it.

A huge thank you to Clive, Adam and Ian for all donating to Breakthrough through our justgiving site – we’re now up to £15,500 and I’m hoping our surge is about to come… fingers crossed.

I leave you now with an action man Dave the rower – complete with felt tip pen beard and silly hat. Thank you to John for his artistic brilliance.

Current Location – San Sebastian, Spain

37837 km rowed… 2238 km remaining

Oh gawd!! Just 6 weeks and 6 days to go and after a grotty dose of man flu I’m in a bit of trouble in terms of distance left to plod – it’s definately possible, it won’t be easy but it’s my own silly fault for not knocking out bigger distances over the summer… an average of 335km a week until the end and we’ll be there x

October is a huge month for Breakthrough being Breast Cancer Awareness Month and it was fantastic to launch The Breakthrough Album in time – jam packed full of brilliantly local bands and solo artists it deserves to sell superbly. I just wanted to say how tremendously proud I am of them all – I think we’ve got the best kids in any town anywhere in the UK and they’ve worked so incredibly hard to make this album happen (I’m going to get a signed copy to flog on ebay when they’re all famous). Well done guys and girls (especially Stu for producing and compiling everything with me) - I think you’re wonderful and thank you x Stu and I presented the album to the Mayor and Mayoress of Basinsgtoke and Deane at a reception they very kindly held to support the CD  and the amazing musical talent we have in the town.

And presenting some of the fantastic talent on the album…

And finally – the Mayor signs the leg cast of Cameron (our album artwork designer)

A huge thank you to Tricia and Mark from Herbalife for supplying me with enough protein shakes to keep my twiggy muscles ticking until the end of the row – they are absolutely brilliant (both the shakes and Tricia and Mark) and if you’d like to find out more about Herbalife products please check out their website.

My good friend Bruce popped in at the start of the month to record his three minute short film on the row that focuses on a fantastic poem by Tony Corbin of Basinsgtoke Writer’s Circle – all twelve verse readers read beautifully, a huge thank you to Jake, James, Jamie, Lynne, Dan, Mary, Shirley, Joan, Stephen, Tony and Jacqui. After Lynne and Dan had read, I stole them for a quick photo… but I promise I gave them back afterwards.

And on a final note, thank you to Chris for sending me this fantastic screenshot below – the online computer game Guild Wars allowed players to dye their costumes and armour pink to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month and raising money for breast cancer supporting charities. It was a tremendous success – well done chaps.

Many thanks to Max, Rosie, Mitch and Caroline for all donating via the justgiving page – we’ve just passed the £15,000 which is brilliant, hopefully the pennies will keep rolling in for Breakthrough. Finally I leave with a link to a youtube video that celebrates the best town in the world – please check out Dan’s ‘Basingstoke Tribute 2010′ x

Current Location – Marrakech, Morocco

36246km rowed… 3829 km remaining

The virtual finish post is in sight!! With just 12 weeks until the finish date of Saturday 18th December and just shy of 4000 km left to row it’s going to be a very tight finish - if I don’t finish by then I’ll owe Graham from security a fiver and that simply will not do. As much as I love the sun, the cooler weather is a real blessing and coming into Breast Cancer Awareness Month I’m hoping I can have a big push in terms of mileage on the rower. We crossed the £14,000 mark earlier this month which is brilliant and I just so hope we can have a great last few weeks for Breakthrough – I realise I’ll never such a good chance to raise pennies for them again so I’m hoping the old legs can just hold together for the final plod towards the end. I think £20,000 is  a real target and with the launch of The Breakthrough Album on 1st October (lots of funky updates on the album in October’s blog!) I’m hoping that’s something we can hit – £55,000 was the aim from the beginning of the row and if that cannot be raised during this challenge I’m absolutely determined to carry on fundraising for Breakthrough for the rest of my life to hit that target.

