Vince Brunning "A quick meeting between Marines Matt Jameson, Neil Fearn and me resulted in our decision to enter the HMS Albion 24 hour Rowathon in aid of the Dame Hannah Rogers Trust being conducted by all the ships departments. The Trust, based in Plymouth, was founded in 1787 at the behest Dame Hannah Rogers (1766), who left £10,000 to set up a school to provide for the education of 'poor and unfortunate children in Devon and Cornwall'. Since then the school, now in Ivybridge, has seen several transformations to its current status of being recognised on the National OFSTED Roll of Honour for providing education and support for children and young people with profound physical disabilities.

"After at least ten minutes of prior planning and preparation we decided to set a target of 360,000 metres, to be rowed in 24 hours. A significant challenge personally and one which would take us ahead of the other eight teams from the ship company, some of which had up to 31 team members! Individually, we would be required to row 120,000 metres each in eight hours to reach our collective target, and we decided to row an hour about to complete the distance.

"The event took place on the ship's flight deck, with one rowing machine per team, one bed and as much food and water as we could carry. Neil rowed first, followed by me and then Matt and for the first hour we had no problems keeping our pace. The second hour was not too bad either but by the third hour things had become noticeably harder! Between our individual rows we spent as much time as we could eating, drinking and resting as well as encouraging the unlucky rower. As the time passed the strain began to take hold and we had to reduce our rowing times to 30 minutes each just to keep the pace. The last hour saw the ships company arriving onto the flight deck to cheer us onto the finish, and with our spirits suitably lifted we each put in a ten minute sprint at the end to expend the last of our energy.

"The end of the 24 hours felt good, and we each received a beer from the Sergeant Major, which was wholly welcomed. Despite copious handshakes, photos and "good efforts!", all we could think about was our beds. In 24 hours the three of us managed to row a total of 364,441 metres, not only significantly beating the other teams, but proving to the ship's company what three Marines are capable of and what being a Bootneck is all about."