Mission Possible: Commandos fight for £6m

A crack team of Royal Marines will be descending on Guernsey next month with a very important mission - to help raise £6 million.

The Commando Challenge will see the servicemen rowing, running and cycling around the island, to raise funds for the Royal Marines Charitable Trust.

And the gruelling challenge has to be completed in just 24 hours.

Some of the marines are on the island to do a recky of their course so reporter Rob Moore went to catch up with them.

Armed Forces Day is Saturday 25 June and on that day this summer, teams of Royal Marines and Royal Navy Personnel will be doing three laps around the entire island, all in just 24 hours.

The Royal Marines' motto is Per Mare, Per Terram, which means 'by sea, by land'. So the first lap of this challenge is a row around the island. It will probably be the toughest, covering 41 miles, separating the men from the boys.

They may be marines and navy troops, but not all of the soldiers are experienced rowers so the first leg will be tough. But that is just the first stage.

As soon as that row is out of the way it is straight onto lap two - a cycle around the island.

By this stage they will be feeling the burn, but the task of raising thousands of pounds the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund, will no doubt focus them.

And even after that exhausting cycle, it is still not over for the troops.

The last lap is a run around the island; a route that is 17 miles. Compared to the previous two laps, it will be a walk in the park.

But the challenge is for a cause close to any commando's heart.

Colonel Rory Copinger-Symes, of the Royal Marines, said: "The Royal Marine Charitable Trust Fund has set themselves a target of raising £6 million by 2014. So why 2014? That's the year we meet our 350th anniversary. We were formed in 1664. I've done a number of events over the last years, ever since I came back from Afghanistan two years ago.

"We do a variety of different challenges to effectively make the charity aware in the public eye and also hopefully to raise some funds towards that £6 million target."

From Channel online




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