On Wednesday 12th May 2010, two Army Doctors, Nick Dennison and Hamish Reid, set out to Row around Great Britain in order to raise money for Help for Heroes and the Army Benevolent Fund. In doing so they will enter the record books by being the first pair to complete this Herculean task.
The charity rowers wanted to monitor their energy expenditure during the challenge. So we at Iso-Analytical volunteered to help out by providing them with a doubly labelled water kit which they could use during the trip. The kit consisted of doubly labelled water drinks, collection containers for urine samples and everything needed to keep records of the sampling times:
On their return we will measure the two sets of urine samples that they will have collected from two study periods. Measuring the differential loss of deuterium from the body (only lost as water) and oxygen-18 (lost as water and carbon dioxide) allows us to calculate their total energy expenditure over study periods as long as two weeks. We're expecting Nick and Hamish's energy expenditures to be somewhat higher than normal!
To find out more about the challenge, track their progress and the charity they are supporting, please visit their website: Row for Heroes
