Latest news with #ThanksaMillionChallenge
Otago Daily Times
13-06-2025
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
Carlos rows into the record books
Queenstown's Carlos Bagrie can now add Guinness World Record-holder to his list of achievements. Bagrie, 39, who co-owns Royalburn Station with his wife, Nadia Lim, was one of 12 people who pulled up 1million metres on an indoor rowing machine at London's Paddington Station last Friday night (New Zealand time), in 59 hours, 16 minutes and 51 seconds, beating the previous world record by about 2hrs 40mins. Simultaneously, they've raised about £80,000 — $NZ178,500 — to help run an exercise programme for children undergoing cancer treatment at Southampton Children's Hospital (SCH). Working in shifts, each person spent a minute rowing, with five minutes of "recovery" for six hours at a time — ultimately, Bagrie's team completed five such shifts. He tells Mountain Scene the 'Thanks a Million Challenge' was "without a doubt the hardest thing I've ever done, physically", having had about five hours' sleep over the duration, and burning through 30,000 calories. "I think it was the fourth set I was starting to pass out, so I was on these sugar shot things — they tasted bloody awful if I'm being honest with you. "I would definitely say I'm a kilo or two lighter today; how long that stays off for is anybody's guess," he laughs. Their technique around the transitions, in particular, was assisted by some expert advice from retired rower Sir Steven Redgrave — a five-time Olympic gold medallist, three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist and nine-time World Rowing Championship gold medallist. The fundraising challenge was dreamed up by Bagrie's long-time mate, Gihan Ganesh, an anaesthetist at SCH, as a way to positively contribute to SCH's Piam Brown ward, where his daughter, Lola, now 4, was diagnosed and treated for a rare, advanced and complex pelvic tumour, which had metastasized, when she was a 1-year-old. The new collaboration between the ward and Momentum in Fitness Charity will deliver targeted exercise therapy for all paediatric oncology patients — Bagrie says it's a "wonderful thing" to support. "It was a lovely way to close that chapter of that book. That story was a pretty arduous one. "I think Gihan, by creating this event, raising some funds [and] some awareness, he turned what was an incredibly negative experience into a very positive one." Noting he's "just a farmer living up on the terrace", Bagrie hasn't ruled out fronting for another physical challenge. "I wouldn't close the door on doing something else — the right event for the right reason. "It was a bloody good excuse to get into shape and get fit."
Otago Daily Times
06-06-2025
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
Right royal challenge
You could call it a one-in-a-million challenge. Yesterday afternoon, New Zealand time, Queenstown's Carlos Bagrie, who owns Royalburn Station with his wife Nadia Lim, started the first of five six-hour shifts on an indoor rowing machine in London's Paddington Station. Part of a team of 12 participating in the 'Thanks a Million Challenge', he hopes to help break a Guinness World Record, and raise £169,000 ($NZ380,841) to run an exercise programme for kids undergoing cancer treatment at Southampton Children's Hospital (SCH) for the next three years. The brainchild of long-time mate Gihan Ganesh, an anaesthetist at SCH, the challenge involves two teams of six, working in shifts. Each rower will spend 60 seconds on the erg every five minutes during their shift, rinse — possibly sleep — and repeat. To break the record, the combined team needs to row a million metres in 61 hours, 58 minutes and 41 seconds. As Bagrie, 39, puts it, "we need to be flying, really". "It's one thing to go on those erg machines and row for a minute quick, most people can do that. "It's to repeat it over and over and over again, and then combine it with the exhaustion that we're undoubtedly going to face. "The thing that is really stressing me out is the fatigue — realistically, can we sleep?" But there's no doubt they'll find untold motivation thinking about the little girl who's inspired the challenge, Ganesh's daughter, Lola, 4. Two weeks after Ganesh's family moved to London from Perth, when Lola was a year old, she was diagnosed at SCH's Piam Brown ward with a rare, advanced and complex pelvic tumour, which had metastasized. Ganesh says it was "pure fate" Lola was diagnosed in a hospital where she had access to the best care she could have received. Despite some bleak possible outcomes, after 169 days of active treatment — Bagrie got a front-row seat for some of them — Lola is now "amazing". Wanting to positively contribute to the Piam Brown ward team's future work, Ganesh launched the fundraiser to support a new collab between it and Momentum in Fitness Charity, to deliver targeted exercise therapy for all paediatric oncology patients. "They get really deconditioned, lose all their muscle mass, so it's a preventive/rehabilitative intervention," Ganesh says. "All the stuff through a kid's cancer journey is really negative, it's pretty miserable ... This is maybe one thing we can do which is treatment, but is positive." He picked indoor rowing because it was the only exercise he could manage during her treatment, and given the mental and physical strength required, he figured it's a "fitting micro-representation of what my daughter had to go through". And he chose Paddington Station — "probably the most public place you can think of, actually" — because 250,000-odd people pass through each day, and almost every day of Lola's treatment, they watched Paddington Bear. Bagrie, who's been training since October, says he's lost about 5kg, and "hopefully gained a few muscles" in preparation. "You know, I'm in the beer industry, so I wouldn't say I have an elite sportsperson's physique," he laughs. "[But] the way I see it, is this is an incredible opportunity to raise awareness and funds for a charity that provides a huge amount of benefit to the wider community when it comes to a child's care and helping families through what's a pretty arduous time. "Just seeing what these kids go through and how hard it is on the families, it really does give you motivation to push on through."
