A MAN from Devon has pushed his mind and body to the limit, all in the name of charity. 

Mark Grey from Broadwoodwidger has raised more than £4,500 after he set himself the challenge of rowing for 24 hours for children’s charity Lilomi. 

Founded in 2018, by Mark’s sister, Lilomi is dedicated to uplifting the lives of the children in Sierra Leone. Lilomi is on a mission to raise funds to construct four classrooms on top of the existing science lab aiming to foster brighter futures in one of the world's most disadvantaged regions. 

To raise funds for the project, Mark took to the rowing machine on June 20 and continued rowing until the very next day. 

This gruelling endurance row saw Mark burn more than 15,000 calories and row a total of 252,000 metres.  

Mark has expressed his thanks for the overwhelming support he received from friends, family and complete strangers.  

During the challenge, supporters could watch Mark’s efforts via his 24 hour live stream on YouTube where people sent messages of support, including people who had seen his inspirational efforts posted in Reddit, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, and is now referenced by his fans in Sierra Leone as the Legend from Devon.  

Thanks to his practice rows, Mark knew to start out with a steady pace, his many months of training had taught him he needed to be the tortoise not the hare to ensure he could sustain for such a long period of time. 

Between training and the main event, Mark clocked up over a million metres of rowing.

Now that his row is completed, Mark has said he feels different, explaining: “I no longer have this nag in my head to want to do this, and this whole experience has really humbled me.  

“I’d like to thank everyone who sponsored and supported me, it helped spur me on when things started to get tough at nine, 16 and 22 hours into the row. Those final two hours to my completion at 6am couldn’t end soon enough, thank you to everyone who has supported me.”