A huge thank you to the wonderful boys and girls from the Basingstoke Amateur Operatic Society for raising a magnificent £279.75 from their sing-along ‘Pirates of Penzance’ - there will be some very pretty photos in the next blog but for now I leave you with a piccie of my very good mate Martin and his lovely wife Helen (and complimentary parrot) to tickle your tastebuds x

Current Location – Badombe, Mali

34296km rowed… 5779 km remaining

Thank goodness! We’ve finally we hit dry land! After several weeks bobbing around the South Atlantic I hit the coast of Liberia… the weather was a bit muggy with a faint whiff of fresh tarmac, remarkably similar to that of The Mall Shopping Centre in Basingstoke. A steady plod up the west coast of Africa should see us hit Gibraltar by late September – I think I can still be home by 18th December which is lovely (and will save me from the £5 I will owe Graham in security should it take me longer).

Well it’s been a very exciting few weeks in terms of fundraising. Earlier in the month I met the Mayor of Basinsgtoke and Deane Cllr Keith Chapman (and an incredibly nice man he is too) for a cup of tea in the Mayoral Parlour with Debbie, the Mayoral co-ordinator, to discuss the launch of The Breakthrough Album. This CD is jam packed full of fantastic young local musicians  and I’m hoping should be ready for release by the end of August with all pennies of course donated to Breakthrough - the Mayor has been incredibly supportive of this venture and I’m hoping we should have an album ready to present to him very soon. Please have a read of the article on the Basinsgtoke & Deane website if you’d like to know more. As you will detect, I was unfortunately forced to remove my outrageously smelly rowing shoes.

All the guys and girls have recorded their tracks which is marvellous and the final line up has been confirmed as follows – The Fortunate, Common Ground, Dani Dacey, Kobra, Fake The Attack, James Mitchell, Harry Harwood, OkCorrel, Friend Of An Enemy, Signal, Blood Of The Spectre, The Forgotten Martyr, KTS, The 4:20 and Goodnight Siren. They are all absolutely brilliant and fingers crossed the album is a huge success, they so deserve it to be - more news to follow in August’s blog!

I also had the pleasure of rowing at Aldworth Science College during their Activities Day. The guys were absolutley fantastic and wore pink to school to raise money for Breakthrough – a whopping £422 was collected which is marvellous, taking our collection pot now to just shy of £14,000. A huge, huge thank you everyone involved and especially my gorgeous friend Klara for setting it all up x

After a weekend of doing The Three Peaks Challenge (scrambling up Ben Nevis, Scaffell Pike and Snowdown in just under 26 hours) my fellow three peaker and very good friend Simon and I met with Sarah Winckless for a cup of tea to discuss further ways of raising money. Sarah is just utterly incredible – not only is she a double world rowing champion and Olympic medallist but is also inaugural chair of the British Olympic Athletes Association. She has some wonderful contacts (as well as being wonderful herself) and hopefully we can start making some real head way in landing corporate sponsors. Coming into the final weeks of the row, I’m so aware that I will probably never have such a great opportunity to raise such a huge sum for Breakthrough – it’s completely worth exhausting every possible avenue.

The highlight of the month for me was visiting Breakthrough’s research centre in South Kensington for the unveiling of The Challenger’s Wall – this is where you get to nominate someone wonderful who has either fought and won their battle with breast cancer or very sadly lost. I was very priviledged to nominate my lovely friend Kelly who passed away on Boxing Day at the age of just 24 and her name is proudly displayed there. It was also a wonderful opportunity to meet the fantastic fundraising team at Breakthrough (all of whom are smashing) and the amazing scientists who’s groundbreaking and vital research relies so much on all the money you have so very kindly donated during the last two years of this challenge – frankly it shows how brilliant you all are.

A huge thank you to Jo, David, Emma, Crispin, Simon and Sarah for all donating through the justgiving page - £13,857 raised and counting!! x

The support of everyone in town over the last two years has just been phenomenal and through public donations alone we have raised over £13,000. A sponsorship package for both local and national companies has now been created to help us raise even more in the hope of hitting our fundraising target of £55,000 for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

Bronze                      - for a minimum donation of £ 100

Silver                         - for a minimum donation of £ 500

Gold                           - for a minimum donation of £ 1,000

All Bronze, Silver and Gold Sponsors will receive a letter of thanks and a framed certificate to be displayed in your offices. 

As a Silver Sponsor you will also have your Company logo and a link to your website featured on the sponsors’ area of the challenge website  and an entry in the blog of the Row which has a fan base of over 5,000 followers across 7 Facebook groups.

