Page 56 - 4RA Regimental Journal 2019-2020

4th Regiment Royal Artillery
Regimental charities Forster charity event
On 20th May 2020 Sgt Forster, RCMO’s Assistant, undertook a truly unique challenge in order to raise
money for the NHS. The Regiment was in the middle of the first Covid-19 lockdown and the extreme conditions that NHS staff were being out under were begin- ning to show. To demonstrate his support for those key workers Sgt Forster carried out the “2020 challenge”. Comprehensively this included: 2020 press ups, sit ups and shoulder presses, 20 x 20 kettle bell swings, tyre flips and ground to overheads, a 20km TAB with 20 kg in weight and to cap it all off he must endure 20 mins submerged in an ice bath to end the challenge.
Not content with just completing this mon- strous feat Sgt Forster also elected to start at 0600 hrs and be finished 20 hours later at 0200 on the morning of the 21st May. A very tall order.
Sgt Forster elected to get the TAB out the way first whilst his legs were still fresh and he could complete it in good time. This seemed to give him now issues at all and he cruised in at a speedy 2 hrs 51 minutes, well ahead of time and ready to crack on with the hard stuff. From here Sgt Forster decided to systematically break down the remaining challenges into smaller chunks. This began by getting the 20 x 20 chal- lenges done and once again Sgt Forster made short work of these. The tyre flips taking place around camp were particu- larly gruelling as this was the hottest day of the year so far.
As well as everything has gone so far Sgt Forster had left the worst till last. Fatigued but still in high spirits Sgt Forster dived into the remaining challenges with more energy than before. He soon tackled all of the shoulder presses and sit ups leaving only the press ups remaining. These were tough considering all he had done before
but Sgt Forster still took them on at speed. Finally there was the ice bath, to many this seemed like an after thought, a nice way to start off the recovery process. But Sgt For- ster was tired and it was late at night and cold outside. Sgt Forster made it through his icy dip and completed the challenge in 17 hours and 25 minutes, smashing his target to beat.
As word spread in the days before and after Sgt Forster’s challenge the regiment banded together and was inspired to give generously to the NHS. News of Sgt For- sters’ challenge spread across the Royal Regiment, appearing on multiple social media sites. Thanks to his efforts essen- tial workers received £1600 in dona- tions from across 4th Regiment
Royal Artillery.
54