Shropshire indoor rowers raise over £3,000 for Severn Hospice in memory of fellow rowers
A group of indoor rowers have raised nearly £3,000 for Severn Hospice in memory of two friends - and even scooped some world rankings during the fundraising challenges.
The indoor rowers from Wrekin Rowers, run by Jim and Sally Mostyn based at Wrekin College, rowed the London marathon distance as runners pounded the streets of the capital city.
Eleven indoor rowers took on the marathon row challenge with them completing it in times of between 2 hours 47 minutes and 3 hours 24 minutes. A further 16 rowers took on the 500m BASH indoor row challenge too. The rowers raised over £1,000 on the day.
They were raising funds for the hospice in memory of fellow indoor rower Marc Christian who lost his battle against Glioblastoma Multiforme – a very rare and aggressive form of brain cancer and Gary Richards, one of a team of four who completed a 3,000 mile row across the Atlantic, who died aged 57 after being diagnosed with terminal duodenal cancer.
James Dowdall, a member of Wrekin Rowers, was the first to finish the marathon distance on the indoor rower. This came after he ran the T50 route in Telford twice in a 24 hour period covering 100 miles on March 30, as part of the fundraising challenge in memory of Marc and Gary. He raised nearly £2,000 during this challenge.
Jim Mostyn, who runs indoor rowing classes and other fitness classes at the college in Wellington, said it was an amazing day and fantastic to see so many reaching their goals.
“Our indoor rowers showed all of the characteristics both Marc and Gary did throughout their lives - they were determined and fought right until the end.
“We had a number of Great Britain rankings with Cally Hammond taking the top spot for her age group and also Irene Lysons also becoming the fastest person in the 70-79 ladies age group in Great Britain which is phenomenal with a time of 4 hours 34 minutes 41 seconds. This time also placed her second in the world!
“We know how much Marc would have enjoyed the challenge and would have been the first there to do his row and then support others as they reached the end.
“It was lovely to have Marc’s family there including his son Jack who took on one of the challenges too.
“The money raised between the challenges will really make a difference to Severn Hospice.”
Stew Edmondson and Poppy Jones took their respective 1st places in the 500m BASH.
“So many of us have unfortunately seen the amazing work of the Severn Hospice first hand so it was important for us all to join together and raise some funds in the way Marc and Gary would have loved - on a rower!
“James’ 100-mile run was wonderful and he had amazing support from all along the route. We would like to thank everyone who gave into our buckets on the day or supported us through fundraising links.”
People can still add to the Severn Hospice funds using James’ link https://justgiving.com/fundraising/james-dowdall5.
