CHALLENGE CANCELLED DUE TO ILL HEALTH
Another Week’s Training Done!
Good Evening. Another training week over culminating in a 1 hour 20 minute session on the water, the local seals came over to see us as we rowed by. Tides are restricting the amount of sessions we can do which is frustrating but the schedule will change as we move through March so I’m anticipating three on water sessions per week soon. Great to have a main sponsor onboard so we can now concentrate on fundraising and training from this point onwards. Thank you to Eight Foundation for your support and I have another exciting announcement in due course! Have a great weekend Everyone!!!
We Have a Main Sponsor
The news we have been waiting for... I am very pleased, excited and overwhelmed to announce that I now have a main sponsor for the challenge! EIGHT FOUNDATION have this afternoon informed me that they will fund the rest of my training and the Challenge. As you can imagine this news has left me VERY emotional and extremely proud that I will now be able to carry out the work Marjorie Anne started and bring it to a close on the 25th May 2019 with your kind Support. I would like to thank Victoria and the Trustees of EIGHT FOUNDATION for agreeing to this sponsorship, you have made my dream challenge possible!!! Please continue donating and thank you for caring for those who are fighting breast cancer. God bless
Thank you for caring
I awoke this morning to find that someone had made a generous donation of a £100, this bus a kind thing to do and I deeply appreciate it, and so will Breast Cancer Haven and I’m certain Marjorie Anne. To be sure, all donations are kind and they show people care about those with life threatening illnesses and although your kind donations may not cure those who develop these illnesses they will bring comfort to those dealing with them. Thank you so much for caring!
Thank You
Thank You
The past month has seen some frustrations with lack of on-water time because of one thing or another, however the overwhelming support I have received from my technical coach Emma has been amazing and humbling. When out on the water Mike has endured the cold weather and given me lots of sound advice with my oar placement etc. I have also received AMAZING support from those who are helping with finding me a sponsor and also asking people to support me with donations to my just giving page...YOU HAVE ALL BEEN MY FOUNDATION to which to build upon, I am sure together we can reach a fantastic amount by the end of this challenge. Thank you EVERYONE!!! 🚣♂️🚣♂️🚣♂️🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/challengethechannel
Happy Christmas and New Year
Well we are fast approaching 2019, Paul has been unwell over Christmas and has been frustrated not to be able to train. Paul is an adaptive rower and only took up rowing in July 2018 but did sit on the boat Epona in April 2018 just to try her out, there's been amazing progress since then. Paul rowed from Eastney to the Needles IOW (distance of 30.6 miles) in 5 hours 29 minutes which we are told is an amazing achievement for someone with a head injury and several physical injuries and he's never complained about the pain he endures 24/7. As we enter 2019 there are a number of challenges that Paul will face, firstly he will need to regain any fitness he has lost during this enforced rest period due to being quite unwell, he also faces the huge task of finding a main sponsor and most of all raising much needed funds for the charity which is what this is all about. He took up the challenge in memory of his friend and inspiration Marjorie Anne Walker who passed away in 2017 after her second battle with breast cancer, the funds will support those who continue to fight the disease. The funds raised will also help support the families of those who have been diagnosed with breast cancer or who have gone through surgery. Paul often spends a few hours of Christmas day with those who are lonely at Christmas, this Christmas (2018) he was sat with a few people, a father entered the cafe with his young son and daughter both under the age of 10 the family were without their mum and wife because she had passed away after a long fight against breast cancer. It's because of stories like these that Paul has taken up this latest and final challenge, we may not find a cure for breast cancer but we can help provide support and care for those battling it and those who are affected by the terrible disease that will definitely devastate everyone close to those fighting it. We hope you feel that Paul's challenge is worthy of your support, he continues to help others despite his own day battles!
Paul's just giving page is: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/challengethechannel
Thank you.
