Rugby star and athlete in team for record- breaking pedalo challenge
A FORMER England rugby player and international athlete are among four adventurers attempting to break the world record for navigating the Thames in a pedalo.
Former Rotherham Titans star Andy Long, 42, who was a hooker for England, and former international decathlete Alex Gibson, 42, are part of the team hoping to beat the current record for completing the 128mile length of the river in a pedalo.
The record, which was set in 2018, is four days, 12 hours, 49 minutes and 17 seconds, and they hope to do it inside three days on the four miles per hour pedalo.
The team will be representing motor neurone disease charity Challenging MND and hopes to raise more than £ 10,000 for charity.
Former Great Britain decathlete Mr Gibson, diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2018, is leading the team and is joined by Mr Long, patron of Challenging MND, as well as Alun Thomas and Joe Reed.
They left yesterday from Lechlade in Gloucestershire and hope to reach Teddington in south- west London by tomorrow.
“It’s going to be incredibly tough but we have selected a very strong team, not just physically but with the correct mindset to drive us home and hopefully smash this record,” Mr Gibson, from Essex, said.
Mr Gibson founded Challenging MND following his own diagnosis two years ago and has raised more than £ 150,000 for charity, including cycling the Outer Hebrides and scaling Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon. Visit https:// uk. virginmoneygiving. com.