Additionally I would be delighted to provide a motivational talk for your team concerning the rowing challenge and your company will also receive entry into a prize draw to win a special rowing Oar that has been signed by Sarah Winckless (Double-World Champion, Olympic Medallist and inaugural chair of the British Olympic Athletes Association).

 Our Gold Sponsors will of course receive everything included with the other packages but your company logo will also be featured prominently on the ‘Champions of the Row’ Banner that will be suspended directly behind the rowing machine for the final month of the challenge. This will afford your company excellent exposure to local and national Media & Press during a number of photo events and interviews. Most importantly, all Gold Sponsors will have local press attend their office for a special Cheque Presentation Ceremony which will be captured by photographers and feature in the local newspaper recognising your generous contribution.

If your company would be interested in sponsoring the rowing challenge, please pop down to see me in town if you have any questions or if you would prefer you can email on info@worldrecordrow.com or call 07737 322483.

We will also be holding a charity auction to raise much needed funds for this wonderful charity just before Christmas this year – if you feel you couldn’t make a cash donation to Breakthrough but would be happy to donate an auction prize then again I would be absolutely delighted to hear from you.

Thank you,

Dave x

Current Location – South Atlantic

32059km rowed… 7016 km remaining

Goodness me, what a scorcher! Glorious sunshine over the last few weeks has caused me to sweat off at least half a stone in weight which bearing in mind I’m built like a twiglet anyway meant I was on the verge of disappearing altogether. Fortunately I’ve developed a love of eccles cakes and although the weight is sitting in all the wrong places I’m hoping I won’t be vanishing into a sweaty puddle just yet. We’ve got some great fundraising dates coming up so I’ve got everything crossed that the pennies will keep coming in over the summer months.

Last month I was very honoured to be invited to the Place To Be Proud Of Awards in Festival Place – particularly delighted with the fact that we got to eat lots of chicken and potatoes. I was thrilled to be nominated but genuinely didn’t expect it to go any further, consequently I had a little glass of wine and being the complete and utter lightweight that I am it went to straight to my  head. The last award of the night was the Judge’s Special Award which I managed to pick up and I was so thrilled that I pulled the most outrageous drunken and sweaty gurn for a photograph for the Gazette – unfortunately it made appearance a few days ago along with the title of ‘Does This Man Deserve To Turn On The Christmas Lights?’. I have to say that I looked at the paper and thought I wouldn’t let that person out of the house until I realised that wine fuelled mad man was me – I’m just so thrilled it was shot torso up as at that point in the evening I’m convinced I’d taken my trousers off and left them somewhere!

Brilliant and lovely chap that he is, Stuart Dimond (of raising lots of pennies for Breakthrough through two fantastic gigs at The Red Lion fame) and I have been banging heads together (just ours, we wouldn’t hurt anyone else) and our in the process of producing a charity CD called ‘The Breakthrough Album’. It will feature fourteen cracking Basingstoke artists (all aged between 15 to 19) and the hope it will not only be a good fundraiser for Breakthrough but also to celebrate what musical talent we have in our home town. They are all amazing and we hope to have the album ready for sale (for £7 and every single penny going to the charity) by the middle of August – I promise I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime I wanted to pop up the album cover, designed by Stu and Cameron – what clever lads they are x

We also received a lovely visit from June of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance to collect over 300 bras that have been so kindly donated over the last two years. I didn’t want to let them go but alas they have gone and to a wonderful home too - the bras have been sent to women in countries across the Third World, a terrific cause. 

A huge thank you to Romy for Jo for donating on our justgiving page - I’ve got my fingers crossed we can crack that £14,000 mark as soon as possible x

Current Location – South Atlantic

31346 km rowed… 8729 km remaining

Guys firstly hugest apologies for being a scally wag and not blogging in April – consider my hands severly slapped and prepare yourselves for an even bigger account of buttock trauma to make up for it.

Firstly, and most importantly, there has been a massive baby boom in Basinsgtoke and I’m delighted to report on my three favourites. Congratulations to the lovely Danielle on the birth of her beautiful daughter Jessika Mai – I should point out that Jessika was conscious when I held her… the power of a rower’s armpit always possesses the ability to knock someone out.

