Oliver Dudley

I am 32 and live overlooking Battersea Park in London – the perfect training ground for such an event. Having played competitive rugby union, the pinnacle being England Student trials, I was forced to retire after breaking my neck in 2000. Being athletically minded, years of frustration drifted by until fate intervened in 2007 thanks to a staff member at Kids Company. I subsequently became a crew member aboard La Mondiale, rowing 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean with 13 other adventurers. Such was the success that we broke the long standing Guinness World Record for the fastest crossing, setting a new time of 33 days, 7 ½ hours. The boat set out again with a different crew in January 2009, only to run into problems, putting out a mayday call after 1000 miles and being rescued by a tanker. For me, this truly put into perspective our achievement. As with life, luck plays its role. And I’ll need my fair share of it on this event.

My very first experience of a rowing boat was in training onboard La Mondiale four months prior to departure. Coupled with this, I am a poor swimmer, and the sea is certainly one of my biggest fears in life. On face value, it was crazy to attempt the row, but I am drawn to proving the impossible is possible. I was proud and honored to be part of that crew, and it was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. It was testament that I could achieve more than my rationale allows me to believe. A big seed was sown.

Thus, when the opportunity arose to join 2 other ocean rowers to run 7 ultra marathons in 7 days on 7 continents, the word no was not in my vocabulary. In fact, with only 3 months prior to departure, the longest I had ever run was in a prep school cross country run. But, a challenge is a challenge, and coupled with the prospect of continuing to raise awareness and money for Kids Company, the inevitable answer was yes, and training started that evening, and finished with my first running injury.

Why did I choose Kids Company?

Very simply, vulnerable and traumatised children is a topic that is close to my heart. And because a good friend of mine works there, I chose to enroll on their very impressive mentor training course last year. They have hundreds of volunteers giving up their time to mentor one child, week in week out, which can literally change that child's life. Thus, my relationship with Kids Company become more personal and it was an obvious choice of charity.