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Mark 'Benno' Bedson's 50k Static Row Challenge.(Plus an online golf auction)
Thanks very much for visiting my website.
Date is still to be confirmed but will be sometime in October 2009.
I am aiming to acheive 50 km in around 4hrs, occasionally stopping to drink water and stretch my legs if required and these stops will total around 5 mins during the 4 hrs.
My first taste of rowing (pictured) was several years ago when I used to compete in the Lossiemouth annual raft race which raises thousands of pounds each year for local charities.
Last year whist on operations in Al Udeid, Quatar, I managed to raise over £400 pounds by completing a sponsored marathon row on an indoor Concept 2 rowing machine in 3 hrs 21 mins.
Currently I am on operations at Kandahar Airfeild, Afghanistan working as the Tornado GR4 flightline controller and I am hoping to raise money for my favourite charity, Help for Heroes. I will be attempting to row 50 Kilometers in around 4 hrs and hope to raise somewhere in the region of £10,000.
Help for Heroes is a british charity launched in September 2007 which supports our soldiers wounded whilst on operations in conflicts such as Iraq and Afghanistan. The charity helps to provide better facilities for our wounded.
H 4 H work with Selly Oak Hospital to provide a welcome to give to wounded servicemen and women when they arrive at Selly Oak as they often come directly from a Field Hospital and their clothes and possesions do not come with them.
The charity also support the Defence Medical Rehibilitation Centre at Headley Court and help provide funds for the adventurous training team, 'Battle Back'.
If I reach my target by the 25th September I will do an extra 5km on top.
For more information on Help for Heros you can visit www.helpforheroes.org.uk
TRAINING
I arrived in Afghanistan on 14th June 09 and train most days after a 12 hr shift. To date I have managed to clock up 1,004,680 metres worth of training including a full marathon (42.195 km) in 3 hrs 13 min 17 sec.
COMPLETION
I have now completed the 50km row. It was started at 0500 hrs on 03 OCT 09 and took 3 hrs 56 min and 3 sec to complete.
ADDITIONAL FUND RAISING
Also SAC Brad Wight attempted and completed a 10 Mile run on 04 OCT 09 to raise additional money to the total. This was carried out in Hot and very dusty conditions and to make this more challenging, Brad did no training for the event which made it much harder.
Well done Brad.
To add the the fundraising I will be auctioning some golf prizes in January 2010 so keep a look out.
Donating through JustGiving is fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.