Huge congratulations too to our very own Craig Killick on the birth of his gorgeous daughter Annabelle and to also to the very lovely Jacqui Sanwell on the birth of a beautiful grandson – I’m still not all convinced that Jax is old enough for one of those!

There’s also been a surge in record attempts over the last few weeks… in a far less exciting way than pretty babies but certainly very nerdy in a rowing geeky sort of way. The end of April saw a new record set for most metres rowed in a season of 17,111,960 m… and lets be honest, it doesn’t get much more nerdy than that! But with world record no. 5 in the bag it was time to have a pop at record no’s 6 and 7.

At 10am on Saturday 8th May at the Reading Hilton, I began an attempt with my very good friend Ollie Trinder (top lad and fellow rowing geekazoid)  to set a new world record for longest continual tandem row, raising money for Breakthrough Breast Cancer. The previous record, set by Atlantic Rowers Dan Darley and Rich Dewire back in 2005, stood at 72 hours and 17 minutes – we hoped that we could row a further 30 hours and set a new record of 100 hours by 2pm yesterday on Wednesday 12th. At the back of our minds, Ollie and I knew that if we could maintain a steady pace of 10km an hour continuously for just over four days then we could set a new fastest tandem million metre record in the 20-29 age category.

Preparing for the off!

Our timetable was to row in two hour shifts until midnight , at which point Ollie would row from 12am until 4am and I would then continue rowing from 4am until 8am. We would then return to two hour shifts until the following midnight and the double four shifts would begin once more. Our train of thought was that the two hours shifts would help reduce fatigue (and allow us to maintain a steady pace) and the four shifts at night would allow us to try and get at least 2 and a half hours sleep every 24 hours. With neither of us being kings of the power nap, we didn’t really get any sleep during our two hour rest breaks, it was just a chance to stretch, have something to eat and make a call to a loved one.

Ollie driving through the metres

The first day felt good and comfortable – we seemed to be keeping a steady pace, talking happily to people who dropped pennies into the bucket, heads up and backs straight. Even throughout the first night, the excitement of trying to set a new record meant that the two hour sleep had very little impact on our enthusiasm. The second day, whilst we began to feel a little more weary in the afternoon, seemed to fly by so quickly and by midnight on Sunday, 38 hours since the row began, we had 400km on the clock and were 2 hours ahead of target.

Ollie keeping up a great pace in the wee small hours

The second night hit both of us very hard – just trying to keep the split below 3mins/500m felt like we pulling sub 1.40 and the fact that we hadn’t really been able to keep down a decent square meal was really beginning to hit our energy levels. The tiredness meant that we were beginning to feel quite queasy with anything we tried to eat and in turn meant the build up of lactic acid was that much faster. Rowing during the third day gave us a little relief I think quite simply because we were plodding in daylight – giving up was simply never an option for either of us which only served to make the build up to the third night even worse. Rowing for 24 hours is one of the toughest physical challenges I have ever done and for all of us who have made it through it is quite simply one of the sweetest feelings of satisfaction – unfortunately as the hours clocked over I just couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, the whole thing just seemed never ending and our ability to look no further than the end of our two session (and then take great pleasure in a two hour rest break) went rapidly. There was an overwhelming and inevitable sense of dread rowing that third four hour set in the early hours of Tuesday morning. I’d managed just over half an hours worth of sleep during the four hours that Ollie had been on the machine and when my alarm went off at 3.20am, fluid had been building above both knee caps. The change over at 4am was hysterical – Ollie held the seat so I could quickly jump on and take the first stroke (we never tied our feet down during the challenge) but while my left foot went into place above the foot strap, my right leg locked completely causing my entire body to pivot and nearly send me flying off the rower. Ollie laughed so much that he slipped on a puddle of coke he’d sleepily spilt everywhere around the machine and nearly broke his back on a nearby chair arm. Fortunately after three strokes of arms only, I gingerly slid my right foot into position and plodded until the next changeover at 8am.

Early morning plodding!

