ArchiveMarathon-man David Holby has reached the two thirds mark in his bid to row around the world on a static rowing machine. David can be found most days in the malls raising funds, amounting currently to £12,000 for Break Through Breast Cancer as part of his Guinness World Record attempt. Having started in June 2008, David must finish within three years from his start date to be awarded the World Record, and has to row an astonishing 310 km a week to stay on track.
“It’s so daft because I’m not going anywhere, but on our virtual map we’re a little over 27,000km through, with about 13,000km left to go,’ he told the Observer. Despite being an actor by trade, David has been entirely committed to making his record attempt a reality. “I had to really knock that on the head to train for this,” he accepts. In spite of having endured harsh weather conditions due to his public rowing, David welcomes being outdoors, and views the public support from passers by as essential to his continued endurance, he continued: ‘The people of Basingstoke have been so lovely, it’s been the main reason why I think I’ve been able to just keep going, and I think without that I would have cracked months ago. “If I was doing this in a gym I think I would have packed up by now.”
Yet, his bid has not been without obstacles and worries, including the need to eat a vast 6,000 calories each day, admitting that: “Normally I’m terrible and think I can get away with eating four donutts, but it’s going to be quite hard to reduce the amount of food I eat when I stop.” With a target of £55k, David hopes to secure corporate backing, but encourages everyone to donate to what is ‘just a really, really good cause’, if you too want to support David then visit him between Monday to Friday in the malls, or log on to his website: www.justgiving.com/worldrecordrow/
