Gary Huntley nears completiion of "One Million Mile" challenge for Blesma

Former Soldier, Gary Huntley, began his challenge on January 1st and set himself just 66 days to reach his target. In the process, he has also been attempting to raise £10,000 for Blesma.

Gary, who served for 22 years; 12 in the 1st Battalion of The Parachute Regiment and 10 in the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment has been rowing the distance on his Concept rowing machine in-between his busy days as a fitness coach.

The Gary Huntley Training owner from Bedford said: “On average, its 15,000 metres a day which takes me roughly an hour to complete. It sounds like nothing, but the average person takes six months to a year to complete it. Physically it’s 1,000 calories worth of energy burnt as its pushing with your legs, bracing your whole core and then pulling with your back and shoulder. Its every single day. No rest days.”

On top of that, Gary has had a double knee replacement due to wear and tear during his service.

“I’m very conscious of my technic when rowing due to my knees but the biggest problem I have so far is friction with my hands and also my bum, and actually fitting the challenge into my working day. Some nights I’m completing the challenge past midnight because of work and moving into a new house.

“Hitting the 500,000 mark was a relief in my head. Up until that point it was working up to 500,000. As crazy as it sounds - now I’m working downhill towards the finish. The finish line is in sight.”

Now, Gary is set to meet the one million metre finish line on 7th March.

“The reason I chose Blesma is because I have a few old comrades who have been injured during operations and lost limbs. They have been helped out tremendously by Blesma and I’ve always admired the work that Blesma do when I read see their posts and stories on social media and the stories they put out.”