The last full day on the Tuesday gave us hope and optimism but having had just over 6 hours sleep in the last 72 hours we were so tired it had little impact on our ability to pick up the pace. I think we caught our second wind later that afternoon however and despite picking up 68km in 8 hours from midnight until 8am on Wednesday (our final day), the end was defiantly in sight.

By the time we hit the 100 hour mark at 2pm we were 26km off the million metres – close enough to stay on for a further 2 and a half hours to set a double world record, a tandem endurance record of 103 hours and a tandem million metre record of 102 hours 32 minutes 58.1 seconds. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so much physical relief – it was without doubt the toughest sporting challenge of my life. Ollie was simply magnificent throughout and I’m so incredibly proud to know him – a brilliant guy with a huge heart and strong as an ox, I get the feeling that at the age of 23 he has many years of endurance rowing record breaking ahead of him.

Sheer relief… and tired bodies

As wonderful as it was to complete this with Ollie, it came at a bit of a cost physically. Both knees swelled up quite badly and I think I’m beginning to ride my luck in terms of pressure on the body – for the last two years of the round the world row I’ve managed to stay clear of severe niggles on the joints but areas are now starting to play up. I’d dearly love to try and get more records but there comes a point where I have to think that the main challenge is to get to December without letting anyone down. To set my last two tandem records with a wonderful guy like Ollie will stay with me for the rest of my life. I’m prouder still in the knowledge that I am only the third person in the world to have rowed in the foyer of a Hilton hotel – first and second only to Ollie and his brother Ben!!

A huge thank you to Jo, Steve and Iain for donating online via justgiving – we’re now up to £13,163 which is tremendous. Fingers crossed we can have a brilliant push over the remaining months.

As always, I would have fallen to bits without the support of so many fantastic people - thank you  x

Current Location – South Atlantic

28612 km rowed… 11463 km remaining

Well it’s been a long drop from Alaska but at last we’ve hit the most southerly point of the virtual route – all north from here on in! It will take a bit of time to cross the Atlantic but once we land in Liberia on the west coast of Africa, we’re just 7,000km and 5 months row from Blighty – it will feel like I’ve never left Basingstoke… though I suppose I technically never have … stop laughing!!! x

This rowing post is dedicated to the brilliance of a young man called Stuart Dimond  – if you were lovely enough to catch up on the last blog, Stu organised a gig at The Red Lion Hotel to raise money for Breakthrough earlier in the month featuring some of the brightest up and coming musicians this fine town has to offer. The ability to collect money throughout this challenge has been utterly dependent on the kindness of wonderful people donating money and time and raising the profile of the charity – the Craig Killicks, Jacqui Sanwells and Simon Rayners of this world. I’m very proud to add Stu to this list- he’s symbolic of all that is brilliant and talented in the young chaps and chapesses in this town and while we’ve got young men like him coming up through the ranks I believe Basingstoke is in a very good place. An excellent town chock full of excellent people x

The guys raised a fantastic £256 from their first charity gig for Breakthrough in January (the single biggest donation of the row so far) – I was so hopeful that they could match it with their second. Stu confidently suggested that they could double it the week before – a sell out night the following Friday and a whopping £568 raised tells me that if I ask him for the moon on a stick for my birthday he’ll be able to do it. It means that the two gigs have raised an incredible £824 – they guys are hoping to organise another at some point during the year, Basingstock here we come!

I arrived at The Red Lion Hotel at 7.20pm (ten minutes before the start of the gig), plenty of time I thought to grab a quick drink. I met up with Fay (Stuart’s mum) at the bar, amazed at how many people were in the cafe area waiting to get in.

‘Nope, these are the people who can’t get in – the room’s at capacity already!’ she smiled.

I couldn’t believe it – mind you I suppose it shouldn’t really have surprised me. There were 8 bands playing during the night, each one disgustingly talented and with a very, very big following. Thankfully we were able to sneak in at the back just as Goodnight Siren were warming up and the whole evening was just brilliant. The strangest and loveliest feeling for me was to be able to give someone a hug standing up without hanging on to a rowing chain – I don’t think many of the guys had seen me standing up before, Toby said he always thought I’d be taller than I actually was… I cried a little inside.