60th Birthday
Good Evening Everyone
It's been a month since I wrote a blog, since writing last time I celebrated my 60th birthday and have continued training both on the water and in the gym. I am now at 395 hours in the gym and 30.5 hours of on water training, we have cancelled on water training twice due to weather conditions the first time the winds were at 28mph and earlier this week the winds and heavy rain stopped play as winds were reaching 30mph. Our search for a main sponsor continues and will continue right down to the challenge day, I have to admit that funding for training is below £1000 now so we have to budget well in order to get the best out of the remaining days. Why am I doing this challenge, the simple answer is because there are far too many women and men fighting breast cancer and far too many losing their fight to overcome it. Marjorie Anne fought her breast cancer to the very end, she continued to help others who were also fighting the terrible disease and when I visited her in her last months she still had that fight in her. I am so honoured and privileged to be able to raise funds for Breast Cancer Haven in memory of Marjorie Anne, I have fantastic support from my sponsors and would like to thank them all for their funding to enable me to continue the training that is necessary to get me to the start line and beyond. I pray everyday that a sponsor will come forward and join those sponsors already onboard to help keep Marjorie Anne's work going.
Challenge Yourself to be Stronger
OCTOBER IS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS WEEK: If you would like to support my challenge please do so by wearing pink every Friday for the month of October and donate any funds raised to Challenge the Channel on the justgiving link below, I will be wearing pink throughout the month. Thank you.
Developments since the endurance training row:
It’s been a quiet few weeks since the endurance training row on the 5th October, I received a surprise email mail from Greg Searle congratulating me on the row and wishing me luck for the challenge. Now as everyone knows I'm not a rower and I have never met the great man, but I do know who Greg Searle is and I am humbled to have received the email from one of our top rowers.
My coach and his partner Jenny Glass and Kern Toussaint flew off to Vancouver, Canada on the 8th October for the World Coastal Rowing Championships (a place I have always wanted to visit) the good news is that Jenny came 19th after her heat and B Final, Congratulations Jenny!!
There are articles on the endurance training row online:
I was reminded that until my 30 mile row the furthest I had rowed prior to this was just under 6 miles the week before.
Training:
Total of on-water training hours (including the endurance row) 28 hours and the total gym hours are 381, all contributing towards the challenge which we hope to do on May 25th 2019. I have a fantastic team around me, Mike and Emma are two very experienced rowers and coaches, without them this challenge will not be possible. Both coaches and I met on Wednesday 17th October for a debrief on the endurance row and lessons learned, we also discussed winter training and the way forward, plans are now being put in place which includes diet.
Sponsors:
We have some fantastic sponsors onboard, you are all fantastic, thank you for your kind support, however we are still in search for a main sponsor for the challenge we are also looking for a sponsor to cover the remainder of training, if you know of someone who may be able to help please let them know or contact us. I am also in search for a waterproof sports watch with GPS and HR monitor to use in the gym and on the water, if there are any manufacturers out there who may like to sponsor this please feel free to contact me. Thank you.
Other News:
I finally caught up with Dawn Taylor CEO of Alexandra Sports, Dawn was my first sponsor for this challenge and has supported me in my other challenges over the years. Thank you Dawn for your kind support again.
We will be sending measurements to those sponsors who don’t have your company name on the boat at the moment, as you know everything was delayed but now mike is back we can now finish this off.
Sorry it’s a very short update this week in comparison to previous weeks, stay safe, stay happy. Thank you for your support.
Social Media Sites:
Very Best Wishes
Paul
Supporting Children and Teenagers with life threatening illnesses and people with breast cancer.
Sponsored/Supported by:
Eastney to Needles - Endurance Row Friday 5th October 2018
The sun rose to welcome us to the start of the endurance training row from Eastney to the Needles IOW.
We set off at 08:10 from Eastney made our way along the Eastney and Southsea shoreline turned out to see to avoid the submarine underwater defence, then began our transit across the Portsmouth Shipping Lane where we were approached by the water police who informed us that a Navy vessel was entering the harbour, as we were halfway across the IOW suddenly disappeared under a shroud of fog. The decision was made to turn north and head towards the mainland shoreline for safety reasons. We headed along the north channel staying close to the Stokes bay and Lee-on-Solent shoreline as the solent had all but disappeared in the fog we reached the Southampton Shipping Channel in approx 2 hours. We waited by a north channel buoy for a while because we heard ships fog horns then out of the mist appeared the Red Funnel ferry heading up Southampton water into Southampton, then a decision was made to sprint the 800/1000m width channel and hopefully find the Calshot North Cardinal buoy and safety, we almost bumped in to it! As we reached the buoy the fog began to lift and there on the other side of the Solent was Cowes and the IOW, the sun shone and everywhere was visible. We headed towards the IOW so we could find the strongest tidal flow heading West/Southwest and on to the needles.
