STOURPORT Boat Club member Richard Collins proved his ironman status with an impressive performance at Boston Rowing Club.

Collins finished first in the 31 mile marathon in the Masters B category, completing the gruelling course in four hours, 14 minutes and eight seconds, breaking the category record in the process.

In the unusual annual event, competitors compete to row 31 miles on a downstream course along the River Witham from Lincoln to Boston, finishing at the Boston clubhouse.

Collins had crashed into reeds within 10 strokes, and despite not falling in had lost valuable time against the opposition and needed to set about trying to claw the lost time back.

At the 13 mile point, a lapse in concentration almost cost Collins the race again as a lock crossing needed to be navigated with the oars removed, and upon being replaced incorrectly further time had been lost. Finally, he overtook the other competitors and pulled clear.

“My training schedule for this event started three months ago, ploughing up and down the river Severn for up to two hours at a time,” he said.

“I decided to enter the Boston Marathon because everyone had told me it was incredibly hard, and they’d never do it again but I wanted to set myself a real challenge.”