Guests at the Reading Hilton saw two world records being set as they walked through the hotel lobby.
Fitness instructor at the hotel’s gym, Oliver Trinder, 23, who lives in Woodley, and his friend Dave Holby, 29, rowed on a machine incessantly for 100 hours between them, breaking the world record.
They managed just over 100 hours. The previous record was 74 hours and 17 minutes. They also broke the record for the furthest distance rowed, reaching 1,000,000 metres in under five days.
The pair started rowing at 10am on Saturday, May 15 and finished at 5pm on Wednesday, swapping over every two hours – four hourly at night.
A stool was placed nearby so guests could stop for a chat. The rowing epic was to raise funds for the Hilton Community Foundation and Breakthrough Breast Cancer and the duo got off to a great start.
Hilton spokesman John Townsend said they were helped by many guests pausing for a natter.
He added: “It was a long time. There was a Labour Government in power when they started.”
Oliver said: “It wasn’t too bad. We had a bit of fluid on the knees but we weren’t too stiff.”
A video log of their efforts will go up on YouTube which was filmed each time they swapped over. Oliver admitted he had little idea what he was saying at times.
The marathon was part of a remarkable rowing challenge both men are carrying out in which they row for two hours every day.
Oliver is seven months into a two-year challenge while Dave has about seven months left of his two-and-a-half year bid.