We reached 23 miles (the distance of the channel crossing, I am training for) in 4 hours, we continued on and arrived at 26 miles in 4 hours 30 minutes. As we approached the Needles they suddenly disappeared in fog and all we had to direct us was the Needles lighthouse fog horn.
We reached the Needles in 5 hours 30 minutes which considering the delays due to the fog and that I've had only 21 hours 30 minutes on-water training it was a decent row. I would like to thank my on-water coach Mike Gilbert, my Safety Officer Chris Partridge and my technical coach Emma Gueterbock and my sponsors for your support and a special thanks for all you kind people out there who have been behind me all the way.
The hard work is not over, we still need to find a main sponsor and someone to sponsor the rest of my training. A lot was learned from this row which we will work on over the coming months.
OCTOBER IS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS WEEK: If you would like to support my challenge please do so by wearing pink every Friday for the month of October and donate any funds raised to Challenge the Channel on the justgiving link below, I will be wearing pink throughout the month. Thank you.
Autumn has arrived the weather is amazing, just right for rowing!
Our search for a main sponsor for the challenge day continues, if anyone is interested we can let you have details.
Developments Since the last update:
I met with one of our sponsors on Wednesday, Ideal Window Solutions, it was a real pleasure to meet Chris Palmer and Thom Emerson both of whom have been touched by cancer, two very kind and generous men and I am grateful for their support. We went on to Breast Cancer Haven so Chris and Thom could meet Heidi Rehman and have a tour of the Haven both the guys were taken by the support provided to those with breast cancer or who have just had a diagnosis or an operation, the peace and tranquility of the place is wonderful and full of healing, great to meet you Chris and Thom. The rowing kit has arrived courtesy of kit sponsors Alexandra Sports I'm extremely grateful for your support Dawn Taylor, we will post photos once I have an opportunity to catch up with Dawn who is a very busy lady.
It was lovely to meet Karen Tyrrell of Lakeside 1000, Karen and I had a lengthy discussion which proved very positive so please watch this space for further news, I am very excited about this.
On Thursday RGK Wheelchairs agreed to sponsor my wheelchair upholstery as the current upholstery is looking tired with all the training it goes through, RGK have been an amazing sponsor over the years in fact the chair was given to me by Russel Simms former founder of RGK, the chair has completed 80,000 miles through challenges, training and getting about, she’s stood the test of time which is proof of good quality engineering, Oh she reaches speeds of up to 35.5 mph downhill.
We have been working on getting the logos on vinyl stickers for the boat in time for the Bembridge to the Needles endurance training row (hopefully next Thursday or Friday Morning, weather and tides permitting).
Training:
Training has gone pretty well, 25 mph winds in choppy waters last week but we still managed a good long row. This week, in the gym on Monday for endurance training and on the water on Tuesday we covered 5.37 miles at 4.4mph in 1 hour 12 minutes, Thursday was by far the best and longest row of all, 8 miles in a steady state with an average of 4.7mph. Coach Mike Gilbert said what was most encouraging was the pace of 6mph with the tide, the weather was too perfect, hot and very calm which tested the rowing technique to it’s limits, we were even visited by the local seals. As there are no tides in Langstone next week the boat will be moved to a marine nearby so not to inhibit training. On Friday the technical session with Technical coach, Emma Gueterbock was very productive on the ergo (rowing machine), pace setting and splits were so much better.
I hope I haven’t missed anything or anyone out in the update, please contact us if we have.
Overall it’s been a good week!
Please visit the social media sites below for more frequent updates.
