Gary Hood is rowing on a Concept2 rowing machine to raise money for Joel James www.joelsquest.co.uk/ His aim was to complete 60,000 metres in 6 hours. Gary's wife Penny sent us the below update to let us know how Gary got on -

On the 3rd of June, Gary shared his 50th birthday with the Queen's Jubilee celebrations, and therefore chose to row 60,000 metres to mark Her Majesty the Queens 60th year on the throne He has never rowed this distance before, but has trained for months rowing from 5.00-6.30am every morning before going to work and then additional training at the weekends. He will also hit 1 million metres on his 'Concept2' rower during his challenge. Gary has chosen the Olympic torch day to undertake this row to show the pupils at Joel's school what can be achieved with hard work and to recognise this special day with his own personal challenge.

Gary Hood's 60,000 metre (this is equivalent to one and a half times across the English channel) row went brilliantly on Wednesday 27th June. The last 5000 metres were exhausting to watch let alone do, but he did a fantastic job completing the non-stop row in 4 hours, 16 minutes and 20 seconds. So far, Gary has collected £1615 through his Just Giving page and direct donations, and is very grateful to everyone who has supported this charity event to raise money for Joel and his life changing SDR surgery. When 'Gift Aid' is included, this will bring his total to around £1900.

In addition Gary was delighted to discover his time at 42,195 metres (a rowing marathon) and has gained 4th place in his age group on this years Concept2 official world rankings. He did this in 3 hours and 4.1 seconds.

The children and staff at Rauceby Church of England School were fantastically supportive throughout Gary's row and in the last 5 minutes were amazing when they all chanted his name helping towards his goal. Many thanks for all their help and the energy the chanting and clapping gave him when he really needed it.

Gary was also grateful to Mr Thompson, the Headmaster at Rauceby School, who made a wonderful speech when Gary finished and also asked Sam Hood (Gary's son) to present him with his 1 Million metres T shirt from Concept2 which he gained for having completed this distance on his rowing machine as the challenge ended.

If you would like to make a donation to go to www.justgiving.com/garyhoodjoelsquest/

When asked why he wanted to take on the challenge - He explained: "I saw Joel taking part in sports day last year, running in his leg splints and thought he was so brave, and it is a pleasure to raise money for him. I'm pleased with how it's going but I have a lot to do."

Every donation will help Joel in his quest for a better future.