I tried head banging at one point but felt quite lightheaded after a few seconds and nearly took out the stage left speaker – I retired to the back of the room to chat with a few of the guys before coming on stage with Stu’s band Eyes Wide Closed as they performed ‘Cancer’, a real heartbreaker that they wrote especially for the gig (I think it’s just become the anthem for the row). I spent most of the song with my arm round Stu which was great for me but rather awkward for him as he ended up playing the guitar one-handed. I felt like a rock star being up with the chaps on stage – even though I have no musical talent and also had second thoughts about throwing a telly through the window due to health and safety regulations. Realising I am completely not rock n’ roll I left it to the pros – and how fantastic they all were. A hugh thank you to Goodnight Siren, The 4:20, David Gunner, Eyes Wide Closed, Kobra, Bless The Hour, The Forgotten Martyr and Blood Of The Spectre – for all their brilliance and for a great night. I should also say how terrific The Red Lion Hotel were for allowing the evening to happen and for all their time and patience – apparently they’ve got a delicious menu in their restaurant…

So without further ado – it’s piccie time!!

A busy night at The Red Lion!

The lovely Caroline, lead singer of Goodnight Siren.

Our hero in action!

Damn he has great hair!

Liam of Eyes Wide Closed clearly being cheeky.

A proper stand up cuddle with Fay and Harry.

Thank you to Cameron for taking all the brilliant shots.

I’ll pop the link up to the Gazette article on the night in the next blog – have a wonderful Easter x

Current Location – Braganca, Brazil

27896 km rowed… 12179 km remaining

Never in my life have I been more desperate for the arrival of spring! After ripping a gaping hole in my long johns last week I’ve just about had enough of violent head winds up my trouser legs… cursing the weather and clenching my fist at the sky just seems to make it worse, Basingstoke weather has just got it in for all of us! Although February is a shorter month, we’re still making very steady progress towards the South Atlantic and we’re just a few days away from getting our virtual toes virtually wet in a big virtual ocean… in a sort of virtual kind of way. The pennies are still coming and we’re now just over £12,000 raised for Breakthrough, that’s 32% of our target which is wonderful – I’ve always been of the thought that even we only raise another penny for the rest of the challenge then it’s a penny more towards the fight but I so hope we can raise an absolute bomb. The lovely people of Basingstoke have given again and again, not only with donations but also support in the form of cuddles, fig rolls, woolly scarves and a green fluffy penguin from a man called Bernard. It’s time to get some corporate cash to back up all that good will and I’m keeping everything crossed we can get it – we’ve got a great team in place to move us in the right direction.

Over the last few months it’s been an absolute joy (despite the buttock burning agony!) to row with James and my brother Jonathan on a few occassions and set a couple of world records along the way – the next one up is an attempt with my good friend Ollie Trinder to have a crack at the longest continual tandem world record on 8th May at the Reading Hilton. The record currently stands at 72 hours and 17 minutes and we’re going to try and raise the bar to 100 hours if we possibly can – heavens knows why, I just think Ollie’s mean – he’s a fitness instructor and the right side of 25 with biceps the size of Bournemouth so I hardly think it’s fair I have to row with him… well, he’s not really mean, he’s actually a really lovely guy but I still think he’s cruel… in a lovely way. The plan is to begin at 10am on the Saturday, rowing in 2 hour shifts (swapping to four hours at night) and finishing at 2pm on Wednesday 12th – Ollie is as strong as an ox so I hope I won’t let him down. I’ll pop up more details in the next blog.

Also coming up is the next gig at Basingstoke’s Red Lion Hotel, organised by Stu for Friday 5th March and starting at 7.30pm – if you fancy a fantastic night watching some very talented young chaps belt out their hits then it’s well worth popping down early as the last bash was a sell out and they’d hate for you to be disappointed. If moshing is your thing, you’ll have a riot… if you’re a coward like me and prefer clapping at the back, then please join me for a cuddle, buttock discussions and hilarious fig roll anecdotes. I’ll pop up all the photos from the night in the next entry x

Thank you again guys for all your support – I know I keep saying it but it really does mean the world to me. A huge thank you also to Jae, Kirstin and Auntie Heather for all donating through our justgiving page - we’re now just shy of £2,000 raised online which is brilliant.

 Happy almost Spring and may your days be ever long john free! (at least until October) x