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ChallengetheChannel
Social Media Sites:
https://www.facebook.com/ChallengeTheChannel/
https://challengethechannel.blogspot.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/challengethechannel/
Return to Training
After picking up a virus two weeks ago and becoming extremely frustrated at the thought of not being able to train, Paul returned to training on Friday 14th September 2018. However because Paul lost the colour in his face his technical coach Emma Gueterbock stopped the training session after just 20 minutes, Paul admits that this was the right decision as it was clear that although he felt ok it was apparent that he wasn't out of the woods. After more rest over the weekend Paul returned to the rowing machine and gym work completing 1 hour 30 minutes on the rower and felt much better, Paul was excited that he was at last back on the road to full training. On Tuesday the 18th Paul's coach, Mike Gilbert had text to say that it was he who now had the virus so therefore training was suspended as he was too unwell to go on the water and the winds were too strong for Paul to go out alone. Back to the gym on Wednesday and Paul put himself through a tougher session than usual on the ergo (rowing machine) and came out on top, he was very buoyant and looking forward to Thursday's on-water session with Mike but concerned that the weather forecast wasn't looking good. Thursday morning arrived, Paul was given the green light to go on the water with wind speeds at 25 mph the sea was choppy Paul just took it on and completed 1.5 hours on-water training covering over 4 miles at a steady speed of 4.2mph which is extremely positive after a week off, he also learned how to deal with choppy water using a different technique of feathering the oars for longer and allowing them to run on the water to maintain stability. On Friday Paul met with Karen Tyrrell of Lakeside North Harbour to talk about how Lakeside could support his challenge, Paul was very pleased to meet Karen and very grateful to discuss many different options, he may even pop down with Epona (the open ocean scull) and row on the lake, watch this space. Overall it has been a good week, Paul is very excited about the positivity and we look forward to the weeks ahead.
Best Wishes to you all and thank you for your kind support!
Training Cancelled but it's not all bad!
Due to a cold that developed on Saturday 8th I have only trained today (Friday 14th) it’s been very frustrating not being able to just get on with it. Unfortunately the lack of training this week has affected the proposed endurance training row from Bembridge to the Needles 5/6/7 September so we are now looking at our final three dates of 5/6/7 of October to achieve this important session.
One good thing that has come out of this week is I met Rachel Morris MBE, Gold medalist rower from the Rio Paralympic Games. Rachel has asked if I would like company on my Bembridge to Needles session, we are pleased that she will be with us on the day we go for it!!!
Sponsors Required:
The challenge is still looking for sponsors to help Paul, if you know of anyone who maybe able to support Paul’s training he would really appreciate it. We will update you on sponsorship as soon as we have more news. Thank you so much for your kind support.
Training and Sponsorship update 7th September 2018
Developments since the last update:
We are proud to announce that we have another sponsor onboard Challenge the Channel, On Monday 3rd September Paul received an email from Chris Palmer of Ideal Window Solutions, Fareham, Hampshire. After reading Paul’s story Mr Palmer promptly replied to Paul’s email to inform him that it would be an absolute pleasure for the company to sponsor training, Thom Emerson business partner with Chris was equally moved and inspired by Paul’s story and is in full support of the sponsorship. We would like to thank both Chris and Thom and those at Ideal Window Solutions https://www.idealwindowsolutions.co.uk for their kind support and welcome you aboard, Paul is absolutely delighted and looks forward to meeting you and your team in due course. Monday the 3rd of September just happens to be Paul’s mum’s birthday she sadly passed away as a result of cancer in May 1995 just as Paul was emerging from lock-in Syndrome, so this news is also a way to celebrate her birthday and also helps bring this challenge closer to reality.
After a successful on-water session on Thursday 6th September Paul arrived home and received a phone call from a company who are equally inspired by Paul’s story and fundraising efforts and are looking to support the challenge, we cannot reveal who the company are until confirmation of sponsorship has been received, watch this space.
Kit:
Paul hopes to take delivery of the on-water training kit shortly.
Fundraising total to date:
The fundraising total to date has now risen to £1,451.
If you would like to donate to Paul’s fundraiser please do so by visiting the justgiving page below, this is the best way to ensure funds are correctly designated to the Challenge the Channel fundraiser in memory of Marjorie Anne Walker for Breast Cancer Haven.
