Story
****Update*** 18th September: We made it!
Final time was a very respectable 3 hours 10 minutes and 26 seconds which put about middle of the field in our class and 100th out of 267 finishers. Given the very amateur crew this was an outstanding achievement and the boys showed incredible commitment and determination to get to the finish.
A huge thank you to all our sponsors, David Constantine from Motivation for joining us at the finish and to all our other supporters along the route.
Thanks to you all we managed to raise over £20,000 which included almost £2,500 from the taxman via Justgiving - nice to get something back once in a while!
Any volunteers for next year?!
Rupert
***STOP PRESS*** 16th August: Thanks to the incredible generosity of the sponsors so far we have already surpassed our target to raise £5,000 via this site and cheques received. With a month in hand we have decided to adopt a rowing racing tactic and “go for 10”…. £10,000 that is! We are all extremely grateful for your interest and we hope you will be able to keep the momentum going.
Hello
Many thanks for visiting our sponsorship page.
Last year Ian Gardner was killed in a tragic skiing accident in the French Alps. Ian was an incredible person, father, husband and enthusiastic sponsor of the Motivation charity. He was also a member of the Aesculus Chapter, our group of friends that meet once a year for a dinner and a "bit of entertainment."
This year we have decided to supplement our dinner with a challenge in his memory. Our goal is to raise some money for Ian’s charity by racing in one of the longest inshore rowing races in the world, 22 miles of the river Thames on Saturday 16th September. Please see http://www.greatriverrace.co.uk for more information. It’s a challenge Ian would have certainly revelled in and hopefully we can do him proud.
Above all we hope the undoubted pain and suffering we are about to endure during the race will be enough reason for you to give some money to this incredibly worthy charity! http://www.motivation.org.uk.
Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor us: The Motivation Charitable Trust will receive your money faster and, if you are a taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your sponsorship at no cost to you.
If you'd like to sponsor us please click on the "Sponsor Me Now" icon below this message and follow the steps. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ADD THE NAME OF THE TEAM MEMBER YOU ARE SPONSORING IN THE COMMMENT BOX. We want to track who's pulling their weight and of course who will walk the plank at the end of the race!
Many thanks for your support.
The Aesculus Chapter
p.s. the Daily Telegraph recently featured an article about the race which included our crew. If you'd like to read more please click on this link.