Ben completes epic 24-hour row for MS Society
BENJAMIN de Jersey-Moore followed up his 24-hour run in 2018 with a 24-hour row, this time for the Multiple Sclerosis Society Guernsey.
A second rowing machine was on-hand for technical issues and for friends to row alongside him, and MS Society volunteers accompanied him on shifts.
Onlookers exuberantly counted down the last 10 seconds accompanied by church bells with cheers all around.
‘I feel relatively fresh,’ he said, ‘it was really quite magical seeing Town gradually shut down and reopen again.
‘We had some interesting experiences with night-time revellers, who came back on the way to work the next morning.
‘I had lots of support and a few people, including my mother-in-law, and Mark Windsor, rowed with me which was a real pleasure.’
Despite hands covered in plasters he would do it again.
Unlike his run, this time around he was not fasting, so stopped every 20 minutes to refuel.
Until recently he had never rowed for over eight hours straight and hoped to avoid ‘the wall’ that athletes often face.
Around midnight it became: ‘very rough overnight until 6am, so had to break more and slowly refuel.
‘It was a lot harder than expected but worked out well.’
He rowed for MS Guernsey due to two friends being diagnosed with the disease.
‘They’re both people with young families and I’m shortly looking at becoming a first-time dad.
‘I can really only imagine how hard it must be for them to keep everything together,’ he said.
MS Society chairperson Linda Fermont said: ‘It is absolutely incredible – the stamina, the guts, the perseverance is completely mind-blowing. His target of £7,500 would fund our four twice-weekly exercise classes run at Beau Sejour.’
At least £375 was raised of the target.
Visit: https://giving.gg/donate/Event/0/Donate-to-Guernsey-Charitable-Event to donate.