Training:
This has been a good week for Paul, his on-water training has gone really well, he has now reached a distance of 5.2 miles (8.36km) and a speed of 4.8mph (7.72km/h) in one row session, this after only 17 hours of on-water training, his coach Mike Gilbert is delighted with his progress as they prepare for the Bembridge to the Needles endurance row. There are 6 dates for this training row and they are 21st/22nd/23rd September or 5th/6th/7th October, after these dates there will not be enough light. The gym work which includes weights/core work and Ergo (rowing machine) training is also going well, with his Technical coach, Emma Gueterbock setting his sessions on the Ergo which Paul really enjoys.
Sponsors Required:
The challenge is still looking for sponsors to help Paul, we may have a main sponsor for the challenge day but if you know of anyone who maybe able to support Paul’s training he would really appreciate it. We will update you on sponsorship as soon as we have more news. Thank you so much for your kind support.
Social Media Sites:
Very Best Wishes
Supporting Children and Teenagers with life threatening illnesses and people with breast cancer.
Paul's Training Update
Dear Friends
We hope this email update finds you well and enjoying the summer, at the time of writing it is cooler than when the last update was sent out.
Developments since the last update:
We are so pleased to announce that two companies have supported Paul’s training, firstly while we were at Cowes Week Paul approached Lendy P2P the main sponsor of the Cowes Week Regatta to ask if they would like to support his training and/or the Challenge the Channel event. We are delighted to say that the CEO Liam Brook has agreed a £200 donation towards training, Lendy P2P also donated £75 to the fundraising page, we look forward to receiving the donation.
On our return from Cowes Week we received more good news, another company (who wish to remain anonymous) have donated an astounding £2,000 towards the training costs so it goes without saying that Paul is overwhelmed by these very kind donations. We are sincerely grateful for the support from both companies as it will mean that we only have to find around £2,500 for the rest of training and £2,500 for the challenge on the day. The cost of training is for Mike Gilbert's time and the transport of the boat and support boat for the Bembridge to Needles endurance training row in September/October.
Radio interview:
Paul was delighted to be invited on to Radio Solent, Nick Girdler morning show on Sunday 22nd July, Nick is a very enthusiastic man, who’s show on a Sunday morning is one of the best shows we have listened to. Thank you Nick.
Kit:
Kit is sponsored by Alexandra Sport and is being made as we write, we don’t have a date for when this arrives but Paul is looking forward to wearing it, we sent out some images of what the kit design looks like a while ago.
Globaleather have sponsored Paul’s gloves and made a £300 donation to the justgiving page to which we are sincerely grateful, we received another 3 pairs of gloves this morning, thank you.
Training:
Training has been going well, Paul has completed 366 hours in the gym and on the Ergo (Rowing machine) and 11 hours on the water. Paul’s on-water coach is pleased with how Paul has progressed given it takes 2 years to learn to Scull properly, there are (I believe) some technical hurdles to overcome but with the progress Paul is making the Challenge is looking more and more achievable with only a short period of time spent on the water. Emma Gueterbock who is Paul’s technical coach in the gym and an experienced former Team GB rower has been coaching Paul techniques which has been a great help, Emma gives up her time for free and also rows with Paul on the rowing machines on a Friday morning.
Print donation:
Ingrid Abery, who is a renowned sailing photographer has donated 1 of 3 limited edition prints for auction to help raise funds towards Paul’s training, the prints are valued between £500-£650 we would like the bidding to start at £200 please. We can send you copies of the prints upon request.
Fundraising total to date:
The fund-raising total to date has risen to £1,121, thank you to those who have made donations.
Overview:
Training is going well both on the water and in the gym, we are still in search of sponsors for the event before we can go ahead and print the posters and promote the event. If anyone knows of any company that may wish to support this challenge please let us know. Clearsilver the PR company will be dealing with the promotion of the challenge but we will be sending out updates via email, on FB and twitter. Photos will be added to instagram and the blog page as and when we have.
Social Media Sites:
Many Thanks.
My Very Best Wishes
Paul
Paul A Smith OBE
M: 07796595432
Supporting Children and Teenagers with life threatening illnesses and people with breast cancer.
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