Today (Monday) sees Ryde resident and member of the Merchant Navy, Mo Tamimy, take on a 30-mile running challenge.
Mo, who is a Third Officer in the Merchant Navy, set off from Ryde Pier at 7am this morning and will be running cross-country to St Catherine’s Lighthouse at the most southern tip of the Island and back to Ryde in order to raise awareness for the Merchant Navy.
Cheer him on
You’ll be able to recognise Mo, running in a navy blue MN T-shirt and beret, track suit bottoms and trainers. He’ll have a black rucksack on his back.
He aims to reach St Catherine’s Lighthouse around 9.40am, and have a decent break before setting off on his route back to Ryde Pier.
You can check out Mo’s route on Google Maps to see whether he’ll be running through your village.
Why the challenge?
Mo’s driver for the challenge is to ensure the Merchant Navy continues to be remembered as the fourth service. He explained,
“The British Merchant Navy. Most people don’t know about it and some that do misunderstand it.
“The term Merchant Navy is a title, given by King George V, to describe the collective British civilian commercial fleet. That is a commercial ship flying the Red or blue ensign. Today, these range from the Queen Mary 2, RRS Sir David Attenborough to the Victoria of Wight. Although, not as common nowadays, ships of the Merchant Navy were once manned by majority British crews.
“Between the Officers and sailors of the MN; there are two Victoria crosses, multiple George crosses. Distinguished service in both world wars, the Falklands and a little more recently in the Gulf. Some have referred to this as the fourth service.
“However, there is a lack of awareness of the MN. Both its past achievements and its current form.”
Although Mo is not specifically running to raise money, if anyone would like to donate to the Merchant Navy Association they can do so through the Website.
