Clare Busst swaps her business suit for gym wear for a lunchtime training session
With just four weeks to go until her world record rowing attempt, Clare Busst is hitting the ergometer every chance she gets and is already breaking records.
Clare, 34, from Southbourne, will be setting her rowing machine down in Bournemouth Square on Saturday July 25 and attempting to break the 13-year-old world record for the 26-mile light weight female (aged 30-39) marathon.
She is calling the event ‘Row for A Wish’ and all the money she raises through sponsorship will go to the Bournemouth-based children’s charity Round Table Children’s Wish.
For the last six weeks, the single mum has been training twice a day, six days a week with a session before she takes her son Joe to school and another at lunch or after work.
Clare, who works full time as a business development manager for building construction data company Glenigan in Bournemouth said: “The last six weeks have been tough but amazing.
“It’s not always easy juggling training around work and my son, but because we have a rowing machine here at work I can slip into my gym gear and hit the rowing machine in my lunch hour.
“Every minute of practise helps me reduce my timings.
“In fact, I broke the half marathon world record two weeks ago in training.
“And people have been so kind, already donating £1,200 in sponsorship, but I’d love to raise even more.”
Clare is a Great Britain and world indoor rowing champion and currently holds five British records and two world records. She has also won the world indoor rowing title in her weight category for the last two years running.
She added: “Of course it hasn’t all been plain sailing – the blisters on my hands have been excruciating at times. But I know it’s all going to be worth it;
“Whenever it gets tough, I just think of all the children that Round Table Children’s Wish helps and it spurs me on.”
Round Table Children’s Wish celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.
The charity was founded by Round Table and grants handcrafted wishes for children aged four to 17 who have a life-threatening illness – popular wishes include trips to Disneyland Paris, swimming with dolphins and meeting celebrities and sporting heroes.
Clare said: “The current marathon record, which stands at 2:59 minutes, was set 13 years ago in 2002 by Irish rower Siobhan Norman. But I’m sure I can beat it.
“I will need loads of support on the day and hope lots of people come down and cheer me on.
“We will also be setting up a bank of rowing machines in the Square and challenging youngsters and adults to make a text donation and see how far they can row in a minute – you’ll be surprised how far you can go, and there will be some great prizes up for grabs.”
Prigette Smolka, business development worker for Round Table Children’s Wish said: “As well as offering prizes like a Playstation 4 and gym memberships to our winning competitors on the day, we are also auctioning a new AFC Bournemouth shirt which has been signed by all the players, Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall.
“The silent auction for this has just gone live and all bids should be emailed to Clare at cbusst@hotmail.com
“She will be posting regular updates from the AFC Bournemouth forum page and on the www.rtcw.org facebook page.”
Clare is asking people to go online and sponsor her at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ClareBusst
Donations can also be texted to RTCW14 70070.
