Yeovil personal trainer Neil Rhodes is taking a hard earned rest after travelling to the North Pole to set the world record for completing the most northerly row outdoors on a Concept2 Indoor Rower. Neil stripped down just to his all-in-one rowing suit as he completed four minutes of continuous rowing in minus 21 degrees centigrade.

Not only did Neil achieve the world record but he also raced in the North Pole marathon while he was there and finished in 12th place (6hrs 49mins), a mere 2hrs and 20 mins behind the winner amongst a field of 53 runners. An amazing achievement as it was his first full marathon.

Neil has long been an indoor rowing enthusiast so it was nothing unusual for him to take his Concept2 Indoor Rower – also known as the erg - to the North Pole with him. "Of course if you are going to travel all that way, you want to make the most of your trip, so I naturally thought, 'take an erg', as I'm sure any dedicated ergonaut would do," explained Neil.

"When I arrived at Spitsbergen I was delighted to see that, thanks to the excellent services of the courier company, my erg was waiting for me when I arrived. It was a delight to see the look on the face of the plane's Russian loadmaster, as I walked across the tarmac to his plane carrying a small coffin (my erg).

"Even better was the look on his face as he tilted his head sideways at the box to discover it was a rowing machine. I think he is still scratching his head in bewilderment."

The indoor rowing record and the marathon challenge are only two of the many events Neil has attempted over the last few years. On the thought of his next task he commented: "I have more plans for trips with my erg so watch this space. Talking of space, does anyone have a number for NASA?"