Transatlantic rowing challengers Kevin Biggar and Scott Donaldson from New Zealand decided to challenge the two-person million meter indoor rowing record as part of their training for the 2003 Transatlantic Rowing Race taking place in October of this year.
The existing two-person million meter record was set by Chris Hanselman and Mark Sharp in Hong Kong in October 1993. Their record of 87 hours 34 minutes 36 seconds has stood unbeaten for nearly 10 years, making it one of the longest-standing Concept 2 records ever.
Kevin and Scott estimated they could beat the record if they rowed at a pace of 2:15 for just over three days. However the challenge didn't go entirely smoothly - partway through, Scott was taken to see a doctor as he was not able to hold down any food, which meant that Kevin had to row almost four hours non-stop. But despite this, the pair posted a new record time of 76 hours 48 minutes 34 seconds, an incredible performance that beat the existing record by over 10 hours!
The challenge took place July 24-27, 2003 on the back of a special truck that was modified to act as a stage. The pair started rowing at a shopping mall in Auckland, New Zealand. Then halfway through the weekend, the truck was driven to another shopping mall across town, while the rowers kept rowing inside the truck, making it a real 'Rowed Show'!
Digital Rowing created a Challenge Version of RowPro specially for the challenge, replacing the onscreen charts with a large-font million-meter countdown display.
The million meter row itself was set up in RowPro as a Custom Row using twenty intervals of 50,000m, with no rests in between! The RowPro PC was connected to a huge wide-screen TV that could easily be seen by shoppers passing the challenge truck.
A second Concept2 Indoor Rower was also set up with RowPro and a large-screen TV so shoppers could row in a competition to 'Keep up with Kevin and Scott' , with any who could stay abreast for 2 minutes going into a prize draw.
'The RowPro software worked flawlessly', said Kevin. 'We had our eyes glued to the big screen at all times. It was tremendously motivational to see the countdown move through the 500,000 meter mark and then down to zero. Particularly at the end, the TV screens were a real focus for the crowd as they could track our progress to the meter'.
Digital Rowing President Peter Loeffen congratulated Kevin and Scott for their outstanding achievement. 'We're delighted with their success', he said when the pair set a new record. 'We're also considering making the challenge display available to all RowPro users in a future version'.