Marathon Mens Team Record

[NavigationHazard]

Good luck and good rowing, guys.

[Nik Fleming]

I know we weren't the main event and my congratulations go out to the 24hr rowers who did an outstanding job!!!!

For those guys to come off that and row the 50k was pretty impressive, I hope they are feeling ok today and recover swiftly.

Right, down to the Marathon. First thing to report is Saturday lunchtime I get a call from Sango, he hurt his back on Friday and is unsure if he can row!!!! ARH!! Panic! Well a quick text to Tony and Stu, Tony comes back with Oh sh*t!!, I dont hear from Stu..... has he been frightened of and disapeared under his bed never to be seen again....no he is out shopping and forgotten to take his phone!!! My next text is to ask if we should attempt it as a team of 3 if Andy doesn't improve overnight. Tony says, YES. Thats its then...... Stu will just have to go with the majority decision as I still haven't heard from him!! Stu, eventually rings me Saturday evening and is 'QUITE' excited about doing it as a 3.....he said to his wife something along the lines of 'sh1t I cant do that'!!!
Anyway we all wen't to bed prepared for the worst but hoping Sango would be feeling ok in the morning!

Sunday, 9oclock. We have just set off, got a text from Andy on my phone.......sorry Nik looks like I am out. AAAARRRRHHHH!!! Thats ok we can do it with 3!! I text Stu and Tony to give them the news and then start planning for the record attempt. Do we go with 3? Do we use one of the 50k team? Do we put it off for another day?.....If we go for it as a 3 man team, what splits do we aim for? I think well the record is 1.38.1 we now have to do 7x2k approx 13minutes rest....lets aim for 1.37.8, 1.37.5 at best. I talked this over with the other 2 and YES we have a plan...well so I thought!!!

The other dilemma we faced was foot holding during changeovers, as you know you are only allowed 4 team members so we took the decision to recruit a non rowing member of the team. I initially asked Mrs Bird but I dropped her after one practice rotation!!!! We called in the much more experienced j.d. He had just finished his 24hr stint and was looking like a lost sheep so we gave him a job for the next 2 hours...just what he needed!! This is a big thankyou to him, as far as i'm concerned his name goes down with ours as part of the team as there is no way we could have done it without his help.

The record attempt......running order, as im a glory boy I wanted the last leg (Captains rights!!) So the order is Tony, Stu then I. Now putting Tony as your first leg was probably the best decision and worst decision I made all day....... intended target 1.37.5 Tony's first 2k, 1.36.5!!! Great, he has set the standard for Stu to follow... 1.36.9 another one under target....well I aint going slower than those 2 my first leg 1.36.6......the average after the first rotation 1.36.6. Not to bore you with to much of the record details but after 21 very good changeovers...I can't remember 1 that didnt go well, and 7 reps of 2k....
Tony 1.36.4 1.37.0 1.37.1 1.36.7 1.36.6 1.36.5 1.36.2
Stu 1.36.9 1.36.5 1.36.4 1.36.4 1.36.4 1.36.5 1.36.3 (2200m interval)
Nik 1.36.6 1.36.6 1.36.4 1.36.7 1.36.7 1.36.4 1.35.7
(These are unofficial, I am waiting to get the log card details from Citreon)
you can see we were a little inside the old record. The ave. coming into the last rotation was 1.36.7 Tony was able to put in a big effort and bring this down the 1.36.6, Stu who I must say was the backbone of this effort took it on his shoulders to row the extra 200m (I had been down to do it but Stu looked the stronger so volunteered). He rowed a great last 2200m and kept the ave. on 1.36.6. My final leg (and I have been suffering), we had gathered the troops and Jon G got on the PA system and started to build the finish...it was in sight the record was not in doubt it was just a case of getting through the last 2k!

It all started well, 1.35/1.36 a few 1.37's. 1k gone 1k to go! You know how focused you get you need the monitor to confirm everything is still working correctly....800m to go. THE MONITOR GOES OFF....AAARRRHHH. Luckily we are connected to RowPro which is still working and showing the splits however it was behind me. You do have a feel for this game after the few meters I have rowed so I knew I was still pulling 1.36/37's. However Chris Hetherington instinctively started shouting out every stroke as it appeared on RowPro, this is a big thank you to him as it really kept me focussed during those last 800m.
I knew that I wouldnt have much of a finish so delayed my sprint until the last 150m, I remember hearing Chris mention some 1.27's and maybe even a 1.26 so I knew I was still alive!!! but not feeling to good by this stage!!

The old 4 man record stood at 2:18:01.2
The new British Mens Team Marathon Record is now 2:15:51.5 a final ave. 1.36.5 (Rowed by3 people)

[NavigationHazard]

Barking mad, Nik. You lot should be committed.

I mean this in the best possible way.....

[Matt Newman]

Great stuff, Nik, Tony, Stu & j.d.

I think its only fair to spare a thought too for poor old Sango who must be feeling pretty peeved at missing the opportunity to join in the fun and be a record breaker too

Congratulations once again

[John OGrady]

Guys - awesome effort and much to be expected by you lot!!!! Just make Sango pay the price when hes fit again!!!



Top boys!!!

[Citroen]

(These are unofficial, I am waiting to get the log card details from Citreon)

You have a PM.

http://194.105.168.44/~dougie/Ripley/RipleysRow.csv has all the splits from all four relay teams.

[j.d]

I did not witness the 100k{i cant remember why i could not get there} but this is withoubt a doubt the most impressive team performance i have seen these 3 guys were like machines, you can tell from those 2k splits nik has posted they would start and finish the last 100m of each 2k slightly harder and then just settle into 1:36/37s all the way no one of them at any stage flagged through 7 reps each it was a scary display of fitness and power, stu williams only broke sweat after about rep5!Scary thing is that with another guy they could go quicker!

Well done boys!

jd

[roadrunner]

Well done guys- awesome stuff.
Puts my paltry 50,000m at 2:30 this morning in the shade.
Bad news for me today - weather bad so stuck on the rig for another 24 hours, good news I get another day's pay, even better news, I can train again later tyoday to ease out the few aches I've got after spending 3h 45 mins on an erg.
RR

[Matthew Balch]

Awesome stuff fellas!

Good story to! Cant believe you did it with 3 lol! Is that mean thats a 3 man record and the 4 man record still stands? lol! Or you gonna plan to do it again?

[Nik Fleming]

Awesome stuff fellas!

Good story to! Cant believe you did it with 3 lol! Is that mean thats a 3 man record and the 4 man record still stands? lol! Or you gonna plan to do it again?

You may have hit the nail on the head here ....watch this space!!!!
We hope to have confirmation later today!!!

[Daren]

Already said this on the MAD Team thread, but very, very well done, guys. Extremely impressive stuff!

[Nick Rockliff]

Nice going guys, a great achievement

[Carole Mac]

well done boys

[Niall W]

A truly amazing feat. It was a shame I didn;t get to see more of the marathon relay (had my own little battle with a 50K relay to contend with!). What I did see though was a very controlled and focused relay. The closing stages were very exciting as Nik really dug in while Martyn, Chris, jd and others cheered them on.

It was a real pleasure to meet Nik and Tony (I'd met Stu previously at Manchester), they're hellish nice guys despite what Tony says about Nik

[toddler]

Absolutely stonking effort lads!!!!

Well Impressed!!!!!!

Well deserved

Toddy